The Agony of the Son

When we hear of the suffering of Christ, it is most natural for our thoughts to immediately jump to His physical suffering from the time of His arrest to the Cross.  This association springs from the fact that we are human and can identify, we think, with the physical torment to which Jesus was subjected.  However, when we look closely at the testimony of Scripture, we find that to limit the scope of Christ’s agony to the fear and dread of His physical suffering and death is to grossly misunderstand the infinite suffering, grief, and agony borne by our Savior many hours before He ever reached Calvary.

     The extent of His agony

1.      Jesus left eight and went further with three

2.      “began to be very distressed and troubled” (v33)

3.      ‘very distressed’ – to throw into amazement or terror, to alarm thoroughly, to be struck with terror

4.      ‘very distressed’ also seen in Mark 9:15 and 16:5,6 and is translated there ‘amazed’

5.      note visible manifestation in 9 & 16, compare w/v33

6.      what caused this reaction in Jesus?  A clear and full understanding of what lay ahead

a.       in His humanity Jesus only knew what the Father revealed to Him (John 5:19-20, Luke 2:52, Mark 13:32);  this may have been His first full glimpse at what was coming 

7.      ‘troubled’ - speaks of an experience of which one is not familiar, in which one does not feel at home and which distresses him

8.      continues the idea from ‘very distressed’; possibly a result of His alarm; was made extremely uncomfortable at His realization

9.      ‘deeply grieved’ – fully engulfed, completely surrounded, conscience saturated with grief; no part of Him untouched

10.  ‘to the point of death’ – grief was so severe that the weight of it had physical ramifications; one comm. ‘so that I almost die’

11.  Luke’s description of physical result of suffering (22:44), sweat drops of blood (hematidrosis)

12.  though not present in a few early manuscripts, is consistent with Luke’s being a physician

To speak of the extent of Christ’s agony in the garden is to speak of that which no finite being can possibly fathom.  In the history of the world, no one has ever suffered to the extent that Jesus suffered.  Even the great agony of Job is not worthy to compare with the agony Jesus bore in Gethsemane. 

     The source of His agony

1.      remember Christ’s dual natures and corresponding wills

2.      Christ’s humanity in full view in Gethsemane, as is it’s subordination to His divine will

3.      Viewing both wills necessary to rightly understand His agony

4.      OT cup represents God’s judgment or wrath; true of Jesus’ cup, for in becoming sin He suffers death and bears the fullness of God’s wrath and judgment against sin

5.      A cup of sin

a.       Our view of Christ’s agony impeded by:

                                                            i.      A deficient view of the holiness of God

                                                          ii.      A resulting deficient view of the nature and depth of sin

b.      holiness – set apart, separated from sin

c.       sin – failure to conform to God’s moral law in act, attitude, or nature

d.      God’s moral law proceeds out of His nature and character

e.       Our sin is an offense against the very nature and character of holy God

f.       The sin Jesus was to become was detestable, repulsive, appalling and vulgar to Him

g.      He who knew no sin became sin (2 Cor. 5:21)

h.      The Offended became the offense

i.        Christ assumed what was contrary to His divine nature

j.        Christ became that for which He held an infinite hatred

k.      Christ became the focus of the judgment and wrath of the Father, appeasing God’s wrath against us (propitiation)

6.      A cup of separation

a.       Illustration:  pretending to leave Elyse in the parking lot, focus on her reaction

b.      As Jesus viewed sin, so the Father would view Him

c.       Holiness would cause the Father to break fellowship with the Son when He became sin

d.      From all eternity there had been perfect fellowship within the Godhead

e.       As a human Jesus trusted fully in His Father, submitted to His will, communed with Him, prayed to Him

f.       Obedience would sever the tie

g.      This was the death He feared – not physical death, but spiritual death, separation from God.  Heb. 5:7 – He prayed to be delivered from this separation, or through it, and His prayer was answered.

h.      We cannot begin to comprehend the infinite depth or infinite degree to which this grieved the Savior

i.        Words of Psalm 22 that He would cry out on the cross must have been on His mind:  My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

j.        The prospect of this separation, this abandonment, pained Jesus to the point of death

7.      A cup of suffering

a.       Jesus’ experience ran the gamut of human suffering:

