Commentaries:
We can learn much of Jesus' submission to the Father from His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His crucifixion. This comes from the heart of a man described as meek and lowly of heart. His words paint a vivid picture of what was going through His mind. Sometime during His life, He had likely witnessed a crucifixion, but even if He had not, He certainly had heard one described. As quick of mind as He was, He could clearly envision what lay before Him. Undoubtedly, He anticipated great bodily pain, understanding Isaiah 52:14 to predict He would suffer pain as nobody else ever had. In addition, He had to bear the pressure of resisting the urge to break faith and sin under the burden of the guilt of all mankind's sins that would come upon Him.
He also knew He would have the embarrassment of all the indignities heaped upon Him, knowing full well He was innocent. He had to battle demons throughout His ordeal. Perhaps the most dreaded burden of all was knowing that He would be cut off from God and have to bear everything alone. Yet He did it! Jesus—by faith—consciously chose to submit to the Father based on His knowledge of the Most High.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Sovereignty and Its Fruit: Part Ten
Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record Christ praying to the Father on this fateful night, asking if He might “let this cup pass from Me.” He mentions the same “cup” in rebuking Peter's assault on Malchus: “So Jesus said to Peter, 'Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?'” (John 18:11).
The image of drinking from a cup is a metaphor for His submission to the Father's will, while the cup itself stands for the enormous burden His submission would require (Luke 22:42-44). Despite desiring that some other way could be found to accomplish the payment for mankind's sins, Jesus bowed to His Father's will in the matter and gave Himself up to the arresting troops.
Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing Malchus' Ear (Part Two)
A number of years ago, bumper stickers proudly bearing the motto, "God is my co-pilot," became popular. A short time later, astute individuals began promoting an answer to this pithy saying: "If God is your co-pilot, switch seats!"
This vignette shows two sides of the same coin. On the one hand, we are most comfortable leading the way in whatever charge captures our fancy at the time, trusting—often erroneously—that God is right there with us. On the other hand is the unassailable truth that, if God is not leading the charge, we are in the wrong role—and dabbling with disaster.
Allowing God to direct our lives, without continually advising, complaining, recommending, suggesting, and giving input on the details, goes against the natural inclination within us. Yet, experience has taught us that it is only when we finally give up, ceding sovereignty to the Almighty—who really had it all along—that things begin moving. Ultimately, matters work out far better with God in control than anything we could accomplish with our limited vision. Truly, the crucial first step on the journey—surrendering—is most often the hardest. A man can be nominally obedient to God's instructions, yet still not be surrendered to the rule of God.
The story of Jonah is about such a man, a prophet who grudgingly complies but never truly surrenders to God's will. Just three verses into the book, he is fleeing from God's presence rather than yielding to His instructions. God sends a mighty tempest to create a crisis, a point of decision on the part of Jonah and the sailors (Jonah 1:4-16). To a degree, Jonah surrenders when he instructs the sailors to cast him overboard, yet it appears to be the capitulation of a man giving up on life rather than giving his life in obedience (Jonah 1:12).
When God commands Jonah a second time, he complies, preaching the message God gave him for the Ninevites (Jonah 3:1-4). However, he becomes angry when God's Word—through him—accomplishes its purpose, and Nineveh repents (see Isaiah 55:11). Jonah is obedient in terms of following orders, but he does not surrender to God's will when things turn out differently than he expects. As when he was on the ship, he would have rather died than live with circumstances that were not to his liking (Jonah 4:3, 8-9). Up to the abrupt ending of the book, we see a nominally obedient Jonah, yet a man never fully surrendered to the rule of God. The last we see of him, he is in despair over a life that is not according to his terms.
In stark contrast to Jonah is Jesus Christ. He did not seek His own will, but that of the Father (John 5:30). He always did what pleased the Father (John 8:29)—not merely obeying, but surrendering to His Sovereign. He taught His followers to pray, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Luke 11:2). The night before He surrendered His life for us, He plaintively told His Father, "Not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36); "Your will be done" (Matthew 26:42); and ". . . nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done" (Luke 22:42). "I do not want to go through this," He said in essence, "but, Father, I surrender."
The outcome of this supreme surrender to God's rule is without parallel. Not only have all things been put under Jesus Christ, but the way was opened for the blotting out of sin and the beginning of the restoration of the relationship between God and man that was fractured in the Garden of Eden. When a man cedes sovereignty to the Almighty, things begin moving and ultimately work out far better than anything that could be accomplished with limited human vision.
The apostle Paul teaches in Ephesians 5:24 that "the church is subject to Christ." An ancillary meaning of this is that the church is composed of those who are subject to Christ. The church—the Body of Christ—consists of those who are subject to the rule of God in all of its implications and not merely grudgingly obedient. Those who are regenerated by the Father are those who, like their Elder Brother, regularly and continually come to the place in their lives where they say, "Father, I surrender. Not my will, but Yours, be done." When we truly give up, we tell God that we are finally ready for Him to act.
David C. Grabbe
Surrender
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Luke 22:42:
Matthew 26:39
Matthew 26:39
Mark 13:37
Colossians 3:15
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Hebrews 2:14-15
James 5:14-15
James 5:14-15
James 5:15-16
James 5:15-18
