Again,
a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup can’t pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done.” He came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. He left them again, went away, and prayed a third time, saying the same words. Then he came to his disciples, and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let’s be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.”
Matthew 26:42-46
Matthew 26 [40.] He came to the disciples, and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What, couldn’t you watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26 [42.] Again, a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup can’t pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done.” He came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. He left them again, went away, and prayed a third time, saying the same words. Then he came to his disciples, and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let’s be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.”
Matthew 26 [47.] While he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priest and elders of the people. Now he who betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, “Whoever I kiss, he is the one. Seize him.” Immediately he came to Jesus, and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
Meaning:
Jesus had found Peter, James and John asleep and urged them, “Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation” (Matthew 26:40-41). Now he returns to prayer a second and a third time, while his friends sleep on. When he rises the last time, he is ready. The struggle is over, and he goes out to meet his betrayer. Mark records the same scene (Mark 14:39-42).
- “My Father, if this cup can’t pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done”
Compare this prayer with the first one: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me” (Matthew 26:39). The second prayer has moved. Jesus now accepts that the cup will not pass unless he drinks it, and he says simply, “your desire be done.” These are almost the words he taught his disciples: “Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth” (Matthew 6:10). Prayer did not change the Father’s plan, but it brought the Son into perfect peace with it. Hebrews says, “though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8).
- “He came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy”
The disciples were exhausted. It was late at night after a long Passover meal with wine, and they were weighed down by grief (Luke 22:45). Their failure was not malice but weakness, exactly as Jesus had said: “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Three times they slept, foreshadowing Peter’s three denials later that night. Mark adds that “they didn’t know what to answer him” (Mark 14:40).
- “prayed a third time, saying the same words”
Jesus prayed the same prayer three times. Repeating a request is not vain repetition when it comes from an honest heart wrestling with God. Paul too “begged the Lord three times” about his thorn in the flesh, and received the answer, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). Luke tells us that an angel came to strengthen Jesus as he prayed (Luke 22:43-44).
- “Behold, the hour is at hand”
“Sleep on now, and take your rest” may be gentle irony, or a sad recognition that the time to watch had passed. The hour Jesus had spoken of had arrived: “the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” He had foretold, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered up into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and the third day he will be raised up” (Matthew 17:22-23; Mark 9:31).
- “Arise, let’s be going”
Jesus does not run or hide. He wakes his disciples and walks toward Judas and the armed crowd. The one who had trembled in prayer now acts with calm courage. Prayer had prepared him for what was ahead.
The Significance of Matthew 26:42-46
- Prayer changes the one who prays
Jesus’ circumstances did not change, but he rose from prayer resolved and at peace. When we bring our fears to God, he gives us strength to face what we cannot avoid.
- Stay awake spiritually
The disciples slept through the most important hour of their lives. Paul urges believers, “let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6).
- Courage comes after surrender
“Your desire be done” was the turning point. Once Jesus had yielded his will to the Father, he could face betrayal, arrest and the cross without turning back.
Cross-References:
Mark 14:39-42: "The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners." Mark’s account.
Matthew 6:10: "Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth." The prayer Jesus taught.
Hebrews 5:8: "though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered." Obedience through suffering.
2 Corinthians 12:9: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Strength given in answer to prayer.
Conclusion: Matthew 26:42-46 tells how Jesus prayed a second and a third time in Gethsemane, saying, “your desire be done,” while his disciples slept because their eyes were heavy. Then he announced that the hour had come and that the Son of Man was betrayed into the hands of sinners, and he rose to meet his betrayer: “Arise, let’s be going.” The passage shows how persevering prayer brought Jesus to perfect surrender and calm courage.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible