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- Jonathan Edwards - Christ's Agony
"Christ's Agony" by Jonathan Edwards
 "And
being in an agony he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as it
were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." - Luke 22:44
OUR Lord Jesus Christ, in his original nature, was infinitely above
all suffering, for he was "God over all, blessed for evermore;" but,
when he became man, he was not only capable of suffering, but
partook of that nature that is remarkably feeble and exposed to
suffering. The human nature, on account of its weakness, is in
Scripture compared to the grass of the field, which easily withers
and decays. So it is compared to a leaf; and to the dry stubble; and
to a blast of wind: and the nature of feeble man is said to be but
dust and ashes, to have its foundation in the dust, and to be
crushed before the moth.
It was this nature, with all its weakness
and exposedness to sufferings, which Christ, who is the Lord God
omnipotent, took upon him. He did not take the human nature on him
in its first, most perfect and vigorous state, but in that feeble
forlorn state which it is in since the fall; and therefore Christ is
called "a tender plant," and "a root out of a dry ground." Isa.
53:2. "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a
root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when
we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him."
Thus, as Christ's principal errand into the world was suffering, so,
agreeably to that errand, he came with such a nature and in such
circumstances, as most made way for his suffering; so his whole life
was filled up with suffering, he began to suffer in his infancy, but
his suffering increased the more he drew near to the close of his
life. His suffering after his public ministry began, was probably
much greater than before; and the latter part of the time of his
public ministry seems to have been distinguished by suffering.
The
longer Christ lived in the world, the more men saw and heard of him,
the more they hated him. His enemies were more and more enraged by
the continuance of the opposition that he made to their lusts; and
the devil having been often baffled by him, grew more and more
enraged, and strengthened the battle more and more against him: so
that the cloud over Christ's head grew darker and darker, as long as
he lived in the world, till it was in its greatest blackness when he
hung upon the cross and cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me! Before this, it was exceedingly dark, in the time of
his agony in the garden; of which we have an account in the words
now read; and which I propose to make the subject of my present
discourse. The word agony properly signifies an earnest strife, such
as is witnessed in wrestling, running, or fighting. And therefore in
Luke 13:24. "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say
unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able;" the word in
the original, translated strive, is agwnizesqe. "Agonize, to enter
in at the strait gate." The word is especially used for that sort of
strife, which in those days was exhibited in the Olympic games, in
which men strove for the mastery in running, wrestling, and other
such kinds of exercises; and a prize was set up that was bestowed on
the conqueror. Those, who thus contended, were, in the language then
in use, said to agonize.
Thus the apostle in his epistle to the
Christians of Corinth, a city of Greece, where such games were
annually exhibited, says in allusion to the strivings of the
combatants, "And every man that striveth for the mastery," in the
original, every one that agonizeth, "is temperate in all things."
The place where those games were held was called Agwn, or the place
of agony; and the word is particularly used in Scripture for that
striving in earnest prayer wherein persons wrestle with God: they are
said to agonize, or to be in agony, in prayer. So the word is used
Rom. 15:30. "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus
Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive
together with me in your prayers to God for me:" in the original
sunagwnizesqai moi, that ye agonize together with me. So Col. 4:12.
"Always laboring fervently for you in prayer, that ye may stand
perfect and complete in all the will of God:" in the original
agwnizwn agonizing for you. So that when it is said in the text that
Christ was in an agony, the meaning is, that his soul was in a great
and earnest strife and conflict. It was so in two respects:
1. As his soul was in a great and sore conflict with those terrible
and amazing views and apprehensions which he then had.
2. As he was at the same time in great labor and earnest strife
with God in prayer.
I propose therefore, in discoursing on the subject of Christ's
agony, distinctly to unfold it, under these two propositions,
I. That the soul of Christ in his agony in the garden had a sore
conflict with those terrible and amazing views and apprehensions, of
which he was then the subject.
II. That the soul of Christ in his agony in the garden had a great
and earnest labor and struggle with God in prayer.
I. The soul of Christ in his agony in the garden had a sore conflict
with those terrible amazing views and apprehensions, of which he was
then the subject.
In illustrating this proposition I shall endeavor to show,
1. What those views and apprehensions were.
2. That the conflict or agony of Christ's soul was occasioned by
those views and apprehensions.
3. That this conflict was peculiarly great and distressing; and,
4. What we may suppose to be the special design of God in giving
Christ those terrible views and apprehensions, and causing him to
suffer that dreadful conflict, before he was crucified.
I proposed to show,
First, What were those terrible views and amazing apprehensions
which Christ had in his agony. This may be explained by considering,
1. The cause of those views and apprehensions; and,
2. The manner in which they were then experienced.
1. The cause of those views and apprehensions, which Christ had in
his agony in the garden, was the bitter cup which he was soon after
to drink on the cross. The sufferings which Christ underwent in his
agony in the garden, were not his greatest sufferings; though they
were so very great. But his last sufferings upon the cross were his
principal sufferings; and therefore they are called "the cup that he
had to drink." The sufferings of the cross, under which he was
slain, are always in the Scriptures represented as the main
sufferings of Christ; those in which especially "he bare our sins in
his own body," and made atonement for sin. His enduring the cross,
his humbling himself, and becoming obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross, is spoken of as the main thing wherein his
sufferings appeared. This is the cup that Christ had set before him
in his agony. It is manifest that Christ had this in view at this
time, from the prayers which he then offered. According to Matthew,
Christ made three prayers that evening while in the garden of
Gethsemane, and all on this one subject, the bitter cup that he was
to drink. Of the first, we have an account in Matt. 26:39. "And he
went a little farther, and fell on his face and prayed, saying, O my
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless,
not as I will but as thou wilt:" of the second in the 42d verse, "He
went away again the second time and prayed, saying, O my Father, if
this cup may not pass from me, except I drink it, thy will be done:"
and of the third in the 44th verse, "And he left them, and went away
again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words." From this
it plainly appears what it was of which Christ had such terrible
views and apprehensions at that time. What he thus insists on in his
prayers, shows on what his mind was so deeply intent. It was his
sufferings on the cross, which were to be endured the next day, when
there should be darkness over all the earth, and at the same time a
deeper darkness over the soul of Christ, of which he had now such
lively views and distressing apprehensions.
2. The manner in which this bitter cup was now set in Christ's view.
(1.) He had a lively apprehension of it impressed at that time on
his mind. He had an apprehension of the cup that he was to drink
before. His principal errand into the the world was to drink that
cup, and he therefore was never unthoughtful of it, but always bore
it in his mind, and often spoke of it to his disciples. Thus Matt.
16:21. "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples
how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the
elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised
again the third day ." Again ch. 20:17, 18, 19. "And Jesus going up
to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said
unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall
be betrayed unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes, and they
shall condemn him to death. And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to
mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall
rise again." The same thing was the subject of conversation on the
mount with Moses and Elias when he was transfigured. So he speaks of
his bloody baptism, Luke 12:50. "But I have a baptism to be baptized
with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" He speaks of
it again to Zebedee's children, Matt. 20:22. "Are ye able to drink
of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the
baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able." He
spake of his being lifted up. John 8:28. 'Then said Jesus unto them,
When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am
he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught
me, I speak these things ." John 12:34. "The people answered him, We
have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how
sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of
man?" So he spake of destroying the temple of his body, John 2:19.
"Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in
three days I will raise it up ." And he was very much in speaking of
it a little before his agony, in his dying counsels to his disciples
in the 12th and 13th ch. of John. Thus this was not the first time
that Christ had this bitter cup in his view. On the contrary, he
seems always to have had it in view. But it seems that at this time
God gave him an extraordinary view of it. A sense of that wrath that
was to be poured out upon him, and of those amazing sufferings that
he was to undergo, was strongly impressed on his mind by the
immediate power of God; so that he had far more full and lively
apprehensions of the bitterness of the cup which he was to drink
than he ever had before, and these apprehensions were so terrible,
that his feeble human nature shrunk at the sight, and was ready to
sink.
2. The cup of bitterness was now represented as just at hand. He had
not only a more clear and lively view of it than before; but it was
now set directly before him, that he might without delay take it up
and drink it; for then, within that same hour, Judas was to come
with his band of men, and he was then to deliver up himself into
their hands to the end that he might drink this cup the next day;
unless indeed he refused to take it, and so made his escape from
that place where Judas would come; which he had opportunity enough
to do if he had been so minded. Having thus shown what those
terrible views and apprehensions were which Christ had in the time
of his agony; I shall endeavour to show,
II. That the conflict which the soul of Christ then endured was
occasioned by those views and apprehensions. The sorrow and distress
which his soul then suffered, arose from that lively, and full, and
immediate view which he had then given him of that cup of wrath; by
which God the Father did as it were set the cup down before him, for
him to take it and drink it. Some have inquired, what was the
occasion of that distress and agony, and many speculations there
have been about it, but the account which the Scripture itself gives
us is sufficiently full in this matter, and does not leave room for
speculation or doubt. The thing that Christ's mind was so full of at
that time was, without doubt, the same with that which his mouth was
so full of: it was the dread which his feeble human nature had of
that dreadful cup, which was vastly more terrible than
Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace. He had then a near view of that
furnace of wrath, into which he was to be cast; he was brought to
the mouth of the furnace that he might look into it, and stand and
view its raging flames, and see the glowings of its heat, that he
might know where he was going and what he was about to suffer. This
was the thing that filled his soul with sorrow and darkness, this
terrible sight as it were overwhelmed him. For what was that human
nature of Christ to such mighty wrath as this? it was in itself,
without the supports of God, but a feeble worm of the dust, a thing
that was crushed before the moth, none of God's children ever had
such a cup set before them, as this first being of every creature
had. But not to dwell any longer on this, I hasten to show,
III. That the conflict in Christ's soul, in this view of his last
sufferings, was dreadful, beyond all expression or conception. This
will appear,
1. From what is said of its dreadfulness in the history. By one
evangelist we are told, (Matt. 26:37.) "He began to be sorrowful and
very heavy; and by another, (Mark 14:33.) "And he taketh with him
Peter, and James, and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be
very heavy." These expressions hold forth the intense and
overwhelming distress that his soul was in. Luke's expression in the
text of his being in an agony, according to the signification of
that word in the original, implies no common degree of sorrow, but
such extreme distress that his nature had a most violent conflict
with it, as a man that wrestles with all his might with a strong
man, who labours and exerts his utmost strength to gain a conquest
over him.
