Yet Not as I will, But as You Will

Editor’s note: Today is Good Friday, the day that our Lord Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice so that we could be saved. What obedience! Enjoy this excerpt from His Mighty Strength today and share with a friend!

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Perhaps no event in the life of Jesus more powerfully demonstrates the radical nature of His dependence on God and His obedience to God’s will than the prayer He offered up in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before His crucifixion.

Jesus, like everyone else living during the Roman Empire, knew full well the brutality that was execution by crucifixion. The drawn-out process would be utterly humiliating and excruciating. Jesus knew that He would feel, as any human being would, the full force of degradation and pain, trauma and betrayal, injustice and hopelessness. As a human, He was anxious. He told His disciples before He entered the interior of the garden,

My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. — Matthew 26:38

Once Jesus was by Himself, He fell face to the ground and prayed:

My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine. — Matthew 26:39 NLT

He prayed this prayer not just once, but three times.

• Jesus pleaded for a stay of execution.

Could anyone blame Him? Surely, by this time He knew there was no other way for salvation to be made available to the entire human race. He was the spotless lamb, the Messiah about whom the Old Testament prophets wrote. He was the sinless Son of God. He had not cratered to any temptation. This was the only possible solution. If not Jesus, then who? If not Jesus, then humanity would be without hope. Yet Jesus petitioned the Father to see if there might be another way.

Jesus finished all three prayers with a declaration that had been true throughout His entire thirty-three years walking this earth. He surrendered himself to his Father:

Yet not as I will, but as You will.

This is the climax, the crescendo of Jesus’ life purpose. The gospel texts don’t record the Father’s answer, but Jesus’ actions make it clear that He understood the Father’s will.

Then He returned to the disciples and said to them,

Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes My betrayer! — Matthew 26:45–46

You can sense the resolve in Jesus’ voice. He had received a clear answer. It was the Father’s will for Jesus to face the cross for the love of humankind. “Rise,” He said. “Let us go!” Jesus was saying, “I know without a doubt what I am to do. There is no turning back. Let’s get this done!” That is a picture of total surrender to the will of the Father. Of course, we all know how this story turned out.

Three days later, Jesus was alive again and the path had been laid for all people to come into an eternal relationship with God.

Excerpted with permission from His Mighty Strength by Randy Frazee, copyright Randy Frazee.

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Your Turn

Jesus showed His utter dependence upon God the Father. That is the dependence that we need to walk in, as well. We are desperate for His will in our lives! How better to honor the sacrifice of the Savior than to walk with Him? ~ Devotionals Daily