The setting where Jesus fought His greatest battle was fittingly an olive grove. As He knelt among the trees and prayed to His Father, He foreshadowed the process the olives around Him would soon undergo. On the tree they were safe and protected, but the time was coming when men would gather them for another purpose. They would be cleaned, then crushed, their skin broken open in the process. They would undergo grinding, mixing, and separation in order to reach a place of refinement. It would be brutal, but it would result in something precious being extracted: olive oil.

Jesus would undergo a brutal crushing in the next few days. His time in the Garden of Gethsemane would start the painful process. He hopes His three closest disciples can give Him comfort and companionship in the dark hours ahead. In Matthew 26:38 He says to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

The struggle He endures is so intense, in Luke 22:43 we read “his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” An angel from heaven appears to strengthen Jesus (v. 44). But sadly, the disciples can’t watch with Him. They’re asleep on the ground nearby, exhausted by all they’ve experienced in the last few days. Three times He asks them to pray … so they won’t succumb to the temptations they’ll soon face … but each time He’s forced to retreat and pray alone.

He begins by asking for deliverance from the cross: My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. But each time He ends His prayer with yet not my will, but thine be done. When Jesus had “prayed His way to perfect calm” (taken from MacLaren’s commentary) the battle was won. The Son would submit to the Father’s will and become the final sacrifice for sin. The way of salvation would be opened for us!

The writer of Hebrews throws additional light on this momentous struggle in chapter 5:7-8. “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.”

Jesus was already God’s Son. He was equal with the Father and Holy Spirit. He came into the world as its Creator and Sustainer. Yet He had something to learn while on earth. Unlike in heaven, Jesus would have to choose as a man to glorify God with His life. He had to learn obedience while robed in human flesh.

He knew what was coming. In John 12:23-24 He announces to the crowd, which included Greeks eager to meet Him, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

Satan had tried to deter Jesus from His purpose before. In the wilderness he offered Him shortcuts to glory. Now, in Gethsemane, he would attempt to derail the plan to save humanity by turning Jesus away from the cross. Jesus had to decide. Would He obey the Father, or follow His human inclinations for self-preservation?

Through suffering Jesus learned obedience. And we can too.

Sometimes saying yes to God is easy (when we like doing what He’s asked). But what about the times when we don’t … when our plans run in the opposite direction? Then the cost of obedience is high. Probably the best description for the sin nature is willful disobedience. We may think “sin” is always vile, immoral, or savage. When we think of “sinners” we are more likely to picture drug addicts, violent criminals, or sex-crazed perverts than the nice couple who works hard and attends church every Sunday.

But at its core, sin is rebellion against God. It shows itself in an unwillingness to let Him decide what’s best for us and for the people around us. We like to be in control so we gravitate towards the sentiment in Frank Sinatra’s famous song, “I Did It My Way.” Jesus’ struggle in Gethsemane wasn’t just personal. He was showing us how to pray our way to a place of surrender, where we say not my will but yours be done.

Reverent submission is obeying the Father when we don’t feel like it. It’s obeying when we’re exhausted, weak, and facing spiritual attack from our enemy. It’s choosing to obey even in the face of torture or death. Jesus was strengthened as He waged this battle, and we will be too. Alan Redpath wrote, “If you look into His face and say, ‘Yes, Lord, whatever it costs,’ at that moment He’ll flood your life with His presence and power.”

It will require a whatever-it-takes loyalty to our Lord and Savior to say yes when we’d much rather say no. It will often mean suffering either the loss of control or the loss of comfort. I like how C. S. Lewis puts it: “The full acting out of the self’s surrender to God therefore demands pain. This action, to be perfect, must be done from the pure will to obey, in the absence, or in the teeth, of inclination.”

But I must add one more quote as we consider the painful process of obedience. In the end, we obey out of love, not just duty. As Richard Foster wrote, “Holy obedience … is joy, not grit … a cheerful revolt against self and pride.”

When we consider where Jesus came from – the glories of heaven – and what He was willing to endure for our salvation, it becomes a joy to let Him rule over us. The lyrics to John Peterson’s hymn remind us of who Jesus is and what He gave up when He “humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).

All glory to Jesus, begotten of God. The great I Am is He. Creator, Sustainer, but wonder of all: The Lamb of Calvary.

To think that the Guardian of planets in space, the Shepherd of the stars, is tenderly leading the church of His love by hands with crimson scars.

The King of all kings and the Lord of all lords, He reigns in glory now. Some day He is coming earth’s kingdom to claim and ev’ry knee shall bow.

His obedience was richly rewarded. And one day ours will be too.