2. From what Christ himself says of it, who was not wont to magnify
things beyond the truth. He says, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful
even unto death." Matt. 26:38. What language can more strongly
express the most extreme degree of sorrow? His soul was not only
"sorrowful," but "exceeding sorrowful;" and not only so, but because
that did not fully express the degree of his sorrow, he adds, "even
unto death;" which seems to intimate that the very pains and sorrows
of hell, of eternal death, had got hold upon him. The Hebrews were
wont to express the utmost degree of sorrow that any creature could
be liable to by the phrase, the shadow of death. Christ had now, as
it were, the shadow of death brought over his soul by the near view
which he had of that bitter cup that was now set before him.
3. From the effect which it had on his body, in causing that bloody
sweat that we read of in the text. In our translation it is said,
that "his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood, falling down
to the ground." The word rendered great drops, is in the original
qromboi, which properly signifies lumps or clots; for we may suppose
that the blood that was pressed out through the pores of his skin by
the violence of that inward struggle and conflict that there was,
when it came to be exposed to the cool air of the night, congealed
and stiffened, as is the nature of blood, and so fell off from him
not in drops, but in clots. If the suffering of Christ had
occasioned merely a violent sweat, it would have shown that he was
in great agony; for it must be an extraordinary grief and exercise
of mind that causes the body to be all of a sweat abroad in the open
air, in a cold night as that was, as is evident from John 18:18.
"And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of
coals, (for it was cold,) and they warmed themselves; and Peter
stood with them, and warmed himself." This was the same night in
which Christ had his agony in the garden. But Christ's inward
distress and grief was not merely such as caused him to be in a
violent and universal sweat, but such as caused him to sweat blood.
The distress and anguish of his mind was so unspeakably extreme as
to force his blood through the pores of his skin, and that so
plentifully as to fall in great clots or drops from his body to the
ground. I come now to show,
IV. What may be supposed to be the special end of God's giving
Christ beforehand these terrible views of his last sufferings; in
other words, why it was needful that he should have a more full and
extraordinary view of the cup that he was to drink, a little before
he drank it, than ever he had before; or why he must have such a
foretaste of the wrath of God to be endured on the cross, before the
time came that he was actually to endure it.
Answer - It was needful, in order that he might take the cup and
drink it, as knowing what he did. Unless the human nature of Christ
had had an extraordinary view given him beforehand of what he was to
suffer, he could not, as man, fully know beforehand what he was
going to suffer, and therefore could not, as man, know what he did
when he took the cup to drink it, because he would not fully have
known what the cup was--it being a cup that he never drank before.
If Christ had plunged himself into those dreadful sufferings,
without being fully sensible beforehand of their bitterness and
dreadfulness, he must have done he knew not what. As man, he would
have plunged himself into sufferings of the amount of which he was
ignorant, and so have acted blindfold; and of course his taking upon
him these sufferings could not have been so fully his own act.
Christ, as God, perfectly knew what these sufferings were; but it
was more needful also that he should know as man; for he was to
suffer as man, and the act of Christ in taking that cup was the act
of Christ as God man. But the man Christ Jesus hitherto never had
had experience of any such sufferings as he was now to endure on the
cross; and therefore he could not fully know what they were
beforehand, but by having an extraordinary view of them set before
him, and an extraordinary sense of them impressed on his mind. We
have heard of tortures that others have undergone, but we do not
fully know what they were, because we never experienced them; and it
is impossible that we should fully know what they were but in one of
these two ways, either by experiencing them, or by having a view
given of them, or a sense of them impressed in an extraordinary way.
Such a sense was impressed on the mind of the man Christ Jesus, in
the garden of Gethsemane, of his last sufferings, and that caused
his agony. When he had a full sight given him what that wrath of God
was that he was to suffer, the sight was overwhelming to him; it
made his soul exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Christ was going
to be cast into a dreadful furnace of wrath, and it was not proper
that he should plunge himself into it blindfold, as not knowing how
dreadful the furnace was. Therefore that he might not do so, God
first brought him and set him at the mouth of the furnace, that he
might look in, and stand and view its fierce and raging flames, and
might see where he was going, and might voluntarily enter into it
and bear it for sinners, as knowing what it was. This view Christ
had in his agony. Then God brought the cup that he was to drink, and
set it down before him, that he might have a full view of it, and
see what it was before he took it and drank it. If Christ had not
fully known what the dreadfulness of these sufferings was, before he
took them upon him, his taking them upon him could not have been
fully his own act as man; there could have been no explicit act of
his will about that which he was ignorant of; there could have been
no proper trial, whether he would be willing to undergo such
dreadful sufferings or not, unless he had known beforehand how
dreadful they were; but when he had seen what they were, by having
an extraordinary view given him of them, and then undertaken to
endure them afterwards; then he acted as knowing what he did; then
his taking that cup, and bearing such dreadful sufferings, was
properly his own act by an explicit choice; and so his love to
sinners, in that choice of his, was the more wonderful, as also his
obedience to God in it. And it was necessary that this extraordinary
view that Christ had of the cup he was to drink should be given at
that time, just before he was apprehended. This was the most proper
season for it, just before he took the cup, and while he yet had
opportunity to refuse the cup; for before he was apprehended by the
company led by Judas, he had opportunity to make his escape at
pleasure. For the place where he was, was without the city, where he
was not at all confined, and was a lonesome, solitary place; and it
was the night season; so that he might have gone from that place
where he would, and his enemies not have known where to have found
him. This view that he had of the bitter cup was given him while he
was yet fully at liberty, before he was given into the hands of his
enemies. Christ's delivering himself up into the hands of his
enemies, as he did when Judas came, which was just after his agony,
was properly his act of taking the cup in order to drink; for Christ
knew that the issue of that would be his crucifixion the next day.
These things may show us the end of Christ's agony, and the
necessity there was of such an agony before his last sufferings.
APPLICATION
1. Hence we may learn how dreadful Christ's last sufferings were. We
learn it from the dreadful effect which the bare foresight of them
had upon him in his agony. His last sufferings were so dreadful,
that the view which Christ had of them before overwhelmed him and
amazed him, as it is said he began to be sore amazed. The very sight
of these last sufferings was so very dreadful as to sink his soul
down into the dark shadow of death; yea, so dreadful was it, that in
the sore conflict which his nature had with it, he was all in a
sweat of blood, his body all over was covered with clotted blood,
and not only his body, but the very ground under him with the blood
that fell from him, which had been forced through his pores through
the violence of his agony. And if only the foresight of the cup was
so dreadful, how dreadful was the cup itself, how far beyond all
that can be uttered or conceived! Many of the martyrs have endured
extreme tortures, but from what has been said, there is all reason
to think those all were a mere nothing to the last sufferings of
Christ on the cross. And what has been said affords a convincing
argument that the sufferings which Christ endured in his body on the
cross, though they were very dreadful, were yet the least part of
his last sufferings; and that beside those, he endured sufferings in
his soul which were vastly greater. For if it had been only the
sufferings which he endured in his body, though they were very
dreadful, we cannot conceive that the mere anticipation of them
would have such an effect on Christ. Many of the martyrs, for aught
we know, have endured as severe tortures in their bodies as Christ
did. Many of the martyrs have been crucified, as Christ was; and yet
their souls have not been so overwhelmed. There has been no
appearance of such amazing sorrow and distress of mind either at the
anticipation of their sufferings, or in the actual enduring of them.
2. From what has been said, we may see the wonderful strength of the
love of Christ to sinners. What has been said shows the strength of
Christ's love two ways.
1. That it was so strong as to carry him through that agony that he
was then in. The suffering that he then was actually subject to, was
dreadful and amazing, as has been shown; and how wonderful was his
love that lasted and was upheld still! The love of any mere man or
angel would doubtless have sunk under such a weight, and never would
have endured such a conflict in such a bloody sweat as that of Jesus
Christ. The anguish of Christ's soul at that time was so strong as
to cause that wonderful effect on his body. But his love to his
enemies, poor and unworthy as they were, was stronger still. The
heart of Christ at that time was full of distress, but it was fuller
of love to vile worms: his sorrows abounded, but his love did much
more abound. Christ's soul was overwhelmed with a deluge of grief,
but this was from a deluge of love to sinners in his heart
sufficient to overflow the world, and overwhelm the highest
mountains of its sins. Those great drops of blood that fell down to
the ground were a manifestation of an ocean of love in Christ's
heart.
