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Christ's Agony
by Jonathan Edwards
Luke 22:44, "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."
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 labouring 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 labour 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 labour 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 endeavour 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 ought 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 colours. 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 levelled 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 honourable 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 froward! 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 honour 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 endeavoured 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 labour 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 favour 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 cyings," 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 favour which Christ earnestly desired, I come to inquire,
II. What was the subject matter of this supplication; or what favour 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,
3dly, 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 labour 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 neighbours 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 labour, 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 labour 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 labour 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 labour 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 labours 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 endeavours 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 labour and travail of Christ's soul
was for others' salvation, and what earnest and strong cries to God
accompanied his labours. 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 labour 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 labour and cry to God for the spiritual good
of their children. You see how Christ laboured 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 neighbours 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.
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