                                                            i.      Betrayed by one of His own

                                                          ii.      Ridiculed by those whom He repeatedly rebuked

                                                        iii.      Beaten, spit upon, cursed mocked

                                                        iv.      Nailed naked to a Roman cross; most who suffered this fate cried out for a death that tarried far too long

b.      as a carpenter, Jesus surely had felt physical pain

c.       as God, He knew the prophecy of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53:5, 7. 10a)

d.      Others had suffered the physical torment Jesus faced, but all others were sinful men and not God in the flesh

e.       No man could fathom the spiritual atrocity Christ would endure

f.       His spiritual suffering intensified His physical suffering infinitely

g.      The holy Son of God became sin, took upon Himself the penalty of that sin and the wrath of God Almighty.

h.      Sin, separation, and suffering were mixed in His cup, and the prospect of drinking it was almost more than Jesus could bear

     The response to His agony

1.      In his unparalleled agony, Jesus retreats to solitude, but close enough for the disciples to hear and observe Him

2.      Jesus falls to the ground and prays

3.      Repetitive falling, in prayerful posture or physical weakness

4.      Continually prayed that the hour might pass Him by

a.       Not out of a fear of physical death

b.      Out of the terror of becoming sin and being separated from the Father

5.      He had a right to pray in this way, for:

a.       It can never be said that Jesus in any way deserved what was wrought upon Him at Calvary

b.      It can never be said that we in any way deserve what was bought by Him at Calvary

6.      Jesus was not asking if God was able to let the hour pass; He acknowledges God’s omnipotence in v. 36

7.      Jesus was seeking verification that this was the only way for sin to be atoned, wrath to be satisfied, and salvation secured

8.      ‘remove this cup from me’

a.       In His humanity Jesus didn’t want to suffer or die

b.      Man was created to live forever and the desire to live is inherent to human nature

c.       We see His human will in subjection to His divine will “yet not what I will but what You will.”

9.      He submitted to the will of the Father, knowing that “the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering. (Isaiah 53:10)

10.  Jesus was willing to render Himself as a guilt offering

11.  The Father was pleased to crush Him, accepting Him as a guilt offering

12.  In His humanity Jesus “learned obedience from the things which He suffered.  And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation. (Heb. 5:8-9)

Jesus’ agony drove Him to pray.  In His prayer He was submissive.  In His obedience He became the perfect sacrifice and the source of eternal salvation for all who obey.  Jesus counted the cost; He calculated it very carefully.  And obedience was worth whatever price He had to pay.

The Admonition for the Disciples

Many theologians have pointed out that only he who successfully resists a temptation to the end most fully feels the force of that temptation (Grudem, p. 539).  Many also assert that Jesus’ greatest temptation came in the garden.  Although Scripture doesn’t explicitly teach this, Luke 4:13 tells us that “when the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.”  One can scarcely envision a more opportune time than Jesus’ agony in the garden.  Knowing the craftiness and cunning of Satan, it is likely that he was there with Jesus, attempting again to thwart God’s redemptive plan by enticing Christ to circumvent the cross and embrace the glory He rightly deserved.

With this in mind, the admonition of Jesus to His disciples takes on added emphasis, for His admonition came in light of His own experience, and with a demonstration of application in a real life situation.  Sadly, the disciples failed to grasp anything Jesus was teaching them, and when their time of testing came, they failed miserably.

     The piercing question

1.      conviction of disobedience

a.       “Simon, are you asleep?  Could you not keep watch for one hour?”

b.      Mark 3:16 – Simon appointed and given the name Peter

c.       This is first instance since His appointment that Jesus addresses Him as Simon

                                                                     i.      After his confession of Jesus and ‘the Christ, the Son of the living God,” in Matt. 16, Jesus calls Simon, Peter

                                                                   ii.      Addressing him as Simon was a rebuke, indicating the Peter wasn’t living up to his name or his calling

d.      “are you sleeping?” – asked to convict the disciples of their disobedience

2.      calling their commitment into question

a.       “Could you not keep watch for one hour?”

b.      asked in light of bold assertions make only a few hours earlier

c.       Jesus was grieved to the point of death, the disciples who were ‘willing to die with Him’ couldn’t even stay awake with Him

d.      Not meant to crush the disciples, but to reinforce their need to pray

e.       Their intentions were good, but they lacked the strength to back up their words

