Holy Week Day 4 • Thursday, April 2

Church family, as we continue through Holy Week, today we find ourselves in one of the most tender and revealing moments in the life of Jesus—His time in the Garden of Gethsemane. These verses in Matthew 26:36–46 give us a glimpse of Jesus in a way that feels deeply personal and vulnerable.

Here, we don’t see Jesus performing strength or pretending the weight of what lies ahead is light. No, we see Jesus in anguish. He is honest about the sorrow pressing on His soul. He grieves deeply, and He prays openly.

This is such a powerful and deeply moving moment. Jesus feels the full weight of what is coming—betrayal, suffering, separation, and the cross. And yet, in the middle of that crushing sorrow, He surrenders.

What strikes me most about this moment is that Jesus doesn’t surrender because it’s easy. He doesn’t surrender because He’s detached from the pain or because He’s somehow unaffected by it. He surrenders because He completely trusts the Father.

This is one of the clearest and most humbling pictures of trust in all of Scripture.

I want you to see something here: Jesus understands pressure. He understands sorrow. He understands the cost of obedience. He is not distant from our pain—He stepped fully into it.

And because of that, there’s an invitation for us in this moment. The way of Jesus includes surrender.

But this isn’t shallow or performative surrender. It’s not just saying the right words or going through the motions. It’s real surrender—the kind that trusts God even when the way forward feels costly.

Gethsemane reminds us that surrender doesn’t mean the absence of struggle. It doesn’t mean pretending that obedience is easy. It means trusting God enough to obey Him in the middle of the struggle.

As we reflect on this passage, let me ask you this:

This is a question worth sitting with. It’s not an easy question to answer, but it’s one we all need to wrestle with.

Maybe for you, surrender looks like letting go of control over a situation you’ve been trying to manage on your own. Or maybe it’s saying “yes” to something God is calling you to, even though it feels overwhelming or outside of your comfort zone.

Or perhaps it’s trusting Him with a heartbreak, a loss, or a dream that hasn’t turned out the way you thought it would.

Whatever it is, surrender will always feel costly. That’s part of what makes it so significant. It’s not meant to be casual or convenient—it’s meant to be an act of trust, of laying everything before God and saying, “Not as I will, but as You will.”

Let’s take a closer look at how Jesus prays in this moment and what it teaches us about surrender and trust.

1. Jesus Prays Honestly
What stands out to me most about Jesus’ prayer is how raw and honest it is. He doesn’t try to hide His emotions or put on a brave face. He pours out His heart to the Father, even asking if there’s another way: “Let this cup pass from me.”

This reminds us that we don’t have to pretend with God. We don’t have to hide our fears, our doubts, or our struggles. We can bring all of it to Him—the good, the bad, and the messy. Prayer is meant to be a place where we’re fully known and fully loved.

2. Jesus Shows Us the Cost of Surrender
It’s important that we see Jesus’ anguish here because it reminds us that surrender is not easy. It wasn’t easy for Him, and it won’t always be easy for us either.

But seeing His anguish also gives us hope. Jesus knows what it is to wrestle with surrender. He knows what it feels like to face the cost of obedience. And because He understands, He can walk with us through our own moments of struggle.

3. True Surrender Requires Trust
When we ask, “What does true surrender look like in real life?” the answer is right here in Gethsemane.

True surrender doesn’t mean we stop wrestling or struggling. It doesn’t mean we suddenly feel at peace with everything God is asking of us. It means we trust Him enough to lay everything at His feet and say, “Your will, not mine.”

This kind of trust isn’t something we muster up on our own. It’s something we learn and grow into as we walk with God. The more we experience His faithfulness, the more we’re able to trust Him—especially in the hard moments.

4. We Can Trust Jesus with Our Pain
Finally, Gethsemane reminds us that we can trust Jesus with our pain because He’s been there. He doesn’t ask us to do something He hasn’t done Himself. He knows what it is to feel overwhelmed, to grieve, and to wrestle with obedience.

And because He’s been there, He walks with us now. Whatever pain or struggle you’re facing, you don’t face it alone. Jesus sees you, understands you, and carries you through it.

This is who Jesus is: He is honest in sorrow and steadfast in surrender. He doesn’t hide the weight of what He’s carrying, but He doesn’t turn away from obedience either. He is fully yielded to the Father, even in the midst of agony.

And because of that, we can trust Him.

Let’s take a moment to pray together:

Father, teach me to trust You like Jesus trusted You. Help me to bring my full heart to You—my fears, my struggles, my longings—and lay them at Your feet. Strengthen me to surrender what I’ve been trying to hold onto. Help me to trust Your goodness, even when obedience feels costly. Thank You for Jesus, who shows me what true surrender looks like. Amen.

Celebration family, as we reflect on Gethsemane today, let’s allow it to shape how we approach both prayer and surrender. Let’s be honest with God about what we’re feeling, and let’s trust Him enough to say, “Not as I will, but as You will.”

The weight of surrender is heavy, but the grace of Jesus is greater.

No matter what you’re carrying today, I want you to remember this: Jesus understands. He’s with you in the struggle, and He will give you the strength to trust Him, one step at a time.

Let’s walk forward together in faith, knowing that He is faithful.

Blessings,
Pastor David