Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:31-46)

[Stephan Choe]

September 19, 2026

-The Secret of Victorious Prayer-

Key Verse 39: “And He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’”

Alexander the Great conquered half the world. Yet, as he lay dying, he realized the truth: No physician can halt death. No wealth follows one into the grave. And in the end, one leaves empty-handed.

How can we overcome the power of death and lead a victorious, eternal life? And from whom can we learn the secret of this victory?

There is One who has conquered death and thrown wide the door to eternal life for all believers. His name is Jesus! He triumphed over sin, death, and hell, and grants forgiveness, eternal life, and the Kingdom of Heaven to all who believe in Him.

Jesus was able to triumph because He received love and strength from God through prayer; this enabled Him to defeat the power of death and hell through His death. Therefore, He can bestow victory, eternal life, and the Kingdom of Heaven upon us. This is divine grace for us.

Furthermore, His prayer in Gethsemane serves as a model for what we should pray for in order to achieve victory in difficult situations.

Let us gratefully accept God’s gift through the prayer of Jesus. Let us also learn from Him what we should pray for in times of difficulty.

1. The Prediction of Peter’s Denial (31–35)

At the end of the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples that they would become afraid and flee when he was arrested. He placed His trust not in people, but in God alone.

We ought to love people and cultivate good relationships with them. Yet, we should not place our trust in people, but in God. Anyone who places their trust in people will sooner or later experience disappointment. If, however, we place our trust in God, we will never be disappointed.

Jesus knew exactly what lay ahead of him. He did not close his eyes to reality. He was not a blind optimist who ignored the facts; rather, he assessed reality realistically. Yet he was not a pessimist, for he firmly believed in the living God. He knew that he would rise again after his death.

When Jesus announced his death and resurrection, it came as a great shock to his disciples. They took the prediction of his death seriously but overlooked the announcement of his resurrection, for their thoughts remained fixed on the word "death." Consequently, they were gripped by fear.

Jesus, however, did not let fear rule him, because he trusted in God and in his own resurrection. Instead, despite the crisis in his own life, he cared deeply for his disciples and looked after them.

How did Peter react when he heard about Jesus’ arrest? He said to Jesus, “Even if everyone else abandons You, I will not.” And all the disciples said the same.

Peter loved Jesus; there is no doubt about that. Yet he overestimated himself, believing he could handle any situation through his own strength. He thought he was stronger than he actually was.

We are in danger when we overestimate ourselves and rely on our own strength. However, when we recognize our weakness and ask Jesus for help, we are secure, for Jesus is ready to stand by us.

Jesus said to the disciples—who would soon abandon Him and flee—“But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee” (32).

Although Jesus knew His disciples would abandon Him and flee, He did not reproach them—He did not, for instance, call them “useless creatures.” Instead, He promised to see them again once this difficult time had passed.

Jesus knows our weakness. He knows that we often make mistakes and fail. Yet He loves us unfailingly and helps us. That is why we can be confident that, with Christ’s help, we will emerge victorious from any situation.

What do we choose? To trust that we can manage on our own? Or to be humble and ask Jesus for His help?

2. Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane (36–46)

After Jesus had announced at the Last Supper that Judas would betray him, he went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He wanted to prepare himself through prayer for his death on the cross.

The Garden lay on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. He took three of his disciples—Peter, James, and John—there with him. He said to them, "My soul is sorrowful, even to the point of death; stay here and keep watch with me!"

He wrestled intensely with God in prayer. Let us consider Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane.

First, Jesus confessed his unbearable anguish of soul and distress to God.

Upon arriving at the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus left the three disciples behind. He went a little further, fell on his face, and prayed:

"My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as You will!" (39).

Jesus knew that his death was imminent, for God intended to give him up as a sacrificial lamb for the sins of all mankind. He sensed that his death was near. Although he was the Son of God, he was at the same time fully human. As a human being, he felt great dread regarding his agonizing death.

I remember how Esther, my wife, suffered great pain due to her cancer shortly before her physical death—specifically, at midnight between December 9 and 10, 1919. Three times she cried out to God: "Why must I suffer this?" Then she called out to God: "Papa, Papa, Papa!" and repeated three times, "Forgive me!" Immediately afterward, she fell asleep with an expression‎ of perfect peace on her face and remained in that state until she returned to the Heavenly Father on December 13, 2019.

Jesus Christ suffered unbearable agony in the face of the anguish of death. That is why He prayed to God.

Although He had taken His three closest disciples along to pray, they offered Him neither comfort nor help. Instead, they were overcome by fear and could not pray at all; they were merely drowsy, for their fear paralyzed both body and spirit. Thus, Jesus had to wage His battle of prayer entirely alone.

Why did Jesus have to suffer such an agonizing death? Because He chose to die as the sacrificial lamb for the sins of all humanity.

Had Jesus not wished to die, no one could have taken His life. Yet through prayer, He voluntarily chose the path of obedience to God’s will: He accepted death on the cross and became the Passover Lamb (see John 10:18). The path He chose was filled with agony; that is why Jesus had to fight an intense battle in prayer.

The prophet Isaiah foretold Jesus’ agonizing death:

“4 Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:4–7).

We should gratefully accept the grace of God bestowed upon us through Jesus’ agonizing death on the cross. In His death, Jesus endured such terrible suffering so that all our sins could be wiped away if we believe in His sacrificial death. As it is written in Isaiah 53:6, “The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.”

Therefore, every person—no matter how grave their sin may be—can receive forgiveness and redemption.