2. The strength of Christ's love more especially appears in this,
that when he had such a full view of the dreadfulness of the cup
that he was to drink, that so amazed him, he would notwithstanding
even then take it up, and drink it. Then seems to have been the
greatest and most peculiar trial of the strength of the love of
Christ, when God set down the bitter portion before him, and let him
see what he had to drink, if he persisted in his love to sinners;
and brought him to the mouth of the furnace that he might see its
fierceness, and have a full view of it, and have time then to
consider whether he would go in and suffer the flames of this
furnace for such unworthy creatures, or not. This was as it were
proposing it to Christ's last consideration what he would do; as
much as if it had then been said to him, 'Here is the cup that you
are to drink, unless you will give up your undertaking for sinners,
and even leave them to perish as they deserve. Will you take this
cup, and drink it for them, or not? There is the furnace into which
you are to be cast, if they are to be saved; either they must
perish, or you must endure this for them. There you see how terrible
the heat of the furnace is; you see what pain and anguish you must
endure on the morrow, unless you give up the cause of sinners. What
will you do? is your love such that you will go on? Will you cast
yourself into this dreadful furnace of wrath?' Christ's soul was
overwhelmed with the thought; his feeble human nature shrunk at the
dismal sight. It put him into this dreadful agony which you have
heard described; but his love to sinners held out. Christ would not
undergo these sufferings needlessly, if sinners could be saved
without. If there was not an absolute necessity of his suffering
them in order to their salvation, he desired that the cup might pass
from him. But if sinners, on whom he had set his love, could not,
agreeably to the will of God, be saved without his drinking it, he
chose that the will of God should be done. He chose to go on and
endure the suffering, awful as it appeared to him. And this was his
final conclusion, after the dismal conflict of his poor feeble human
nature, after he had had the cup in view, and for at least the space
of one hour, had seen how amazing it was. Still he finally resolved
that he would bear it, rather than those poor sinners whom he had
loved from all eternity should perish. When the dreadful cup was
before him, he did not say within himself, why should I, who am so
great and glorious a person, infinitely more honourable than all the
angels of heaven, Why should I go to plunge myself into such
dreadful, amazing torments for worthless wretched worms that cannot
be profitable to God, or me, and that deserve to be hated by me, and
not to be loved? Why should I, who have been living from all
eternity in the enjoyment of the Father's love, go to cast myself
into such a furnace for them that never can requite me for it? Why
should I yield myself to be thus crushed by the weight of divine
wrath, for them who have no love to me, and are my enemies? they do
not deserve any union with me, and never did, and never will do, any
thing to recommend themselves to me. What shall I be the richer for
having saved a number of miserable haters of God and me, who deserve
to have divine justice glorified in their destruction? Such,
however, was not the language of Christ's heart, in these
circumstances; but on the contrary, his love held out, and he
resolved even then, in the midst of his agony, to yield himself up
to the will of God, and to take the cup and drink it. He would not
flee to get out of the way of Judas and those that were with him,
though he knew they were coming, but that same hour delivered
himself voluntarily into their hands. When they came with swords and
staves to apprehend him, and he could have called upon his Father,
who would immediately have sent many legions of angels to repel his
enemies, and have delivered him, he would not do it; and when his
disciples would have made resistance, he would not suffer them, as
you may see in Matt. 26:51, and onward: "And, behold, one of them
which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword,
and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear.
Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into its place: for
all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest
thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he will presently give
me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the
scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? In that same hour
said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief,
with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching
in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But all this was done that
the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." And Christ,
instead of hiding himself from Judas and the soldiers, told them,
when they seemed to be at a loss whether he was the person whom they
sought; and when they seemed still somewhat to hesitate, being
seized with some terror in their minds, he told them so again, and
so yielded himself up into their hands, to be bound by them, after
he had shown them that he could easily resist them if he pleased,
when a single word spoken by him, threw them backwards to the
ground, as you may see in John 18:3, etc. "Judas then, having
received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and
Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns, and torches, and weapons.
Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went
forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of
Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he. As soon then as he had said
unto them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground." Thus
powerful, constant, and violent was the love of Christ; and the
special trial of his love above all others in his whole life seems
to have been in the time of his agony. For though his sufferings
were greater afterwards, when he was on the cross, yet he saw
clearly what those sufferings were to be, in the time of his agony;
and that seems to have been the first time that ever Christ Jesus
had a clear view what these sufferings were; and after this the
trial was not so great, because the conflict was over. His human
nature had been in a struggle with his love to sinners, but his love
had got the victory. The thing, upon a full view of his sufferings,
had been resolved on and concluded; and accordingly, when the moment
arrived, he actually went through with those sufferings.
But there are two circumstances of Christ's agony that do still make
the strength and constancy of his love to sinners the more
conspicuous.
1. That at the same time that he had such a view of the dreadfulness
of his sufferings, he had also an extraordinary view of the
hatefulness of the wickedness of those for whom those sufferings
were to make atonement. There are two things that render Christ's
love wonderful: 1. That he should be willing to endure sufferings
that were so great; and 2. That he should be willing to endure them
to make atonement for wickedness that was so great. But in order to
its being properly said, Christ of his own act and choice endured
sufferings that were so great, to make atonement for wickedness that
was so great, two things were necessary. 1. That he should have an
extraordinary sense how great these sufferings were to be, before he
endured them. This was given in his agony. And 2. That he should
also at the same time have an extraordinary sense how great and
hateful was the wickedness of men for which he suffered to make
atonement; or how unworthy those were for whom he died. And both
these were given at the same time. When Christ had such an
extraordinary sense how bitter his cup was to be, he had much to
make him sensible how unworthy and hateful that wickedness of
mankind was for which he suffered; because the hateful and malignant
nature of that corruption never appeared more fully than in the
spite and cruelty of men in these sufferings; and yet his love was
such that he went on notwithstanding to suffer for them who were
full of such hateful corruption.
It was the corruption and wickedness of men that contrived and
effected his death; it was the wickedness of men that agreed with
Judas, it was the wickedness of men that betrayed him, and that
apprehended him, and bound him, and led him away like a malefactor;
it was by men's corruption and wickedness that he was arraigned, and
falsely accused, and unjustly judged. It was by men's wickedness
that he was reproached, mocked, buffeted, and spit upon. It was by
men's wickedness that Barabbas was preferred before him. It was
men's wickedness that laid the cross upon him to bear, and that
nailed him to it, and put him to so cruel and ignominious a death.
This tended to give Christ an extraordinary sense of the greatness
and hatefulness of the depravity of mankind.
1. Because hereby in the time of his sufferings he had that
depravity set before him as it is, without disguise. When it killed
Christ, it appeared in its proper colors. Here Christ saw it in its
true nature, which is the utmost hatred and contempt of God; in its
ultimate tendency and desire, which is to kill God; and in its
greatest aggravation and highest act, which is killing a person that
was God.
2. Because in these sufferings he felt the fruits of that
wickedness. It was then directly leveled against himself, and
exerted itself against him to work his reproach and torment, which
tended to impress a stronger sense of its hatefulness on the human
nature of Christ. But yet at the same time, so wonderful was the
love of Christ to those who exhibited this hateful corruption, that
he endured those very sufferings to deliver them from the punishment
of that very corruption. The wonderfulness of Christ's dying love
appears partly in that he died for those that were so unworthy in
themselves, as all mankind have the same kind of corruptions in
their hearts, and partly in that he died for those who were not only
so wicked, but whose wickedness consists in being enemies to him; so
that he did not only die for the wicked, but for his own enemies;
and partly in that he was willing to die for his enemies at the same
time that he was feeling the fruits of their enmity, while he felt
the utmost effects and exertions of their spite against him in the
greatest possible contempt and cruelty towards him in his own
greatest ignominy, torments, and death; and partly in that he was
willing to atone for their being his enemies in these very
sufferings, and by that very ignominy, torment, and death that was
the fruit of it. The sin and wickedness of men, for which Christ
suffered to make atonement, was, as it were, set before Christ in
his view.
1. In that this wickedness was but a sample of the wickedness of
mankind; for the corruption of all mankind is of the same nature,
and the wickedness that is in one man's heart is of the same nature
and tendency as in another's. As in water, face answereth to face,
so the heart of man to man.
2. It is probable that Christ died to make atonement for that
individual actual wickedness that wrought his sufferings, that
reproached, mocked, buffeted, and crucified him. Some of his
crucifiers, for whom he prayed that they might be forgiven, while
they were in the very act of crucifying him, were afterwards, in
answer to his prayer, converted, by the preaching of Peter; as we
have an account of in the 2d chapter of Acts.
2. Another circumstance of Christ's agony that shows the strength of
his love, is the ungrateful carriage of his disciples at that time.
