And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, {s} let this {t} cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

(s) Let it pass me, and not touch me.

(t) That is, which is at hand, and is offered and prepared for me: an idiom which the Hebrews use for the wrath of God, and the punishment he sends. See Geneva Mt 20:22.

People's New Testament

26:39 And he went a little further. About a stone's cast (Lu 22:41).

If it be possible. If it were possible to save men, and carry out the divine work of redeeming them.

Let this cup pass from me. This cup is the betrayal, the trial, the mocking, the scourging, the cross, and all besides which our thoughts cannot reach.

But as thou wilt. This is an example of perfect faith--the faith by which alone answers to prayer can be obtained. He that insists on his will, when it is contrary to the will of God, fails in faith.

Wesley's Notes

26:39 And going a little farther - About a stone's cast, Luke 22:41 - So that the apostles could both see and hear him still. If it be possible, let this cup pass from me - And it did pass from him quickly. When he cried unto God with strong cries and tears, he was heard in that which he feared. God did take away the terror and severity of that inward conflict.

Scofield Reference Notes

[2] cup

The "cup" must be interpreted by our Lord's own use of that symbol in speaking of His approaching sacrificial death Mt 20:22 Jn 18:11. In view of Jn 10:17,18, He could have been in no fear of an unwilling death. The value of the account of the agony in the Garden is in the evidence it affords that He knew fully what the agony of the cross would mean when His soul was made an offering for sin, Isa 53:10, in the hiding of the Father's face. Knowing the cost to the utmost, he voluntarily paid it.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

26:36-46 He who made atonement for the sins of mankind, submitted himself in a garden of suffering, to the will of God, from which man had revolted in a garden of pleasure. Christ took with him into that part of the garden where he suffered his agony, only those who had witnessed his glory in his transfiguration. Those are best prepared to suffer with Christ, who have by faith beheld his glory. The words used denote the most entire dejection, amazement, anguish, and horror of mind; the state of one surrounded with sorrows, overwhelmed with miseries, and almost swallowed up with terror and dismay. He now began to be sorrowful, and never ceased to be so till he said, It is finished. He prayed that, if possible, the cup might pass from him. But he also showed his perfect readiness to bear the load of his sufferings; he was willing to submit to all for our redemption and salvation. According to this example of Christ, we must drink of the bitterest cup which God puts into our hands; though nature struggle, it must submit. It should be more our care to get troubles sanctified, and our hearts satisfied under them, than to get them taken away. It is well for us that our salvation is in the hand of One who neither slumbers nor sleeps. All are tempted, but we should be much afraid of entering into temptation. To be secured from this, we should watch and pray, and continually look unto the Lord to hold us up that we may be safe. Doubtless our Lord had a clear and full view of the sufferings he was to endure, yet he spoke with the greatest calmness till this time. Christ was a Surety, who undertook to be answerable for our sins. Accordingly he was made sin for us, and suffered for our sins, the Just for the unjust; and Scripture ascribes his heaviest sufferings to the hand of God. He had full knowledge of the infinite evil of sin, and of the immense extent of that guilt for which he was to atone; with awful views of the Divine justice and holiness, and the punishment deserved by the sins of men, such as no tongue can express, or mind conceive. At the same time, Christ suffered being tempted; probably horrible thoughts were suggested by Satan that tended to gloom and every dreadful conclusion: these would be the more hard to bear from his perfect holiness. And did the load of imputed guilt so weigh down the soul of Him of whom it is said, He upholdeth all things by the word of his power? into what misery then must those sink whose sins are left upon their own heads! How will those escape who neglect so great salvation?