Not my will, but thine, be done

Luke 22:42

Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

As we come to this holy time of the year, the time of remembrance concerning Christ’s sufferings and resurrection, let us remain meditative and reflective of what He has done. The timeline of Christ’s betrayal, trial, death, burial, and resurrection may not be set in stone for us as far as the days of the week are concerned, but what does it matter? Some will give their time and effort to debate which day Jesus died, etc. I will have no part in that number. I will only say that I know Jesus went to the cross, died for my sins, and rose again. Hallelujah to the Lamb! But with that having been said, let us now just imagine that this day, being the fourth day of the week, for us Wednesday, was the day that Jesus had the Passover with His disciples. Many things happened on this day.

On this day, Jesus asked that His disciples would go and prepare for Him the Passover. They were to go into the city and find a man bearing a pitcher of water, whom they would ask for a room in which they were to meet that night. Our passage in Luke 22 tells of the events of that night. We learn of the Passover that Jesus partook of with His disciples, where He broke bread and passed the wine for them to drink. These elements were to be a symbol, or a representation of His broken body and shed blood. This is why we partake of “the Lord’s Supper” (see 1 Corinthians 11), for it is to be done in commemoration and remembrance of Him. And after the meal and more conversation with the disciples, He went out toward the Mount of Olives, where He entered into the Garden of Gethsemane. In this garden, the Lord Jesus prayed to His Father in great agony. It is recorded that He went to prayer on His knees three times. The others tells us that He fell on His face on the ground. This was His moment of trial and surrender. As He fell down and prayed, He said these words, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” This ought to be the pattern for our prayers. Are you in a moment of trial and decision? Is the spirit indeed willing, but the flesh weak? Pray these words! If Thou be willing! Nevertheless not my will! But thine be done! Just say “Thy will be done!”

Oh, my friends, we all must have the garden moment of surrender. We may not be at the Mount of Olives in a garden, but we are in the garden of our souls. Jesus perspired great sweat drops of blood. We may also sweat and weep. But the great struggle is, whose will shall be done? Will it be mine? Or will it be Thine? Dear friends, as we come to this holy time of reflection and remembrance, let it not be only a time of remembrance. Let it be a time of surrender. Let us be a time of full and complete yielding to His will. Let us come through our garden having submitted ourselves unto Him who has gone before us. And then we shall enter this time with a purified heart and a will given to Christ.

“Dear Father, in the name of Christ, we surrender all to Thee. We say simply, as Christ did, ‘Thy will be done.’ And may we live in this submission all day long. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”