Christ's disciples were among those for whom he endured this agony,
and among those for whom he was going to endure those last
sufferings, of which he now had such dreadful apprehensions. Yet
Christ had already given them an interest in the benefits of those
sufferings. Their sins had already been forgiven them through that
blood that he was going to shed, and they had been infinite gainers
already by that dying pity and love which he had to them, and had
through his sufferings been distinguished from all the world
besides. Christ had put greater honour upon them than any other, by
making them his disciples in a more honorable sense than he had
done any other. And yet now, when he had that dreadful cup set
before him which he was going to drink for them, and was in such an
agony at the sight of it, he saw no return on their part but
indifference and ingratitude. When he only desired them to watch
with him, that he might be comforted in their company, now at this
sorrowful moment they fell asleep; and showed that they had not
concern enough about it to induce them to keep awake with him even
for one hour, though he desired it of them once and again. But yet
this ungrateful treatment of theirs, for whom he was to drink the
cup of wrath which God had set before him, did not discourage him
from taking it, and drinking it for them. His love held out to them;
having loved his own, he loved them to the end. He did not say
within himself when this cup of trembling was before him, Why should
I endure so much for those that are so ungrateful; why should I here
wrestle with the expectation of the terrible wrath of God to be
borne by me to-morrow, for them that in the mean time have not so
much concern for me as to keep awake with me when I desire it of
them even for one hour? But on the contrary, with tender and
fatherly compassions he excuses this ingratitude of his disciples,
and says, Matt. 26:41. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into
temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak;"
and went and was apprehended, and mocked, and scourged, and
crucified, and poured out his soul unto death, under the heavy
weight of God's dreadful wrath on the cross for them.
3d Inference. From what has been said, we may learn the
wonderfulness of Christ's submission to the will of God. Christ, as
he was a divine person, was the absolute sovereign of heaven and
earth, but yet he was the most wonderful instance of submission to
God's sovereignty that ever was. When he had such a view of the
terribleness of his last sufferings, and prayed if it were possible
that that cup might pass from him, i.e. if there was not an absolute
necessity of it in order to the salvation of sinners, yet it was
with a perfect submission to the will of God. He adds,
"Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." He chose rather that
the inclination of his human nature, which so much dreaded such
exquisite torments, should be crossed, than that God's will should
not take place. He delighted in the thought of God's will being
done; and when he went and prayed the second time, he had nothing
else to say but, "O my Father, if this cup may not pass from me
except I drink it, thy will be done;" and so the third time. What
are such trials of submission as any of us sometimes have in the
afflictions that we suffer in comparison of this? If God does but in
his providence signify it to be his will that we should part with a
child, how hardly are we brought to yield to it, how ready to be
unsubmissive and forward! Or if God lays his hand upon us in some
acute pain of body, how ready are we to be discontented and
impatient; when the innocent Son of God, who deserved no suffering
could quietly submit to sufferings inconceivably great, and say it
over and over, God's will be done! When he was brought and set
before that dreadful furnace of wrath into which he was to be cast,
in order that he might look into it and have a full view of its
fierceness, when his flesh shrunk at it, and his nature was in such
a conflict, that his body was all covered with a sweat of blood
falling in great drops to the ground, yet his soul quietly yielded
that the will of God should be done, rather than the will or
inclination of his human nature.
4th Infer. What has been said on this subject also shows us the
glory of Christ's obedience. Christ was subject to the moral law as
Adam was, and he was also subject to the ceremonial and judicial
laws of Moses; but the principal command that he had received of the
Father was, that he should lay down his life, that he should
voluntarily yield up himself to those terrible sufferings on the
cross. To do this was his principal errand into the world; and
doubtless the principal command that he received, was about that
which was the principal errand on which he was sent. The Father,
when he sent him into the world, sent him with commands concerning
what he should do in the world; and his chief command of all was
about that, which was the errand he was chiefly sent upon, which was
to lay down his life. And therefore this command was the principal
trial of his obedience. It was the greatest trial of his obedience,
because it was by far the most difficult command: all the rest were
easy in comparison of this. And the main trial that Christ had,
whether he would obey this command, was in the time of his agony;
for that was within an hour before he was apprehended in order to
his sufferings, when he must either yield himself up to them, or fly
from them. And then it was the first time that Christ had a full
view of the difficulty of this command; which appeared so great as
to cause that bloody sweat. Then was the conflict of weak human
nature with the difficulty, then was the sore struggles and
wrestling with the heavy trial he had, and then Christ got the
victory over the temptation, from the dread of his human nature. His
obedience held out through the conflict. Then we may suppose that
Satan was especially let loose to set in with the natural dread that
the human nature had of such torments, and to strive to his utmost
to dissuade Christ from going on to drink the bitter cup; for about
that time, towards the close of Christ's life, was he especially
delivered up into the hands of Satan to be tempted of him, more than
he was immediately after his baptism; for Christ says, speaking of
that time, Luke 22:53. "When I was daily with you in the temple, ye
stretched forth no hands against me; but this is your hour, and the
power of darkness." So that Christ, in the time of his agony, was
wrestling not only with overwhelming views of his last sufferings,
but he also wrestled, in that bloody sweat, with principalities and
powers -- he contended at that time with the great leviathan that
laboured to his utmost to tempt him to disobedience. So that then
Christ had temptations every way to draw him off from obedience to
God. He had temptations from his feeble human nature, that
exceedingly dreaded such torments; and he had temptations from men,
who were his enemies; and he had temptations from the ungrateful
carriage of his own disciples; and he had temptations from the
devil. He had also an overwhelming trial from the manifestation of
God's own wrath; when, in the words of Isaiah, it pleased the Lord
to bruise him and put him to grief. But yet he failed not, but got
the victory over all, and performed that great act of obedience at
that time to that same God that hid himself from him, and was
showing his wrath to him for men's sins, which he must presently
suffer. Nothing could move him away from his steadfast obedience to
God, but he persisted in saying, "Thy will be done:" expressing not
only his submission, but his obedience; not only his compliance with
the disposing will of God, but also with his perceptive will. God
had given him this cup to drink, and had commanded him to drink it,
and that was reason enough with him to drink it; hence he says, at
the conclusion of his agony, when Judas came with his band, "The cup
which my Father giveth me to drink, shall I not drink it?" John
18:11. Christ, at the time of his agony, had an inconceivably
greater trial of obedience than any man or any angel ever had. How
much was this trial of the obedience of the second Adam beyond the
trial of the obedience of the first Adam! How light was our first
father's temptation in comparison of this! And yet our first surety
failed, and our second failed not, but obtained a glorious victory,
and went and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Thus wonderful and glorious was the obedience of Christ, by
which he wrought out righteousness for believers, and which
obedience is imputed to them. No wonder that it is a sweet penalty
sown, and that God stands ready to bestow heaven as its reward on
all that believe on him.
5. What has been said shows us the sottishness of secure sinners in
being so fearless of the wrath of God. If the wrath of God was so
dreadful, that, when Christ only expected it, his human nature was
nearly overwhelmed with the fear of it, and his soul was amazed, and
his body all over in a bloody sweat; then how sottish are sinners,
who are under the threatening of the same wrath of God, and are
condemned to it, and are every moment exposed to it; and yet,
instead of manifesting intense apprehension, are quiet and easy, and
unconcerned; instead of being sorrowful and very heavy, go about
with a light and careless heart; instead of crying out in bitter
agony, are often gay and cheerful, and eat and drink, and sleep
quietly, and go on in sin, provoking the wrath of God more and more,
without any great matter of concern! How stupid and sottish are such
persons! Let such senseless sinners consider, that that misery, of
which they are in danger from the wrath of God, is infinitely more
terrible than that, the fear of which occasioned in Christ his agony
and bloody sweat. It is more terrible, both as it differs both in
its nature and degree, and also as it differs in its duration. It is
more terrible in its nature and degree. Christ suffered that which,
as it upheld the honor of the divine law, was fully equivalent to
the misery of the damned; and in some respect it was the same
suffering; for it was the wrath of the same God; but yet in other
respects it vastly differed. The difference does not arise from the
difference in the wrath poured out on one and the other, for it is
the same wrath, but from the difference of the subject, which may be
best illustrated from Christ's own comparison. Luke 23:31. "For if
they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the
dry?" Here he calls himself the green tree, and wicked men the dry,
intimating that the misery that will come on wicked men will be far
more dreadful than those sufferings which came on him, and the
difference arises from the different nature of the subject. The
green tree and the dry are both cast into the fire; but the flames
seize and kindle on the dry tree much more fiercely than on the
green. The sufferings that Christ endured differ from the misery of
the wicked in hell in nature and degree in the following respects.
1. Christ felt not the gnawings of a guilty, condemning conscience.
2. He felt no torment from the reigning of inward corruptions and
lusts as the damned do. The wicked in hell are their own tormentors,
their lusts are their tormentors, and being without restraint, (for
there is no restraining grace in hell,) their lusts will rage like
raging flames in their hearts. They shall be tormented with the
unrestrained violence of a spirit of envy and malice against God,
and against the angels and saints in heaven, and against one
another. Now Christ suffered nothing of this.
3. Christ had not to consider that God hated him. The wicked in hell
have this to make their misery perfect, they know that God perfectly
hates them without the least pity or regard to them, which will fill
their souls with inexpressible misery. But it was not so with
Christ. God withdrew his comfortable presence from Christ, and hid
his face from him, and so poured out his wrath upon him, as made him
feel its terrible effects in his soul; but yet he knew at the same
time that God did not hate him, but infinitely loved him. He cried
out of God's forsaking him, but yet at the same time calls him "My
God, my God!" knowing that he was his God still, though he had
forsaken him. But the wicked in hell will know that he is not their
God, but their judge and irreconcilable enemy.
4. Christ did not suffer despair, as the wicked do in hell. He knew
that there would be an end to his sufferings in a few hours; and
that after that he should enter into eternal glory. But it will be
far otherwise with you that are impenitent; if you die in your
present condition, you will be in perfect despair. On these
accounts, the misery of the wicked in hell will be immensely more
dreadful in nature and degree, than those sufferings with the fears
of which Christ's soul was so much overwhelmed.
