Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 26:39-44

"And he went forward a little, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cannot pass away, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them again, and went away, and prayed a third time, saying again the same words." — Matthew 26:39-44 (ASV)

Origen of Alexandria: He took the self-confident Peter and the others with Him, so that they might see Him falling on His face and praying. In this, they could learn not to think great things of themselves, but little, and not to be hasty in promising, but careful in prayer. Therefore, He went forward a little, not to go far from them, but so that He might be near them in His prayer.

Also, He who had said before, Learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, now commendably humbles Himself and falls on His face. He shows His devotion in His prayer, and as one beloved and well-pleasing to His Father, He adds, Not as I will, but as you will. This teaches us that we should pray for God's will to be done, not our own.

As He began to feel fear and sorrow, He prayed accordingly that the cup of His Passion may pass from Him, yet not as He wills, but as His Father wills. He wills this not according to His divine and impassible substance, but according to His human and weak nature. For in taking upon Himself the nature of human flesh, He fulfilled all its properties, so that it might be seen that He had flesh not in appearance only, but in reality.

Indeed, the believer must first be reluctant to incur pain, seeing that it leads to death and he is a man of flesh. But if it is God's will, he acquiesces because he is a believer. For just as we ought not to be too confident, so that we do not seem to boast of our own strength, neither ought we to be distrustful, lest we seem to charge God our helper with weakness.

It should be observed that Mark and Luke write the same thing, but John does not include this prayer of Jesus, that this cup may pass from Him. This is because the first three Gospels are more concerned with Him according to His human nature, while John is more concerned with His divine nature.

Alternatively, Jesus makes this request because He sees what the Jews will suffer for demanding His death.

St. Jerome: This is why He says emphatically, This cup—that is, the cup of this people, the Jews. If they put Me to death, they can have no excuse for their ignorance, since they have the Law and the Prophets, who speak of Me.

Origen of Alexandria: Then, considering the benefit that would come to the whole world from His Passion, He says, But not as I will, but as you will. That is, "If it is possible for all the benefits that will result from My Passion to be obtained without it, let it pass from Me, so that the world may be saved and the Jews not be condemned for putting Me to death."

But if the salvation of many cannot be obtained without the destruction of a few, while still preserving Your justice, then let it not pass away. Scripture, in many places, speaks of suffering as a cup that is drained. It is drained by the one who, as a testimony, endures whatever is inflicted upon him. In contrast, he who denies Christ to avoid suffering is the one who spills it.

St. Augustine of Hippo: So that no one would think He was limiting His Father's power, He did not say, If you can do it, but rather, If it may be, or, If it is possible. This is the same as saying, If you will. For whatever God wills can be done, as Luke expresses more plainly; for he says not, If it is possible, but If you will.¹

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Alternatively, He does not say, Let this cup pass away from Me, for those would be the words of someone who feared it. Instead, He prays that it may pass not so that He would be passed over, but so that when it has passed from Him, it may go to another. His whole fear, then, is for those who were to suffer. Therefore, He prays for those who were to suffer after Him, saying, Let this cup pass from me. That is, "Just as it is drunk by Me, so let it be drunk by them—without mistrust, without a sense of pain, without fear of death." He says, If it is possible, because flesh and blood shrink from these things, and it is hard for human bodies not to sink beneath such an infliction. When He says, Not as I will, but as you will, He truly wishes that they would not suffer, lest their faith should fail in their sufferings, since we would all prefer to attain the glory of our joint inheritance with Him without the hardship of sharing in His Passion.

He says, Not as I will, but as you will, because it is the Father's will for the strength to drink the cup to pass from Him to them, so that the Devil might be vanquished not so much by Christ as by His disciples also.

St. Augustine of Hippo: As a man, Christ thus shows a certain private human will. In this, He who is our head represents both His own will and ours when He says, Let it pass from me. For this was His human will, choosing something for Himself. But because as a man He would be righteous and guide Himself by God's will, He adds, Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. It is as if He says to us: "Mankind, see yourself in Me. You can will something for yourself, and even though God's will is different, this is permitted to human frailty."²

St. Leo the Great: This statement from the Head is the health of the whole body; this saying is an instruction to the faithful, an encouragement to the confessor, and a crown for the martyr. For who could vanquish the world's hatred, the whirlwind of temptations, or the terrors of persecutors, if Christ did not in all and for all say to the Father, Your will be done?³

Let all the children of the Church, then, offer this prayer, so that when the pressure of some mighty temptation lies upon them, they may embrace endurance in their suffering, disregarding its terrors.

Origen of Alexandria: And though Jesus went only a little forward, they could not watch one hour in His absence. Let us therefore pray that Jesus may never depart even a little from us.

