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Commentaries
English
Matthew
  
43And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.44So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.45Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.46Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.” (2Corinthians12:8)


Jesus prayed three times for the same subject. He used in His third prayer the same words He did in the second one. This was not out of unbelief that His prayer would not be heard, but because HHe had already known that the tempter would attack Him constantly within the coming hours to overcome His obedience to God’s will. Jesus established Himself, through repeated prayers, in His Father’s will, and knew for certain, by perseverance in prayer, that He was the only person who could bear God’s wrath as a substitute for all mankind.
At that hour of temptation, it seemed that everything, whether in heaven or on earth, held its breath. If Jesus had preferred ease for Himself and continued unity with His Father, without separating from Him for the sake of redemption, we would have all been destroyed and lost. He denied Himself, took up His cross, and died for our salvation. Hallelujah!

Prayer
Lord Christ, we worship You with deep thankfulness, because You bore our judgment and suffered because of Your Father’s anger at our sins. Accept our bodies, hearts, and minds as a little “thank you” for faith obedience. We thank for Your substitutionary death for us. Sanctify us that we may not fall into temptation, and teach us to pray with perseverance that we can together abide in Your plan, being aware of the evil one who is trying to deceive us.
Question
What do we learn from Christ’s three subsequent prayers in the garden of Gethsemane?