2. It will infinitely differ in duration. Christ's sufferings lasted
but a few hours, and there was an eternal end to them, and eternal
glory succeeded. But you that are a secure, senseless sinner, are
every day exposed to be cast into everlasting misery, a fire that
never shall be quenched. If then the Son of God was in such
amazement, in the expectation of what he was to suffer for a few
hours, how sottish are you who are continually exposed to
sufferings, immensely more dreadful in nature and degree, and that
are to be without any end, but which must be endured without any
rest day or night for ever and ever! If you had a full sense of the
greatness of that misery to which you are exposed, and how dreadful
your present condition is on that account, it would this moment put
you into as dreadful an agony as that which Christ underwent; yea,
if your nature could endure it, one much more dreadful. We should
now see you fall down in a bloody sweat, wallowing in your gore, and
crying out in terrible amazement.
Having thus endeavored to explain and illustrate the former of the
two propositions mentioned in the commencement of this discourse, I
shall now proceed to show,
II. That the soul of Christ in his agony in the garden was in a
great and earnest strife and conflict in his prayer to God. The
labor and striving of Christ's soul in prayer was a part of his
agony, and was without doubt a part of what is intended in the text,
when it is said that Christ was in an agony; for, as we have shown,
the word is especially used in Scripture in other places for
striving or wrestling with God in prayer. From this fact, and from
the evangelist mentioning his being in agony, and his praying
earnestly in the same sentence, we may well understand him as
mentioning his striving in prayer as part of his agony. The words of
the text seem to hold forth as much as that Christ was in an agony
in prayer: "Being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly; and his
sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling to the ground."
This language seems to imply thus much, that the labour and
earnestness of Christ's soul was so great in his wrestling with God
in prayer, that he was in a mere agony, and all over in a sweat of
blood.
What I propose now, in this second proposition, is by the help of
God to explain this part of Christ's agony which consisted in the
agonizing and wrestling of his soul in prayer; which is the more
worthy of a particular inquiry, being that which probably is but
little understood; though, as may appear in the sequel, the right
understanding of it is of great use and consequence in divinity. It
is not as I conceive ordinarily well understood what is meant when
it is said in the text that Christ prayed more earnestly; or what
was the thing that he wrestled with God for, or what was the subject
matter of this earnest prayer, or what was the reason of his being
so very earnest in prayer at this time. And therefore, to set this
whole matter in a clear light, I would particularly inquire,
1. Of what nature this prayer was;
2. What was the subject matter of this earnest prayer of Christ to
the Father;
3. In what capacity Christ offered up this prayer to God;
4. Why he was so earnest in his prayer;
5. What was the success of this his earnest wrestling with God in
prayer; and then make some improvement.
I. Of what nature this prayer of Christ was.
Addresses that are made to God may be of various kinds. Some are
confessions on the part of the individual, or expressions of his
sense of his own unworthiness before God, and are thus penitential
addresses to God. Others are doxologies or prayers intended to
express the sense which the person has of God's greatness and glory.
Such are many of the psalms of David. Others are gratulatory
addresses, or expressions of thanksgiving and praise for mercies
received. Others are submissive addresses, or expressions of
submission and resignation to the will of God, whereby he that
addresses the Majesty of heaven, expresses the compliance of his
will with the sovereign will of God; saying, "Thy will, O Lord, be
done!" as David, 2 Sam. 15:26. "But if he thus say, I have no
delight in thee; behold, here am I; let him do to me as seemeth good
unto him." Others are petitory or supplicatory; whereby the person
that prays, begs of God and cries to him for some favour desired of
him.
Hence the inquiry is, of which of these kinds was the prayer of
Christ, that we read of in the text.
Answer. It was chiefly supplicatory. It was not penitential or
confessional; for Christ had no sin or unworthiness to confess. Nor
was it a doxology or a thanksgiving or merely an expression of
submission; for none of these agree with what is said in the text,
viz. that he prayed more earnestly. When any one is said to pray
earnestly, it implies an earnest request for some benefit, or favor
desired; and not merely a confession, or submission, or gratulation.
So what the apostle says of this prayer, in Heb. 5:7. "Who in the
days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications,
with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him
from death, and was heard, in that he feared," shows that it was
petitory, or an earnest supplication for some desired benefit. They
are not confessions, or doxologies, or thanksgivings. or
resignations, that are called "supplications" and "strong cryings,"
but petitions for some benefit earnestly desired. And having thus
resolved the first inquiry, and shown that this earnest prayer of
Christ -was of the nature of a supplication for some benefit or
favor which Christ earnestly desired, I come to inquire,
II. What was the subject matter of this supplication; or what favor
and benefit that was for which Christ so earnestly supplicated in
this prayer of which we have an account in the text. Now the words
of the text are not express on this matter. It is said that Christ,
"being in an agony, prayed more earnestly;" but yet it is not said
what he prayed so earnestly for. And here is the greatest difficulty
attending this account: even what that was which Christ so earnestly
desired, for which he so wrestled with God at that time. And though
we are not expressly told in the text, yet the Scriptures have not
left us without sufficient light in this matter. And the more
effectually to avoid mistakes, I would answer,
1. Negatively, the thing that Christ so earnestly prayed for at this
time, was not that the bitter cup which he had to drink might pass
from him. Christ had before prayed for this, as in the next verse
but one before the text, saying "Father, if thou be willing, remove
this cup from me! nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done!" It
is after this that we have an account that Christ being in an agony,
prayed more earnestly; but we are not to understand that he prayed
more earnestly than he had done before, that the cup might pass from
him. That this was not the thing that he so earnestly prayed for in
this second prayer, the following things seem to prove:
1. This second prayer was after the angel had appeared to him from
heaven, strengthening him, the more cheerfully to take the cup and
drink it. The evangelists inform us that when Christ came into the
garden, he began to be sorrowful, and very heavy, and that he said
his soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, and that then he
went and prayed to God, that if it were possible the cup might pass
from him. Luke says in the 41st and 42nd verses, "that being
withdrawn from his disciples about a stone's cast, he kneeled down
and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from
me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done!" And then, after
this, it is said in the next verse, that there appeared an angel
from heaven unto him strengthening him. Now this can be understood
no otherwise than that the angel appeared to him, strengthening him
and encouraging him to go through his great and difficult work, to
take the cup and drink it. Accordingly we must suppose, that now
Christ was more strengthened and encouraged to go through with his
sufferings: and therefore we cannot suppose that after this he would
pray more earnestly than before to be delivered from his sufferings;
and of course that it was something else that Christ more earnestly
prayed for, after that strengthening of the angel, and not that the
cup might pass from him. Though Christ seems to have a greater sight
of his sufferings given him after this strengthening of the angel
than before, that caused such an agony, yet he was more strengthened
to fit him for a greater sight of them, he had greater strength and
courage to grapple with these awful apprehensions, than before. His
strength to bear sufferings is increased with the sense of his
sufferings.
2. Christ, before his second prayer, had had an intimation from the
Father, that it was not his will that the cup should pass from him.
The angel's coming from heaven to strengthen him must be so
understood. Christ first prays, that if it may be the will of the
Father, the cup might pass; but not, if it was not his will; and
then God immediately upon this sends an angel to strengthen, and
encourage him to take the cup, which was a plain intimation to
Christ that it was the Father's will that he should take it, and
that it should not pass from him. And so Christ received it; as
appears from the account which Matthew gives of this second prayer.
Matt. 26:42. "He went away again the second time and prayed, saying,
O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink
it, thy will be done." He speaks as one that now had had an
intimation, since he prayed before, that it was not the will of God.
And Luke tells us how, viz. by God's sending an angel. Matthew
informs us, as Luke does, that in his first prayer, he prayed that
if it were possible the cup might pass from him; but then God sends
an angel to signify that it was not his will, and to encourage him
to take it. And then Christ having received this plain intimation
that it was not the will of God that the cup should pass from him,
yields to the message he had received, and says, O my Father, if it
be so as thou hast now signified, thy will be done. Therefore we may
surely conclude that what Christ prayed more earnestly for after
this, was not that the cup might pass from him, but something else;
for he would not go to pray more earnestly that the cup might pass
from him, after God had signified that it was not his will that it
should pass from him, than he did before; that would be blasphemous
to suppose. And then,
3. The language of the second prayer, as recited by Matthew, "O
my Father, if this cup may not pass from me except I drink it, thy
will be done," shows that Christ did not then pray that the cup
might pass from him. This certainly is not praying more earnestly
that the cup might pass: it is rather a yielding that point, and
ceasing any more to urge it, and submitting to it as a thing now
determined by the will of God, made known by the angel. And,
4. From the apostle's account of this prayer in the 5th ch. of
Hebrews, the words of the apostle are these, "Who in the days of his
flesh, when he had offered up his prayers and supplications, with
strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from
death, and was heard in that he feared." The strong crying and tears
of which the apostle speaks, are doubtless the same that Luke speaks
of in the text, when he says, "he being in an agony, prayed more
earnestly;" for this was the sharpest and most earnest crying of
Christ, of which we have any where any account. But according to the
apostle's account, that which Christ feared, and that for which he
so strongly cried to God in this prayer, was something that he was
heard in, something that God granted him his request in, and
therefore it was not that the cup might pass from him. Having thus
shown what it was not that Christ prayed for in this earnest prayer,
I proceed to show,
2nd, What it was that Christ so earnestly sought of God in this
prayer.