3.      contrasting behavior

a.       Luke’s account indicates that the disciples were “sleeping from sorrow” (v. 45)

b.      The disciples’ sorrow not comparable to Jesus’ agony

                                                                     i.      Sorrowful over the prospect of Jesus leaving them

                                                                   ii.      Sorrowful because He would be betrayed by one in the group

                                                                 iii.      Sorrowful because His kingdom was not what they had expected it to be

c.       Jesus’ wrestled with His agony through prayer

d.      The disciples retreated from their sorrow into sleep

e.       Heavy sorrow is physically taxing and causes exhaustion; Jesus knew that well

f.       Jesus also knew the importance of prayer in facing temptation

     The loving instruction

1.      Came out of His own struggles and the knowledge of the disciples impending testing and temptation

2.      “Keep watching and praying that you may not fall into temptation.”

a.       Added prayer to the previous command to keep watch, underscoring to the disciples that they had already proved if they tried to do it themselves they would fail

3.      to resist the coming temptations required remaining:

a.       alert to their circumstances

b.      aware of what was happening around and to them

c.       awake, lest temptation overtake them in their slumber

4.      Prayer was necessary to successfully keep watch

a.       They had already proved that the power to resist was not in them

b.      They had already given in to temptation (sleep)

c.       Without prayer they would surely fall away and deny Christ

d.      Their prior behavior had demonstrated an important truth

e.        

     The truthful teaching

1.      Being man, Jesus understood the weakness of the flesh

2.      He knew the peril which awaited the disciples; He was engaged in His own battle

3.      “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” – shows that the instruction just given is vital

4.      The road to denial is paved with good intentions

5.      He never questioned the disciples desire, but their ability to carry those desires out in their own power

6.      He knew strength came through prayer, as seen in Luke 22:43, when he was strengthened by an angel

7.      If it was necessary for the Son of God to pray, how much more the disciples, how much more for us?

Here we see the heart of the Savior, for even in the midst of tremendous agony, He makes time to teach and instruct those whom He loves.  Perhaps, in His humanity, He was learning in His own experience the weakness of the flesh and the absolute necessity of prayer.  He not only instructs His disciples in this, but then models it for them in the most glorious fashion, only to return and find them asleep twice more.  How He must have longed for them to understand their weakness, to grasp His teaching.  And how it must have increased His pain that they were unwilling to do so

The Application for Us

Sorrow for Our Sin

When viewing our Savior’s agony, it is imperative to remember, and keep ever before us, that although it was the Father who willed that the Son drink the cup, it was our sin which made it necessary at all.  When the extent of His suffering then comes fully into our view, at least as fully as is humanly possible, His sorrow should bring us sorrow, for it was our offense against Him that rendered the Cross necessary; it was our rebellion that caused Him who knew no sin to become sin.

     Salvation in His Submission

Though the actual saving work of Christ occurred on the Cross, it was in Gethsemane that Christ submitted to the will of the Father.  Christ had the power at any time to call everything off, as we see in Matthew 26:53.  However, while as God He had the power to end it at any moment, because He was fully submitted to the will of the Father, He did not have the authority to do so.  Such authority was given to Him at His resurrection, because of His submission.  Thus, as the suffering Servant, He became a propitiation for our sins, securing salvation for God’s elect.

     Sympathy from His suffering

In light of the accounts of Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane, it would be difficult to conclude, though some have, that Christ’s temptations were not real.  Though tested in every way, tempted just as we are, Christ, through His trust and dependence upon the Father, lived a sinless life, never once bowing to the weight of temptation.  As our High Priest, Jesus intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father, and does so sympathetically, knowing full well the power of temptation, having resisted it fully in His 33 years on earth.

     Strength in our shortcomings

Understanding that our strength lies not in ourselves but in the power of omnipotent God should embolden us, for we learn from Scripture that ‘His strength is made perfect in weakness.’  It has been said, and bears repeating, that we are never as strong as when we are on our knees.  It is when we, because of our great High Priest, ‘approach the throne of grace with confidence, that we receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’  Our Savior’s sufferings drove Him to the Father; our sufferings should do at least that.

Susceptibility to Sleep

Like the disciples, we are prone to misplace our trust in our own strengths and abilities.  We are prone to underestimate the power of the forces that wage war against us.  We retreat from our spiritual battles, not to prayer but to slumber, neglecting the admonition of the Lord to ‘Keep watching and praying.’