42 “Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” (Matthew 26:42–45 (ESV)
39 “And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. 41 And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” (Mark 14:39–42 (ESV)
The hour for which all the Old Testament prophets spoke arrived. Jesus understood this. He prayed a second and a third time regarding His impending crucifixion. His prayers were the same as the first in substance, but different in emphasis. Jesus no longer asked for the cup of wrath to pass from Him (Matt. 26:39). Rather, He prayed if there is no other way to accomplish the Father’s will, His will would be done.
“Though both prayers—the one of verse 39 and that of verse 42—are the same in essence, there is a difference in emphasis. The main clause is no longer, “Let this cup be spared me,” but “Thy will be done,” a petition identical in wording and meaning with the one Jesus had himself taught his disciples (Matt. 6:10b). What is happening, then, is that by his own very painful and distressing experience Jesus is “learning” what it means to be obedient, and is revealing this obedience in a progressively glorious manner,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.
Hebrews 5:8 says, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.” Jesus suffered the wrath of God the Father so God the Father could eternally justify, redeem and reconcile sinners to Himself (Rom. 3:21-26). Justification redemption and reconciliation was accomplished not only by Jesus’ active obedience in living a sinless life, but also by Jesus ‘passive obedience in submitting to a substitutionary death on the cross for sinners.
“Our Lord’s active keeping of God’s commandments was necessary so that Christ could be our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). But in addition to Jesus’ active obedience, we also need His passive obedience, His suffering the curse of God so that we could be cleansed of our sin (Rom. 3:21–26),” states Dr. R. C. Sproul.
“The passive obedience of Christ does not mean that our Lord was merely a passive recipient of suffering in His death. Yes, He suffered because other men beat Him and crucified Him, but Christ was active even in this. He gave Himself over to sinful men so that He could die in our place (Mark 15:16–20). He laid down His life; no one took it from Him unwillingly (John 10:18).”
Jesus actively prayed in order to passively submit to the Father’s will. As He was doing so, the disciples were active in their sleeping while passive in their watching and praying (Matt. 26:41). The Lord awakened them and announced it was no longer the time for rest. The hour had arrived for which He had been born (Matt. 1:20-23; Phil.2:5-11).
Puritan John Owen states, “There is something peculiar in that obedience which the Son of God is said to learn from his own sufferings, namely, what it is for a sinless person to suffer for sinners.”
“In some ways, the sufferings of Christ are analogous to ours, but in other ways, they are unique to Him in His role as our Mediator. In fact, it was through obeying God and experiencing the curse of suffering that our sin deserves that Jesus was made perfect as our High Priest. By offering Himself as our atonement, Christ fulfilled His appointed task and became “the source of eternal salvation” (Heb. 5:9–10),” concludes Dr. Sproul.
Soli deo Gloria!
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