I answer in one word, it was, That God's will might be done, in what
related to his sufferings. Matthew gives this express account of it,
in the very language of the prayer which has been recited several
times already, "O my Father, if this cup may not pass from me,
except I drink it, thy will be done!" This is a yielding, and an
expression of submission; but it is not merely that. Such words,
"The will of the Lord be done," as they are most commonly used, are
not understood as a supplication or request, but only as an
expression of submission. But the words are not always to be
understood in that sense in Scripture, but sometimes are to be
understood as a request. So they are to be understood in the third
petition of the Lord's prayer, "Thy will be done in earth as in
heaven." There the words are to be understood both as an expression
of submission, and also a request, as they are explained in the
Assembly's Catechism, and so the words are to be understood here.
The evangelist Mark says that Christ went away again and spake the
same words that he had done in his first prayer. Mark 14:39. But
then we must understand it as of the same words with the latter part
of his first prayer, "nevertheless not my will but thine be done,"
as Matthew's more full and particular account shows. So that the
thing mentioned in the text, for which Christ was wrestling with God
in this prayer, was, that God's will might be done in what related
to his sufferings.
But then here another inquiry may arise, viz. What is implied in
Christ's praying that God's will might be done in what related to
his sufferings? To this I answer,
1. This implies a request that he might be strengthened and
supported, and enabled to do God's will, by going through with these
sufferings. The same as when he says, "Lo, I come, in the volume of
the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God." It was the
preceptive will of God that he should take that cup and drink it: it
was the Father's command to him. The Father had given him the cup,
and as it were set it down before him with the command that he
should drink it. This was the greatest act of obedience that Christ
was to perform. He prays for strength and help, that his poor feeble
human nature might be supported, that he might not fail in this
great trial, that he might not sink and be swallowed up, and his
strength so overcome that he should not hold out, and finish the
appointed obedience. This was the thing that he feared, of which the
apostle speaks in the 5th of Hebrews, when he says, "he was heard in
that he feared." When he had such an extraordinary sense of the
dreadfulness of his sufferings impressed on his mind, the
fearfulness of it amazed him. He was afraid lest his poor feeble
strength should be overcome, and that he should fail in so great a
trial, that he should be swallowed up by that death that he was to
die, and so should not be saved from death; and therefore he offered
up strong crying and tears unto him that was able to strengthen him,
and support, and save him from death, that the death he was to
suffer might not overcome his love and obedience, but that he might
overcome death, and so be saved from it. If Christ's courage had
failed in the trial, and he had not held out under his dying
sufferings, he never would have been saved from death, but he would
have sunk in the deep mire; he never would have risen from the dead,
for his rising from the dead was a reward of his victory. If his
courage had failed, and he had given up, he would have remained from
under the power of death, and so we should all have perished, we
should have remained yet in our sins. If he had failed, all would
have failed. If he had not overcome in that sore conflict, neither
he nor we could have been freed from death, we all must have
perished together. Therefore this was the saving from death that the
apostle speaks of, that Christ feared and prayed for with strong
crying and tears. His being overcome of death was the thing that he
feared, and so he was heard in that he feared. This Christ prayed,
that the will of God might be done in his sufferings, even that he
might not fail of obeying God's will in his sufferings; and
therefore it follows in the next verse in that passage of Hebrews,
"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which
he suffered." That it was in this respect that Christ in his agony
so earnestly prayed that the will of God might be done, viz. that he
might have strength to do his will, and might not sink and fail in
such great sufferings; is confirmed from the scriptures of the Old
Testament, as particularly from the 69th Psalm. The psalmist
represents Christ in that psalm, as is evident from the fact that
the words of that psalm are represented as Christ's words in many
places of the New Testament. That psalm is represented as Christ's
prayer to God when his soul was overwhelmed with sorrow and
amazement, as it was in his agony; as you may see in the 1st and 2nd
verses, "Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul: I
sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep
waters, where the floods overflow me." But then the thing that is
represented as being the thing that he feared, was failing, and
being overwhelmed, in this great trial: verses 14 and 15. "Deliver
me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from
them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the water-
flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not
the pit shut her mouth upon me." So again in the 22d Psalm, which is
also represented as the prayer of Christ under his dreadful sorrow
and sufferings, verses 19, 20, 21. "But be not thou far from me, O
Lord; O my Strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the
sword; my darling from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's
mouth." It was meet and suitable that Christ, when about to engage
in that terrible conflict, should thus earnestly seek help from God
to enable him to do his will; for he needed God's help--the strength
of his human nature, without divine help, was not sufficient to
carry him through. This was, without doubt, that in which the first
Adam failed in his first trial, that when the trial came he was not
sensible of his own weakness and dependence. If he had been, and had
leaned on God, and cried to him for his assistance and strength
against the temptation, in all likelihood we should have remained
innocent and happy creatures to this day.
2. It implies a request that God's will and purpose might be
obtained in the effects and fruits of his sufferings, in the glory
to his name, that was his design in them; and particularly in the
glory of his grace, in the eternal salvation and happiness of his
elect. This is confirmed by John 12:27,28. "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. Father, glorify thy name. Then came
there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified, and will
glorify it again." There the first request is the same with the
first request of Christ here in like trouble: "Now is my soul
troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour." He
first prays, as he does here, that he might be saved from his last
sufferings. Then, after he was determined within himself that the
will of God must be otherwise, that he should not be saved from that
hour, "but for this cause," says he, "came I to this hour;" and then
his second request after this is, "Father, glorify thy name!" So
this is doubtless the purport of the second request in his agony,
when he prayed that God's will might be done. It is that God's will
might be done in that glory to his own name that he intended in the
effects and fruits of his sufferings, that seeing that it was his
will that he should suffer, he earnestly prays that the end of his
suffering, in the glory of God and the salvation of the elect, may
not fail. And these things are what Christ so earnestly wrestled
with God for in his prayer, of which we have an account in the text,
and we have no reason to think that they were not expressed in
prayer as well as implied. It is not reasonable to suppose that the
evangelist in his other account of things mentions all the words of
Christ's prayer. He only mentions the substance.
III. In what capacity did Christ offer up those earnest prayers to
God in his agony?
In answer to this inquiry, I observe that he offered them up not as
a private person, but as high priest. The apostle speaks of the
strong crying and tears, as what Christ offered up as high priest.
Heb. 5:6-7. "As he says also in another place, Thou art a priest for
ever, after the order of Melchisedek: who in the days of his flesh,
when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying
and tears," etc. The things that Christ prayed for in those strong
cryings, were things not of a private nature, but of common concern
to the whole church of which he was the high priest. That the will
of God should be done in his obedience unto death, that his strength
and courage should not fail, but that he should hold out, was of
common concern; for, if he had failed, all would have failed and
perished for ever. And of course, that God's name should be
glorified in the effects and fruits of his sufferings, and in the
salvation and glory of all his elect, was a thing of common concern.
Christ offered up these strong cries with his flesh in the same
manner as the priests of old were wont to offer up prayers with
their sacrifices. Christ mixed strong crying and tears with his
blood, and so offered up his blood and his prayers together, that
the effect and success of his blood might be obtained. Such earnest
agonizing prayers were offered with his blood, and his infinitely
precious and meritorious blood was offered with his prayers.
IV. Why was Christ so earnest in those supplications? Luke speaks of
them as very earnest; the apostle speaks of them as strong crying;
and his agony partly consisted in this earnestness: and the account
that Luke gives us, seems to imply that his bloody sweat was partly
at least with the great labor and earnest sense of his soul in
wrestling with God in prayer. There were three things that concurred
at that time, especially to cause Christ to be thus earnest and
engaged.
1. He had then an extraordinary sense how dreadful the consequence
would be, if God's will should fail of being done. He had then an
extraordinary sense of his own last suffering under the wrath of
God, and if he had failed in those sufferings, he knew the
consequence must be dreadful. He having now such an extraordinary
view of the terribleness of the wrath of God, his love to the elect
tended to make him more than ordinarily earnest that they might be
delivered from suffering that wrath to all eternity, which could not
have been if he had failed of doing God's will, or if the will of
God in the effect of his suffering had failed.
2. No wonder that that extraordinary sense that Christ then had of
the costliness of the means of sinners' salvation, made him very
earnest for the success of those means, as you have already heard.
3. Christ had an extraordinary sense of his dependence on God, and
his need of his help to enable him to do God's will in this great
trial. Though he was innocent, yet he needed divine help. He was
dependent on God, as man, and therefore we read that he trusted in
God. Matt. 27:43. "He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he
will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God." And when he had
such an extraordinary sight of the dreadfulness of that wrath he was
to suffer, he saw how much it was beyond the strength of his human
nature alone.
V. What was the success of this prayer of Christ?
To this I answer, He obtained all his requests. The apostle says,
"He was heard in that he feared;" in all that he feared. He obtained
strength and help from God, all that he needed, and was carried
through. He was enabled to do and to suffer the whole will of God;
and he obtained the whole of the end of his sufferings--a full
atonement for the sins of the whole world, and the full salvation of
every one of those who were given him in the covenant of redemption,
and all that glory to the name of God, which his mediation was
designed to accomplish, not one jot or tittle hath failed. Herein
Christ in his agony was above all others Jacob's antitype, in his
wrestling with God for a blessing; which Jacob did, not as a private
person, but as the head of his posterity, the nation of Israel, and
by which he obtained that commendation of God, "As a prince thou
hast power with God;" and therein was a type of him who was the
Prince of princes.
APPLICATION
Great improvement may be made of the consideration of the strong
crying and tears of Christ in the days of his flesh, many ways for
our benefit.
