Why Did Jesus Pray For the Cup to Pass?

During the small groups Sunday, we were talking about God’s omniscience (the state of knowing everything). The question was raised: If Jesus is God, and, therefore, knows everything, why did He pray in the Garden of Gethsemane for the cup to be removed -- since as all-knowing God, He would already know that it could not be removed.

The question is a great one and a tough one.

The Bible says that Jesus is ALL God….
“He who has always been God by nature, .... (Phil. 2:6)
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and exact imprint of His nature.” (Hebrews 1:3)
But He is also ALL Man.
“He had to be made like his brothers in every way.” (Hebrews 2:17)

Nothing in the Scriptures indicates that Jesus gave up any of His divine qualities when He became a man. He is not less than God. He is God PLUS all that manhood brings.

The picture of Jesus in the Gospels is that sometimes His knowledge is limited, like in the Garden. But at other times, He does know things that only God could know. (Like with the woman at the well.)

So the picture is of Jesus as a man drawing on His omniscience as God occasionally, while being content for much of the time not to do so. Our answer, put simply, is that Jesus had all the power of God, but voluntarily chose not to use it most of the time in submission to the Father.