CHRIST’S AGONY “And being in an agony he prayed moreearnestly, and his sweat was as it were Our Lord Jesus Christ, in His original nature, was infinitely above allsuffering, for He was “God over all, blessed for evermore.” But when He becameman, He was not only capable of suffering, but partook of that nature that isremarkably feeble and exposed to suffering. The human nature, on account of itsweakness, is in Scripture compared to the grass of the field, which easilywithers and decays.… It was this nature, with all its weakness and exposednessto sufferings, which Christ, who is the Lord God omnipotent, took upon Him. Hedid not take the human nature on Him in its first, most perfect and vigorousstate, but in that feeble forlorn state which it is in since the fall. Andtherefore Christ is called “a tender plant,” and “a root out of a dry ground.”Isaiah 53:2, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a rootout 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 agreeablyto that errand, He came with such a nature and in such circumstances, as mostmade way for His suffering, so His whole life was filled up with suffering, Hebegan to suffer in His infancy, but His suffering increased the more He drewnear 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 Hispublic ministry seems to have been distinguished by suffering. The longerChrist lived in the world, the more men saw and heard of Him, the more theyhated Him. His enemies were more and more enraged by the continuance of theopposition that He made to their lusts. And the devil having been often baffledby Him, grew more and more enraged, and strengthened the battle more and moreagainst Him, so that the cloud over Christ’s head grew darker and darker, aslong as He lived in the world, till it was in its greatest blackness when Hehung 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 makethe subject of my present discourse. The word agony properly signifies anearnest 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 theoriginal, translated strive, is agônizomai[Grk]. “Agonize,to enter in at the strait gate.” The word is especially used for that sort ofstrife which in those days was exhibited in the Olympic games, in which menstrove for the mastery in running, wrestling, and other such kinds ofexercises.… Those, who thus contended, were, in the language then in use, saidto agonise.… So that when it is said in the text that Christwas in an agony, the meaning is, that His soul was in agreat and earnest strife and conflict. It was so [in that] His soul was ina great and sore conflict with those terrible and amazing views andapprehensions which He then had.… Those TerribleApprehensions First, what were those terrible… apprehensions which Christ had in Hisagony? This may be explained by considering: 1. The cause of those views and apprehensions which Christ had in His agony inthe 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 greatestsufferings, though they were so very great. But His last sufferings upon thecross were His principal sufferings. And therefore they are called “the cupthat 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 madeatonement for sin. His enduring the cross, His humbling Himself, and becomingobedient unto death, even the death of the cross, is spoken of as the mainthing wherein His sufferings appeared. This is the cup that Christ had setbefore Him in His agony. It is manifest that Christ had this in view at this time, from the prayerswhich He then offered. According to Matthew, Christ made three prayers thatevening while in the garden of Gethsemane, and all on this one subject, thebitter cup that He was to drink… [see Matthew 26:39, 42, 44]. From this itplainly appears what it was of which Christ had such terrible views andapprehensions at that time. What He thus insists on in His prayers, shows onwhat His mind was so deeply intent. It was His sufferings on the cross, whichwere to be endured the next day, when there should be darkness over all theearth, and at the same time a deeper darkness over the soul of Christ, of whichHe had now such lively views and distressing apprehensions. 2. He had a lively apprehension of it impressed at that time on His mind. Hehad an apprehension of the cup that He was to drink before. His principalerrand into the world was to drink that cup, and He therefore was neverunthoughtful of it, but always bore it in His mind, and often spoke of it… [seeMatthew 16:21; 20:17–19, 22; Luke 12:50; John 2:19; 8:28; 12:34]. And He wasvery much in speaking of it a little before His agony, in His dying counsels toHis disciples… [see John 12 and 13]. Thus this was not the first time thatChrist had this bitter cup in His view. On the contrary, He seems always tohave had it in view. But it seems that at this time God gave Him anextraordinary view of it. A sense of that wrath that was to be poured out uponHim, and of those amazing sufferings that He was to undergo, was stronglyimpressed on His mind by the immediate power of God; so that He had far morefull and lively apprehensions of the bitterness of the cup which He was todrink than He ever had before, and these apprehensions were so terrible, thatHis feeble human nature shrunk at the sight, and was ready to sink.