1. This may teach us after what manner we should pray to God, not in
a cold and careless manner, but with great earnestness and
engagedness of spirit, and especially when we are praying to God for
those things that are of infinite importance, such as spiritual and
eternal blessings. Such were the benefits that Christ prayed for
with such strong crying and tears, that he might be enabled to do
God's will in that great and difficult work that God had appointed
him, that he might not sink and fail, but might get the victory, and
so finally be delivered from death, and that God's will and end
might be obtained as the fruit of his sufferings, in the glory of
God, and the salvation of the elect.
When we go before God in prayer with a cold, dull heart, and in a
lifeless and listless manner pray to him for eternal blessings, and
those of infinite import to our souls, we should think of Christ's
earnest prayers that he poured out to God, with tears and a bloody
sweat. The consideration of it may well make us ashamed of our dull,
lifeless prayers to God, wherein, indeed, we rather ask a denial
than ask to be heard; for the language of such a manner of praying
to God, is, that we do not look upon the benefit that we pray for as
of any great importance, that we are indifferent whether God answers
us or not. The example of Jacob in wrestling with God for the
blessing, should teach us earnestness in our prayers, but more
especially the example of Jesus Christ, who wrestled with God in a
bloody sweat. If we were sensible as Christ was of the great
importance of those benefits that are of eternal consequence, our
prayers to God for such benefits would be after another manner than
now they are. Our souls also would with earnest labour and strife be
engaged in this duty.
There are many benefits that we ask of God in our prayers, which are
every whit of as great importance to us as those benefits which
Christ asked of God in his agony were to him. It is of as great
importance to us that we should be enabled to do the will of God,
and perform a sincere, universal, and persevering obedience to his
commands, as it was to Christ that he should not fail of doing God's
will in his great work. It is of as great importance to us to be
saved from death, as it was to Christ that he should get the victory
over death, and so be saved from it. It is of as great, and
infinitely greater, importance to us, that Christ's redemption
should be successful in us, as it was to him that God's will should
be done, in the fruits and success of his redemption.
Christ recommended earnest watchfulness and prayerfulness to his
disciples, by prayer and example, both at the same time. When Christ
was in his agony, and came and found his disciples asleep, he bid
them watch and pray, Matt. 26:41. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not
into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is
weak." At the same time he set them an example of that which he
commanded them, for though they slept he watched, and poured out his
soul in those earnest prayers that you have heard of; and Christ has
elsewhere taught us to ask those blessings of God that are of
infinite importance, as those that will take no denial. We have
another example of the great conflicts and engagedness of Christ's
spirit in this duty. Luke 6:12. "And it came to pass in those days,
that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in
prayer to God." And he was often recommending earnestness in crying
to God in prayers. In the parable of the unjust judge, Luke 18 at
the beginning; "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that
men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying There was in a
city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man; and there
was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me
of mine adversary. And he would not for awhile: but afterwards he
saith within himself, Though I fear not God nor regard man, yet
because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her
continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the
unjust judge saith." Luke 6:5, etc. "And he said unto them, Which of
you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say
unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his
journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he
from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now
shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give
thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because
he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise and
give him as many as he needeth." He taught it in his own way of
answering prayer, as in answering the woman of Canaan, Matt. 15:22,
etc. "And behold a woman of Canaan came out of the coasts, and cried
unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my
daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a
word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her
away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not
sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said,
It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. And
she said, Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall
from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O
woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And
her daughter was made whole from that very hour." And as Christ
prayed in his agony, so I have already mentioned several texts of
Scripture wherein we are directed to agonize in our prayers to God.
2. These earnest prayers and strong cries of Christ to the Father in
his agony, show the greatness of his love to sinners. For, as has
been shown, these strong cries of Jesus Christ were what he offered
up to God as a public person, in the capacity of high priest, and in
the behalf of those whose priest he was. When he offered up his
sacrifice for sinners whom he had loved from eternity, he withal
offered up earnest prayers. His strong cries, his tears, and his
blood, were all offered up together to God, and they were all
offered up for the same end, for the glory of God in the salvation
of the elect. They were all offered up for the same persons, viz.
for his people. For them he shed his blood and that bloody sweat,
when it fell down in clotted lumps to the ground; and for them he so
earnestly cried to God at the same time. It was that the will of God
might be done in the success of his sufferings, in the success of
that blood, in the salvation of those for whom that blood was shed,
and therefore this strong crying shows his strong love; it shows how
greatly he desired the salvation of sinners. He cried to God that he
might not sink and fail in that great undertaking, because if he did
so, sinners could not be saved, but all must perish. He prayed that
he might get the victory over death, because if he did not get the
victory, his people could never obtain that victory, and they can
conquer no otherwise than by his conquest. If the Captain of our
salvation had not conquered in this sore conflict, none of us could
have conquered, but we must have all sunk with him. He cried to God
that he might be saved from death, and if he had not been saved from
death in his resurrection, none of us could ever have been saved
from death. It was a great sight to see Christ in that great
conflict that he was in in his agony, but every thing in it was from
love, that strong love that was in his heart. His tears that flowed
from his eyes were from love; his great sweat was from love; his
blood, his prostrating himself on the ground before the Father, was
from love; his earnest crying to God was from the strength and
ardency of his love. It is looked upon as one principal way wherein
true love and good will is shown in Christian friends one towards
another, heartily to pray one for another; and it is one way wherein
Christ directs us to show our love to our enemies, even praying for
them. Matt. 5:44. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them
that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you." But was there ever any prayer that manifested love
to enemies to such a degree, as those strong cries and tears of the
Son of God for the success of his blood in the salvation of his
enemies; the strife and conflict of whose soul in prayer was such as
to produce his agony and his bloody sweat?
3. If Christ was thus earnest in prayer to God, that the end of his
sufferings might be obtained in the salvation of sinners, then how
much ought those sinners to be reproved that do not earnestly seek
their own salvation! If Christ offered up such strong cries for
sinners as their high priest, that bought their salvation, who stood
in no need of sinners, who had been happy from all eternity without
them, and could not be made happier by them; then how great is the
sottishness of those sinners that seek their own salvation in a dull
and lifeless manner; that content themselves with a formal
attendance on the duties of religion, with their hearts in the mean
time much more earnestly set after other things! They after a sort
attend on the duty of social prayer, wherein they pray to God that
he would have mercy on them and save them; but after what a poor
dull way is it that they do it! they do not apply their heart unto
wisdom, nor incline their ear to understanding; they do not cry
after wisdom, nor lift up their voice for understanding; they do not
seek it as silver, nor search for it as for hidden treasures.
Christ's earnest cries in his agony may convince us that it was not
without reason that he insisted upon it, in Luke 13:24. that we
should strive to enter in at the strait gate, which, as I have
already observed to you, is, in the original, Agwnizesqe, "Agonize
to enter in at the strait gate." If sinners would be in a hopeful
way to obtain their salvation, they should agonize in that great
concern as men that are taking a city by violence, as Matt. 11:12.
"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of
heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." When a
body of resolute soldiers are attempting to take a strong city in
which they meet with great opposition, what violent conflicts are
there before the city is taken! How do the soldiers press on against
the very mouths of the enemies' cannon, and upon the points of their
swords! When the soldiers are scaling the walls, and making their
first entrance into the city, what a violent struggle is there
between them and their enemies that strive to keep them out! How do
they, as it were, agonize with all their strength! So ought we to
seek our salvation, if we would be in a likely way to obtain it. How
great is the folly then of those who content themselves with seeking
with a cold and lifeless frame of spirit, and so continue from month
to month, and from year to year, and yet flatter themselves that
they shall be successful!
How much more still are they to be reproved, who are not in a way of
seeking their salvation at all, but wholly neglect their precious
souls, and attend the duties of religion no further than is just
necessary to keep up their credit among men; and instead of pressing
into the kingdom of God, are rather violently pressing on towards
their own destruction and ruin, being hurried on by their many head
strong lusts, as the herd of swine were hurried on by the legion of
devils, and ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and
perished in the waters! Matt. 8:32.
4. From what has been said under this proposition, we may learn
after what manner Christians ought to go through the work that is
before them. Christ had a great work before him when that took
place, of which we have an account in the text. Though it was very
near the close of his life, yet he then, when his agony began, had
the chief part of the work before him that he came into the world to
do; which was to offer up that sacrifice which he offered in his
last sufferings, and therein to perform the greatest act of his
obedience to God. And so the Christians have a great work to do, a
service they are to perform to God, that is attended with great
difficulty. They have a race set before them that they have to run,
a warfare that is appointed them. Christ was the subject of a very
great trial in the time of his agony; so God is wont to exercise his
people with great trials. Christ met with great opposition in that
work that he had to do; so believers are like to meet with great
opposition in running the race that is set before them. Christ, as
man, had a feeble nature, that was in itself very insufficient to
sustain such a conflict, or to support such a load as was coming
upon him. So the saints have the same weak human nature, and beside
that, great sinful infirmities that Christ had not, which lay them
under great disadvantages, and greatly enhance the difficulty of
their work. Those great tribulations and difficulties that were
before Christ, were the way in which he was to enter into the
kingdom of heaven; so his followers must expect, "through much
tribulation to enter into the kingdom of heaven." The cross was to
Christ the way to the crown of glory, and so it is to his disciples.
