Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 26:42

"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." — Matthew 26:42 (ASV)

Jesus returns to pray “the same thing.” As Jesus learned obedience (Hebrews 5:7–9), so he became the supreme model for his own teaching. In the first garden “Not your will but mine” changed Paradise to desert. Now “Not my will but yours” brings anguish to the man who prayed it but transforms the desert into the kingdom.