Jesus went with his disciples to the garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 26:36-42 “Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, ‘Sit here while I go and pray over there.’ And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, ‘My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.’ 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.’ Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.’”
Jesus knew what the Father’s will was as He approached the time of the end. He knew that the Father wanted Him to be crucified and carry the sins of the world on the cross. He knew what was going to happen and He didn’t want to go through with it. He was seeking if there was any other way for Him so that He could avoid the upcoming pain. Luke records in Luke 22:44 “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” I think that Luke wanted us to know the extreme anguish Jesus was experiencing. He was in agony and sweat profusely. But He still chose surrender and submission to the Father. He told the Father “Not as I will, but as You will.”
What can we learn from the example of Jesus? We should also seek to do the will of the Father and be pleasing to Him. Perhaps that is a summary of the life of the true Christian – to do the will of the Father. Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer in Mathew 6:10 “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Should we not consider it our role to do His will on earth as His will is done in heaven? The will of God is infinitely wise, good, and holy; to have it fulfilled in men, is to have infinite wisdom, goodness and holiness done in men.
Sometimes doing His will for us is difficult. But surely it can’t be more difficult that it was for Jesus as He approached His crucifixion. In Gethsemane, Jesus chose surrender. He had a will. He felt the weight of the cross. He expressed His desire honestly. And then He yielded fully. This teaches us that real obedience isn’t the absence of struggle—it’s faithfulness through struggle. He didn’t say: “I see the whole plan.” “I understand every detail.” “This feels good.” He said: “Father, I trust You and I submit to you.” Faith is not understanding everything—faith is trusting Someone who does understand everything.
Jesus always did the will of the Father. John 8:29 “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” Since Jesus always did the will of the Father, He was well pleasing to the Father. Mark 1:11 “Then a voice came from heaven, ‘You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” Jesus was well pleasing to the Father because He submitted Himself and did the Father’s will.
Jesus taught the importance of doing the will of the Father in Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” It is not whether or not we accomplish great things or hold important positions. What matters is if we do the will of the Father.
Jesus gave the following parable. Matthew 21:28-31 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said to Him, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.’” The first son is like the tax collectors and harlots who initially chose to disobey the Father. The second son was like the religious people who claimed that they were doing the will of the Father but it turns out that they were not. Which ones did the will of the Father? Obviously, the ones who actually did the will of the Father. I would like for us to be in a different category: We say we will do the will of the Father and we do it.
How do we find out what the will of the Father is? The will of the Father can be found in the teachings of Jesus and others whom God inspired. By reading and studying the scriptures with an honest heart, we can discover the will of the Father. For example, Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God and the second is like it to love our neighbor as yourself. From that we discover that the will of the Father is for us to have love for God and our neighbor. In addition to reading and studying the scriptures, we should also pray for God to fill us with the knowledge of His will. The apostle Paul prayed for the Colossian brethren in Col 1:9 “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” We also should pray that God would reveal to us His will in our lives in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
The prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane should be a model for our prayers. Daily Christian living is a rhythm of yielding, trusting, obeying, surrendering, and following. The Christian life is not about getting God to bless our will, but aligning our will with His. Hebrews 10:35-36 “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”