The circumstances of Christ and of his followers in those things are
alike, their case, therefore, is the same; and therefore Christ's
behaviour under those circumstances, was a fit example for them to
follow. They should look to their Captain, and observe after what
manner he went through his great work, and the great tribulations
which he endured. They should observe after what manner he entered
into the kingdom of heaven, and obtained the crown of glory, and so
they also should run the race that is set before them. "Wherefore,
seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so
easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith;
who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God." Particularly,
(1.) When others are asleep they should be awake, as it was with
Christ. The time of Christ's agony was the night season, the time
wherein persons were wont to be asleep: it was the time wherein the
disciples that were about Christ were asleep; but Christ then had
something else to do than to sleep; he had a great work to do; he
kept awake, with his heart engaged in this work. So should it be
with the believers of Christ; when the souls of their neighbors are
asleep in their sins, and under the power of a lethargic
insensibility and sloth, they should watch and pray, and maintain a
lively sense of the infinite importance of their spiritual concerns.
1 Thess. 5:6. "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us
watch and be sober."
(2.) They should go through their work with earnest labor, as
Christ did. The time when others were asleep was a time when Christ
was about his great work, and was engaged in it with all his might,
agonizing in it; conflicting and wrestling, in tears, and in blood.
So should Christians with the utmost earnestness improve their time
with souls engaged in this work, pushing through the opposition they
meet with in it, pushing through all difficulties and sufferings
there are in the way, running with patience the race set before
them, conflicting with the enemies of their souls with all their
might; as those that wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with
principalities and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this
world, and spiritual wickedness in high places.
(3.) This labor and strife should be, that God may be glorified,
and their own eternal happiness obtained in a way of doing God's
will. Thus it was with Christ: what he so earnestly strove for was,
that he might do the will of God, that he might keep his command,
his difficult command, without failing in it, and that in this way
God's will might be done, in that glory to his ever great name, and
that salvation to his elect that he intended by his sufferings. Here
is an example for the saints to follow in that holy strife, and
race, and warfare, which God has appointed them; they should strive
to do the will of their heavenly Father, that they may, as the
apostle expresses it, Rom. 12:2. "Prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect will of God," and that in this way they may
glorify God, and may come at last to be happy for ever in the
enjoyment of God.
(4.) In all the great work they have to do, their eye should be to
God for his help to enable them to overcome. Thus did the man Christ
Jesus: he strove in his work even to such an agony and bloody sweat.
But how did he strive? It was not in his own strength, but his eyes
were to God, he cries unto him for his help and strength to uphold
him, that he might not fail; he watched and prayed, as he desired
his disciples to do; he wrestled with his enemies and with his great
sufferings, but at the same time wrestled with God to obtain his
help, to enable him to get the victory. Thus the saints should use
their strength in their christian course to the utmost, but not as
depending on their own strength, but crying mightily to God for his
strength to make them conquerors.
(5.) In this way they should hold out to the end as Christ did.
Christ in this way was successful, and obtained the victory, and won
the prize; he overcame, and is set down with the Father in his
throne. So Christians should persevere and hold out in their great
work to the end; they should continue to run their race till they
have come to the end of it; they should be faithful unto the death
as Christ was; and then, when they have overcome, they shall sit
down with him in his throne. Rev. 3:21. "To him that overcometh will
I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am
set down with my Father in his throne."
5. Hence burdened and distressed sinners, if any such are here
present, may have abundant ground of encouragement to come to Christ
for salvation. Here is great encouragement to sinners to come to
this high priest that offered up such strong crying and tears with
his blood, for the success of his sufferings in the salvation of
sinners. For,
1st, Here is great ground of assurance that Christ stands ready to
accept of sinners, and bestow salvation upon them; for those strong
cries of his that he offered up in the capacity of our high priest,
show how earnestly desirous he was of it. If he was not willing that
sinners should be saved, be they ever so unworthy of it, then why
would he so wrestle with God for it in such a bloody sweat? Would
any one so earnestly cry to God with such costly cries, in such
great labor and travail of soul, for that, that he did not desire
that God should bestow? No, surely! but this shows how greatly his
heart was set on the success of his redemption; and therefore since
he has by such earnest prayers, and by such a bloody sweat, obtained
salvation of the Father to bestow on sinners, he will surely be
ready to bestow it upon them, if they come to him for it; otherwise
he will frustrate his own design; and he that so earnestly cried to
God that his design might not be frustrated, will not, after all,
frustrate it himself.
2. Here is the strongest ground of assurance that God stands ready
to accept of all those that come to him for mercy through Christ,
for this is what Christ prayed for in those earnest prayers, whose
prayers were always heard, as Christ says, John 11:42. "And I knew
that thou hearest me always." And especially may they conclude, that
heard their high priest in those strong cries that he offered up
with his blood, and that especially on the following account.
(1.) They were the most earnest prayers that ever were made. Jacob
was very earnest when he wrestled with God; and many others have
wrestled with God with many tears; yea, doubtless, many of the
saints have wrestled with God with such inward labor and strife as
to produce powerful effects on the body. But so earnest was Christ,
so strong was the labour and fervency of his heart, that he cried to
God in a sweat of blood; so that if any earnestness and importunity
in prayer ever prevailed with God, we may conclude that that
prevailed.
(2.) He who then prayed was the most worthy person that ever put up
a prayer. He had more worthiness than ever men or angels had in the
sight of God, according as by inheritance he has obtained a more
excellent name than they; for he was the only-begotten Son of God,
infinitely lovely in his sight, the Son in whom he declared once and
again he was well-pleased. He was infinitely near and dear to God,
and had more worthiness in his eyes ten thousand times than all men
and angels put together. And can we suppose any other than that such
a person was heard when he cried to God with such earnestness? Did
Jacob, a poor sinful man, when he had wrestled with God, obtain of
God the name of ISRAEL, and that encomium, that as a prince he had
power with God, and prevailed? And did Elijah, who was a man of like
passions, and of like corruptions with us, when he prayed, earnestly
prevail on God to work such great wonders? And shall not the
only-begotten Son of God, when wrestling with God in tears and
blood, prevail, and have his request granted him?
Surely there is no room to suppose any such thing; and therefore,
there is no room to doubt whether God will bestow salvation on those
that believe in him, at his request.
(3.) Christ offered up these earnest prayers with the best plea for
an answer that ever was offered to God, viz. his own blood; which
was an equivalent for the thing that he asked. He not only offered
up strong cries, but he offered them up with a price fully
sufficient to purchase the benefit he asked.
(4.) Christ offered this price and those strong cries both together;
for at the same time that he was pouring out these earnest requests
for the success of his redemption in the salvation of sinners, he
also shed his blood. His blood fell down to the ground at the same
instant that his cries went up to heaven. Let burdened and
distressed sinners, that are ready to doubt of the efficacy of
Christ's intercession for such unworthy creatures as they, and to
call in question God's readiness to accept them for Christ's sake,
consider these things. Go to the garden where the Son of God was in
an agony, and where he cried to God so earnestly, and where his
sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood, and then see what a
conclusion you will draw up from such a wonderful sight.
6. The godly may take great comfort in this, that Christ has as
their high priest offered up such strong cries to God. You that have
good evidence of your being believers in Christ, and his true
followers and servants, may comfort yourselves in this, that Christ
Jesus is your high priest, that that blood, which Christ shed in his
agony, fell down to the ground for you, and that those earnest cries
were sent up to God for you, for the success of his labors and
sufferings in all that good you stood in need of in this world, and
in your everlasting happiness in the world to come. This may be a
comfort to you in all losses, and under all difficulties, that you
may encourage your faith, and strengthen your hope, and cause you
greatly to rejoice. If you were under any remarkable difficulties,
it would be a great comfort to you to have the prayers of some man
that you looked upon to be a man of eminent piety, and one that had
a great interest at the throne of grace, and especially if you knew
that he was very earnest and greatly engaged in prayer for you. But
how much more may you be comforted in it, that you have an interest
in the prayers and cries of the only-begotten and infinitely worthy
Son of God, and that he was so earnest in his prayers for you, as
you have heard!
7. Hence we may learn how earnest Christians ought to be in their
prayers and endeavors for the salvation of others. Christians are
the followers of Christ, and they should follow him in this. We see
from what we have heard, how great the labor and travail of
Christ's soul was for others' salvation, and what earnest and strong
cries to God accompanied his labors. Here he hath set us an
example. Herein he hath set an example for ministers, who should as
co-workers with Christ travail in birth with them till Christ be
found in them. Gal. 4:19. "My little children, of whom I travail in
birth again, until Christ be formed in you." They should be willing
to spend and be spent for them. They should not only labor for
them, and pray earnestly for them, but should, if occasion required,
be ready to suffer for them, and to spend not only their strength,
but their blood for them. 2 Cor. 12:15. "And I will very gladly
spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you,
the less I be loved." Here is an example for parents, showing how
they ought to labor and cry to God for the spiritual good of their
children. You see how Christ labored and strove and cried to God
for the salvation of his spiritual children; and will not you
earnestly seek and cry to God for your natural children?
Here is an example for neighbors one towards another how they
should seek and cry for the good of one another's souls, for this is
the command of Christ, that they should love one another as Christ
loved them. John 15:12. Here is an example for us, showing how we
should earnestly seek and pray for the spiritual and eternal good of
our enemies, for Christ did all this for his enemies, and when some
of those enemies were at that very instant plotting his death, and
busily contriving to satiate their malice and cruelty, in his most
extreme torments, and most ignominious destruction.Jonathan Edwards
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