Because He Himself went through all this, He can truly understand you and me. He suffers with us. He empathizes with you in your pain, fears, or hardships and shares in that suffering. He shares in all your weaknesses, problems, worries, and fears. For instance, He said to Saul when he was persecuting Christians, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4). Thus, Jesus suffered while Christians endured persecution; He suffers with us when we suffer.

In our situations where there seems to be no way out, Jesus can comfort us, for He understands our weakness and helplessness and shares in our suffering. He is able to comfort and help us.

We should thank Jesus for enduring an agonizing death for our sins, for freeing us from sin and the power of death, and for granting us forgiveness and eternal life.

When we find ourselves in a hopeless situation, we should turn to Jesus, for He understands us well, comforts us, and can save us.

Secondly, Jesus called God "Papa" out of trust in Him.

When Jesus began His prayer to God in Gethsemane, He addressed God as "My Abba!" (26:39). The Aramaic word "Abba" means "Papa" and is the term a small child uses to address their father. My two sons, Stephan and Timothée, always address me as "Papa."

In Old Testament times, God was never addressed as "Papa," because for the Jews, God was so great, almighty, and holy that they did not dare to address Him directly as "Papa" or "Father." Instead, they often referred to Him indirectly—for instance, as the "Almighty" or the "Most Holy One." Thus, they called the room in the Tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant rested "the Most Holy Place."

But Jesus told us that God is not only great, almighty, and holy, but also as close and kind as our Papa. That is why we address Him as "Papa!" or "Father!"

Jesus’s use of the word "Abba!" beautifully expresses the relationship between Jesus and God. He spoke to his heavenly Father with the same childlike simplicity, trust, and intimacy as a small child does with their father. This shows us that Jesus is truly the Son of God. He placed his full trust in God, even knowing that his death on the cross would be excruciatingly painful. Because of this trusting relationship with God, he chose of his own free will to obey the Father’s will and walk the path of the cross to redeem us. Despite the horrific agony awaiting him on the cross, he trusted God and addressed Him as "Papa!"

We, too, can address God as "Papa" or "Father," for through Jesus Christ we have become children of God and share a personal, deeply trusting relationship with Him. This form of address signifies that God is happy to grant our requests.

God loves us dearly. He is always close to us, ready to listen and to help. That is why God sacrificed Jesus, His Son, for our redemption. This God—the Creator of all things—is our Papa and loves us deeply!

"Abba," incidentally, was a very intimate, familial term. This form of address clearly illustrates the difference between Christianity and other religions. In other religions, such as Judaism or Islam, God is the great Creator but is not as close to people as a "Papa" is. For us Christians, however, God is both the mighty Creator and as close to us as our Papa.

This childlike form of address, "Papa," signifies that it is not the law that defines the relationship between us and God, but love. Jesus Christ came into the world out of love for us. He died on the cross out of love for us. We are God’s beloved children, and He is our Father. We sit at His table. That is why faith in Jesus Christ is not merely a matter for the mind but also for the heart. At the table, one can speak with one’s father about everything that moves the heart. This is the hallmark of our Christian faith.

Thirdly, following His prayer, Jesus fearlessly followed the Father’s will.

Because Jesus had affirmed and embraced the will of the Heavenly Father—and His love for Him—in prayer, He was determined to walk the path of the cross. He rose from prayer and fearlessly faced His arrest. He said to His disciples:

"Rise, let us go! Look, the one who betrays me is here" (46).

By this He meant: "The time for prayer is over. Now the time has come to walk the path of the cross. I will fearlessly face arrest and crucifixion, however cruel they may be! For My death serves the forgiveness of your sins, and afterward I will rise again for your resurrection!"

We, too, should face challenges fearlessly after prayer.

After praying to God, Jesus was determined to face his arrest and death on the cross. Strengthened by God’s good will, he no longer feared, for he accepted God’s will: to die for the sins of humanity and to rise again for their resurrection. We are deeply grateful for his voluntary death on the cross. Therefore, we can cast all our sins upon him.

Jesus’s attitude toward his death on the cross serves as an example for us.

Everyone encounters difficult situations at times. How should we face such situations?

To confront difficult circumstances sincerely, we must first kneel before God in prayer. To emerge victorious in the battle of faith, we must first meet our Heavenly Father and receive His strength and guidance. After prayer, we should face the challenges of the world fearlessly. In our lives, we sometimes become unsettled or anxious due to various problems. We pray to God. When we begin to pray, we may feel uncertain or weighed down. Yet, if we persevere in prayer and allow ourselves to be guided by God’s Word, we are reminded of God’s grace through Jesus Christ. He has saved us and bestowed upon us many heavenly blessings. Filled with deep gratitude toward God, we are ready to obey His will. We should then act with courage and confidence, facing challenges without fear. God will surely grant us victory.

We should pray to our Papa!

What did three of the disciples do while Jesus was praying?

When Jesus returned to them after His prayer, He found them asleep. He said to them, "Could you not keep watch with Me for one hour? Watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation! The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (40–41).

When Jesus returned after His second prayer, the disciples were still drowsy. After His third prayer, Jesus said to His disciples,

"Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come when the Son of Man is handed over to sinners. Get up; let us go! Look, the one who betrays Me is here!" (45–46).

Although His disciples were deeply worried, they did not pray. They were not prepared for the devil's temptation.

Everyone has various worries. Forgetting or suppressing our worries is not the right solution to the problem. We should be watchful and pray. We should remember that God is our Papa. We should recognize the grace of Jesus through His death and thank our Papa for it with all our hearts. With a grateful heart, we should follow our Papa's will. Our Papa will richly bless our gratitude and obedience. Amen!