… Christ’s Agony Arose fromthese Apprehensions Second,… the conflict which the soul of Christ then endured wasoccasioned by those views and apprehensions. The sorrow and distress which Hissoul then suffered arose from that lively, and full, and immediate view whichHe had then given Him of that cup of wrath, by which God the Father did as itwere set the cup down before Him, for Him to take it and drink it. Some haveinquired, what was the occasion of that distress and agony, and manyspeculations there have been about it, but the account which the Scriptureitself gives us is sufficiently full in this matter, and does not leave roomfor speculation or doubt. The thing that Christ’s mind was so full of at thattime was, without doubt, the same with that which His mouth was so full of. Itwas the dread which His feeble human nature had of that dreadful cup, which wasvastly more terrible than Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace. He had then a nearview of that furnace of wrath, into which He was to be cast. He was brought tothe mouth of the furnace that He might look into it, and stand and view itsraging flames, and see the glowings of its heat, that He might know where Hewas going and what He was about to suffer. This was the thing that filled Hissoul with sorrow and darkness, this terrible sight as it were overwhelmed Him.… The Conflict HeExperienced was Dreadful Third,… the conflict in Christ’s soul, in this view of His lastsufferings, was dreadful, beyond all expression or conception. This willappear, 1. From what is said of its dreadfulness in the history. By one evangelist weare told, “He began to be sorrowful and very heavy” (Mt 26:37); and by another,He “… began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy” (Mk 14:33). Theseexpressions hold forth the intense and overwhelming distress that His soul wasin. Luke’s expression in the text of His being in an agony,according to the signification of that word in the original, implies no commondegree of sorrow, but such extreme distress that His nature had a most violentconflict 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 thingsbeyond the truth. He says, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death”(Mt 26:38). What language can more strongly express the most extreme degree ofsorrow? His soul was not only “sorrowful,” but “exceeding sorrowful”; and notonly 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 ofhell, of eternal death, had got hold upon Him.… 3. From the effect which it had on His body, in causing that bloody sweat thatwe read of in the text. In our translation it is said, that “his sweat was, asit were, great drops of blood, falling down to the ground.”… If the sufferingof Christ had occasioned merely a violent sweat, it would have shown that Hewas in great agony. For it must be an extraordinary grief and exercise of mindthat causes the body to be all of a sweat abroad in the open air, in a coldnight as that was, as is evident from John 18:18.… The Necessity of HisForeknowledge Fourth,… why it was needful that He should have a more full andextraordinary view of the cup that He was to drink, a little before He drankit, than ever He had before. Or why He must have such a foretaste of the wrathof God to be endured on the cross, before the time came that He was actually toendure it. Answer. It was needful, in order that He might take the cup and drinkit, as knowing what He did.… If Christ had not fully known what thedreadfulness of these sufferings was, before He took them upon Him, His takingthem upon Him could not have been fully His own act as man. There could havebeen no explicit act of His will about that which He was ignorant of. Therecould have been no proper trial, whether He would be willing to undergo suchdreadful sufferings or not, unless He had known beforehand how dreadful theywere. But when He had seen what they were, by having an extraordinary viewgiven Him of them, and then undertaken to endure them afterwards, then He actedas knowing what He did, then His taking that cup and bearing such dreadfulsufferings was properly His own act by an explicit choice. And so His love tosinners, in that choice of His, was the more wonderful, as also His obedienceto God in it. And it was necessary that this extraordinary view that Christ hadof the cup He was to drink should be given at that time, just before He wasapprehended. This was the most proper season for it, just before He took thecup, and while He yet had opportunity to refuse the cup.… Application Consider of the Intensity of Christ’sSuffering First, we may learnhow dreadful Christ’s last sufferings were. We learn it from the dreadfuleffect which the bare foresight of them had upon Him in His agony. His lastsufferings were so dreadful that the view which Christ had of them beforeoverwhelmed Him and amazed Him, as it is said He began to be sore amazed. Thevery sight of these last sufferings was so very dreadful as to sink His souldown into the dark shadow of death.… And if only the foresight of the cup wasso dreadful, how dreadful was the cup itself, how far beyond all that can beuttered or conceived! Many of the martyrs have endured extreme tortures, butfrom what has been said, there is all reason to think those all were a merenothing to the last sufferings of Christ on the cross. And what has been saidaffords a convincing argument that the sufferings which Christ endured inHis body on the cross, though they were very dreadful, wereyet the least part of His last sufferings. And that beside those, He enduredsufferings in His soul which were vastly greater. For if it had been only thesufferings which He endured in His body, though they were very dreadful, wecannot conceive that the mere anticipation of them would have such an effect onChrist. Many of the martyrs, for aught we know, have endured as severe torturesin their bodies as Christ did. Many of the martyrs have not been sooverwhelmed. There has been no appearance of such amazing sorrow and distressof mind either at the anticipation of their sufferings, or in their actualenduring of them.
