Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 26:44

"And he left them again, and went away, and prayed a third time, saying again the same words." — Matthew 26:44 (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.