Did the Son ask the Father to spare Him the agony of the cross?

And he went forward a little, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. Mt 26:39


What was Christ asking for? Was this a show of His human side, in a moment of weakness, asking His Father to prevent Him from going through the coming hours of physical torture of the crucifixion? This is a prevalent take on the passage, and understandable. What human wouldn't dread such a thing?


Or was He asking for something else?


I think He was asking for something deeper than being spared the crucifixion.


Would love to read comments on this.

 

I'd like to read more comments from others before commenting. But I do think it goes much deeper than Him dreading the agony of the cross, AND, that He could have called it off at anytime:

Or thinkest thou that I cannot beseech my Father, and he shall even now send me more than twelve legions of angels? How then should the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be? Mt 26:53-54

But how then could the scriptures be fulfilled if He called for those legions of angels? All that was happening at that very moment was fulfillment of scripture:


In that hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a robber with swords and staves to seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching, and ye took me not. But all this is come to pass, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left him, and fled. Mt 26:55,56


And the 'request' itself [v 39] that Jesus made to His Father was also the fulfillment of scripture in a huge way as will be seen.


For some reason this makes me think of these incidents from the past:


And Jehovah said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Jehovah repented of the evil which he said he would do unto his people. Ex 32:9-10,14

and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Mt 3:9


I believe God could have made a great nation out of Moses, or raised up children unto Abraham of those stones; and I believe He could have/would have sent twelve legions of angels to His rescue. But how then could the scriptures be fulfilled? He not only loved the Son and the Son loved Him. We were the apples of His eye too.
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Hymn_Ten Thousand Angels

......i never even knew there was such a song untill recently; cool........


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jziHGn2V1E
----------------------------


Ten Thousand Angels
Words and Music by Ray Overholt


Matthew 26:53
"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father,
and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?"


http://www.my.homewithgod.com/heaven...s2/angels.html


They bound the hands of Jesus in the garden where He prayed;
They led Him thro' the streets in shame.
They spat upon the Savior so pure and free from sin;
They said, "Crucify Him; He's to blame."


He could have called ten thousand angels
To destroy the world and set Him free.
He could have called ten thousand angels,
But He died alone, for you and me.

Upon His precious head they placed a crown of thorns;
They laughed and said, "Behold the King!"
They struck Him and they cursed Him and mocked His holy name
All alone He suffered everything.

He could have called ten thousand angels
To destroy the world and set Him free.
He could have called ten thousand angels,
But He died alone, for you and me.

When they nailed Him to the cross, His mother stood nearby,
He said, "Woman, behold thy son!"
He cried, "I thirst for water," but they gave Him none to drink.
Then the sinful work of man was done.


He could have called ten thousand angels
To destroy the world and set Him free.
He could have called ten thousand angels,
But He died alone, for you and me.

To the howling mob He yielded; He did not for mercy cry.
The cross of shame He took alone.
And when He cried, "It's finished," He gave Himself to die;
Salvation's wondrous plan was done.


He could have called ten thousand angels
To destroy the world and set Him free.
He could have called ten thousand angels,
But He died alone, for you and me.

 

Amy,I agree that it did have the affect of letting us know that there was no other way.

IMO, if He WAS asking to circumvent the cross, He asked amiss; He asked for something that was not in accordance with the will of the Father, and I know He never did that. So I must conclude that something other was intended in that request.

You see, I believe He was impeccable.

 

The Son asked the Father to not leave Him in the grave...

...and was heard!

Jim, the way I read this passage the cup DID pass from Him because His prayer was heard.

Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear, Heb 5:7

Consider these prophetic utterances by the prophet David:


4 He asked life of thee, thou gavest it him, Even length of days for ever and ever. Ps 21


10 For thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. Ps 10


1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?.....
24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Neither hath he hid his face from him; But when he cried unto him, he heard. Ps 22


9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? Ps 30


17 Let me not be put to shame, O Jehovah; for I have called upon thee: Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol. Ps 31


4 The cords of death compassed me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The cords of Sheol were round about me; The snares of death came upon me.
6 In my distress I called upon Jehovah, And cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry before him came into his ears. Ps 18


16 He sent from on high, he took me; He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from them that hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
18 They came upon me in the day of my calamity; But Jehovah was my stay.
19 He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
20 Jehovah hath rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. Ps 18

Consider John's version of the same request:

5 ........ glorify thou me .......with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Jn 17

Consider Jonah as a type of Christ:

40 for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Mt 12


1 Then Jonah prayed unto Jehovah his God out of the fish`s belly.
2 And he said, I called by reason of mine affliction unto Jehovah, And he answered me; Out of the belly of Sheol cried I, And thou heardest my voice.
3 For thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, And the flood was round about me; All thy waves and thy billows passed over me.
4 And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes; Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; The deep was round about me; The weeds were wrapped about my head.
6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed upon me for ever: Yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit, O Jehovah my God.
7 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah; And my prayer came in unto thee, into thy holy temple.
8 They that regard lying vanities Forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of Jehovah.
10 And Jehovah spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Jonah 2



[but that ain't all, there's more; there's a judicial angle to this also.]

 

I believe the passage in MT 12 clearly 'points' to Jonah as a type of Christ in the grave, but the simile ends there.

Yes, I believe He was in great dread of what was coming. I don't think He was asking to avoid the cross though. He had never known anything but existence. Period. He had always been. Now He was on the verge of death and He was asking His Father to judge righteously and not leave Him in that state.

23 who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 1 Pet 2

 

Outstanding point! THANK YOU JOHN!

Consider the context of this passage also:

Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Jn 12:27

I happen to think the passage fully supports the notion that He indeed was NOT asking to be saved from the cross.