Secondly, from whathas been said, we may see the wonderful strength of the love of Christ tosinners. 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, ashas been shown. And how wonderful was His love that lasted and was upheldstill!… (2) the strength of Christ’s love more especially appears in this, thatwhen He had such a full view of the dreadfulness of the cup that He was todrink, that so amazed Him, He would notwithstanding even then take it up, anddrink it.…
Thirdly, from what hasbeen said, we may learn the wonderfulness of Christ’s submission to the will ofGod. Christ, as He was a divine person, was the absolute sovereign of heavenand earth, but yet He was the most wonderful instance of submission to God’ssovereignty that ever was. When He had such a view of the terribleness of Hislast sufferings, and prayed if it were possible that that cup might pass fromHim, i.e., if there was not an absolute necessity of it in order to thesalvation 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 thatthe inclination of His human nature, which so much dreaded such exquisitetorments, should be crossed, than that God’s will should not take place. Hedelighted in the thought of God’s will being done. And when He went and prayedthe second time, He had nothing else to say but, “O my Father, if this cup maynot 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 theafflictions that we suffer in comparison of this? If God does but in His providencesignify it to be His will that we should part with a child, how hardly are webrought to yield to it, how ready to be unsubmissive and froward? Or if Godlays His hand upon us in some acute pain of body, how ready are we to bediscontented and impatient; when the innocent Son of God, who deserved nosuffering, could quietly submit to sufferings inconceivably great, and say itover and over, God’s will be done!…
Fourthly, what hasbeen said on this subject also shows us the glory of Christ’s obedience. Christwas subject to the moral law as Adam was, and He was also subject to theceremonial and judicial laws of Moses. But the principal command that He hadreceived of the Father was, that He should lay down His life, that He shouldvoluntarily yield up Himself to those terrible sufferings on the cross.… Andtherefore this command was the principal trial of His obedience. It was thegreatest 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 Christhad, whether He would obey this command, was in the time of His agony. For thatwas within an hour before He was apprehended in order to His sufferings, whenHe must either yield Himself up to them, or fly from them. And then it was thefirst time that Christ had a full view of the difficulty of this command, whichappeared so great as to cause that bloody sweat. Then was the conflict of weakhuman nature with the difficulty, then was the sore struggles and wrestlingwith the heavy trial He had, and then Christ got the victory over thetemptation, from the dread of His human nature. His obedience held out throughthe conflict. Then we may suppose that Satan was especially let loose to set inwith the natural dread that the human nature had of such torments, and tostrive 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 especiallydelivered up into the hands of Satan to be tempted of him, more than He wasimmediately after His baptism; for Christ says, speaking of that time, Luke22:53, “When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no handsagainst me; but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”… But yet Hefailed not, but go the victory over all, and performed that great act ofobedience at that time to that same God that hid Himself from Him, and wasshowing His wrath to Him for men’s sins, which He must presently suffer. Nothingcould move Him away from His steadfast obedience to God, but He persisted insaying, “Thy will be done”: expressing not only His submission, but Hisobedience; not only His compliance with the disposing will of God, but alsowith His preceptive will. God had given Him this cup to drink, and hadcommanded 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?” (Jn 18:11).Christ, at the time of His agony, had an inconceivably greater trial ofobedience than any man or any angel ever had. How much was this trial of theobedience of the second Adam beyond the trial of the obedience of the firstAdam! How light was our first father’s temptation in comparison of this! Andyet our first surety failed, and our second failed not, but obtained a gloriousvictory, and went and became obedient until death, even the death of the cross.Thus wonderful and glorious was the obedience of Christ, by which He wroughtour righteousness for believers, and which obedience is imputed to them. Nowonder that it is a sweet penalty sown, and that God stands ready to bestowheaven as its reward on all the believe on Him.
Fifthly, what has beensaid shows us the sottishness of secure sinners in being so fearless of thewrath of God. If the wrath of God was so dreadful, that, when Christ onlyexpected it, His human nature was nearly overwhelmed with the fear of it, andHis soul was amazed, and His body all over in a bloody sweat. Then how sottishare sinners, who are under the threatening of the same wrath of God, and arecondemned to it, and are every moment exposed to it. And yet, instead ofmanifesting intense apprehension, are quiet and easy, and unconcerned. Insteadof 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 anddrink, and sleep quietly, and go on in sin, provoking the wrath of God more andmore, without any great matter of concern! How stupid and sottish are suchpersons! Let such senseless sinners consider, that that misery, of which theyare in danger from the wrath of God, is infinitely more terrible than that, thefear of which occasioned in Christ His agony and bloody fear of sweat.… It ismore terrible in its nature and degree. Christ suffered that which, as itupheld the honour of the divine law, was fully equivalent to the misery of thedamned. And in some respect it was the same suffering; for it was the wrath ofthe same God. But yet in other respects it vastly differed. The difference doesnot arise from the difference in the wrath poured out on one and the other, forit is the same wrath, but from the difference of the subject, which may be bestillustrated from Christ’s own comparison. Luke 23:31, “For if they do thesethings in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” Here He calls Himselfthe green tree, and wicked men the dry, intimating that the misery that willcome on wicked men will be far more dreadful than those sufferings which cameon Him, and the difference arises from the different nature of the subject. Thegreen tree and the dry are both cast into the fire. But the flames seize andkindle on the dry tree much more fiercely than on the green. The sufferingsthat Christ endured differ from the misery of the wicked in hell in nature anddegree in the following respects.
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