St. John Chrysostom: He finds them sleeping, both because it was a late hour of the night and because their eyes were heavy with sorrow.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: When He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping, He rebuked Peter, saying, Could you not watch one hour with me? He addresses Peter rather than the others because he had boasted most loudly that he would not be offended.

St. John Chrysostom: But as they had all said the same thing, He charges them all with weakness. They had chosen to die with Christ, and yet they could not even watch with Him.

Origen of Alexandria: Finding them sleeping, He rouses them with a word to listen and commands them to watch: Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation. This means that first we should watch, and while watching, pray. The one who watches is the one who does good works and is careful not to fall into any dark doctrine, for the prayer of the watchful is heard in this way.

St. Jerome: It is impossible for the human mind not to be tempted. Therefore, He does not say, "Watch and pray that you are not tempted," but rather, that you enter not into temptation—that is, so that temptation does not vanquish you.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: He explains why He encouraged them to pray that they might not enter into temptation by adding, For the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He does not say this of Himself, but addresses it to them.

St. Jerome: This is a warning against those rash people who think that whatever they believe, they can perform. The more confident we are of our zeal, the more we should be distrustful of the frailty of the flesh.

Origen of Alexandria: Here it should be asked whether, just as all people's flesh is weak, all people's spirit is willing, or whether this is true only of the saints. We should also ask whether, in unbelievers, the spirit is not also dull, just as the flesh is weak.

In another sense, the flesh is weak only in those whose spirit is willing and who, with their willing spirit, mortify the deeds of the flesh. It is these, then, whom He would have watch and pray that they should not enter into temptation. For the more spiritual someone is, the more careful he should be that his goodness does not suffer a great fall.

Remigius of Auxerre: Alternatively, in these words He shows that He took real flesh from the Virgin and had a real soul, saying that His spirit is willing to suffer, but His flesh is weak in fearing the pain of the Passion.

Origen of Alexandria: I conclude there were two ways in which this cup of Passion might pass from the Lord. If He were to drink it, it would pass away from Him, and afterward from the whole human race as well. If He were not to drink it, it would perhaps pass from Him, but it would not pass from humanity. He therefore wished that it would pass from Him in such a way that He would not taste its bitterness at all, yet only if this were possible while preserving the righteousness of God. If it were not possible, He was willing to drink it, so that it might pass from Him and from the whole human race, rather than shun drinking it against His Father's will.

St. John Chrysostom: The fact that He prays for this a second and a third time stems from the feelings belonging to human frailty, through which He also feared death, thus giving assurance that He was truly made man. For in Scripture, when anything is repeated a second and third time, that is the greatest proof of its truth and reality. For example, Joseph says to Pharaoh, And for that you saw it twice, it is proof of the thing being established by God (Genesis 41:32).

St. Jerome: Alternatively, He prays a second time that if Nineveh, or the Gentile world, cannot be saved unless the gourd (that is, the Jews) is withered, His Father's will may be done. This is not contrary to the Son's will, who Himself speaks through the Prophet: I am content to do your will, O God (Psalm 40:8).

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Alternatively, He bore in His own body all the infirmities of us, His disciples, who would suffer, and He nailed to His cross all that distresses us. Therefore, that cup cannot pass from Him unless He drinks it, because we cannot suffer except through His passion.

St. Jerome: Christ alone prays for all, just as He alone suffers for all. Their eyes were heavy—that is, an oppression and stupor came upon them as their denial drew near.

Origen of Alexandria: I suppose that the eyes of their body were not as affected as the eyes of their mind, because the Spirit had not yet been given to them. Therefore, He does not rebuke them but goes again and prays, teaching us that we should not lose heart but should persevere in prayer until we obtain what we have begun to ask.

St. Jerome: He prayed the third time so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word might be established.

Rabanus Maurus: Or, the Lord prayed three times to teach us to pray for pardon for past sins, defense against present evil, and protection from future perils. He also teaches us that we should address every prayer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that our spirit, soul, and body should be kept in safety.

St. Augustine of Hippo: It is not an absurd interpretation to say that our Lord prayed three times because of the threefold temptation of His Passion. The fear of death is opposed to the temptation of curiosity, for as one is a yearning for the knowledge of things, the other is the fear of losing that knowledge. The dread of disgrace and insult is opposed to the desire for honor or applause. The fear of pain is opposed to the desire for pleasure.⁴

Remigius of Auxerre: Or, He prays three times for the Apostles, and for Peter in particular, who was to deny Him three times.

1. de Cons. Ev., iii, 4
2. in Ps. 32, enar. 2
3. Serm., 58, 5
4. Quaest Ev., i, 47