Luke 22:39-46

Butler's Comments

SECTION 3

Conquest (Luke 22:39-46)

39 And he came out, and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. 40And when he came to the place he said to them, Pray that you may not enter into temptation.41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 45And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46and he said to them, Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

Luke 22:39-43 Acquiescence: Some of the tenderest words ever from the lips of Jesus were spoken between the command to buy swords and His agony in Gethsemane. They are words which show us the heart of God. These words are recorded in the Gospel of John, Chapter s 14 through 17. The student should read these words, so full of pathos, but so encouraging, as background for the agony in the Garden.

It appears Jesus intended to go out into the night after He spoke the words about His coming back as the Holy Spirit. He concluded that first discourse with the words, Rise, let us go hence, (John 14:31). But John's record (John 18:1) indicates Jesus did not go into the Garden of Gethsemane until He had finished all the discourses (recorded by John) and had sung a hymn (cf. Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26). After this He and His apostles went out across the Kidron valley (John 18:1) where there was a garden, called Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36; Mark 14:32) on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39).

After telling His apostles to Sit in a particular place, He told them to pray that they may not enter into temptation because He was going to withdraw from them, about a stone's throw away and pray Himself. He probably stationed eight of the apostles near the entrance to the garden as guards, armed with one of the two swords, and then stationed Peter, James and John, within a stone's throw from Himself, with one of the swords, as an inner guard, (cf. Matthew 26:37; Mark 14:33). Matthew and Mark record that He began to be greatly distressed and troubled, and said to them, My soul is very sorrowful even to death;, remain here and watch with me, (Matthew 26:37-38; Mark 14:33-34). Just two days earlier (Tuesday) Jesus said almost the same thing (cf. John 12:27-36) as He anticipated the humiliation and agony of the crucifixion.

Luke says Jesus first knelt to pray (Luke 22:41); Matthew and Mark indicate the Lord fell down upon the ground (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:35). The Semitic religions have long practiced the custom of first kneeling, then bowing the face all the way to the ground in prayer. This is apparently the posture Jesus assumed in this moment of emotion and agony. The prayer of Jesus, Father if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine be done, is one of the greatest moments in all the Bible! The whole redemptive plan of God was hanging in the balance at that moment. Hebrews 5:7-10 stresses the humanity of Jesus. So does Philippians 2:5-9. Jesus knew all along He was sent to die an atoning death on the cross. He predicted it many times. Yet all the black, horrid weight of sin upon His immaculate soul gripped Him with reality here in the garden as at no other time. If Jesus was human, and the scriptures emphasize He was, He grew in wisdom and understanding just like other human beings (cf, Luke 2:40; Luke 2:52). The impact of the cross apparently was something that came upon Him in graduating intensity until it burst upon Him in the garden like a personal holocaust. This does not deny His perfection, it only glorifies it. But in His willing assumption of the limitations of the flesh (cf. Philippians 2:5 ff.; Hebrews 10:5 ff.) He did not come to full realization of the mortifying, oppressive harshness of it until He had to make this ultimate decision. It was no more wrong for the human Jesus to cry for release from His cross than for the human Paul to cry for release from his thorn (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10). God's grace was sufficient for both of them to drink their cup.

It was predicted that the Messiah would be distressed and troubled (cf. Isaiah 49:1 ff; Isaiah 50:4-9), but victorious over His discouragement by simply committing His cause to Jehovah. This is what Jesus did. He did not distrust the Father or rebel against Him. He cried out in agony, Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. The perfect Man's struggle is on record. God bares it for all men to see and have faith. Suppose the Incarnate Son of man had simply said nothing but had, stoicly, without a struggle, gone to the cross, merrily, singing and smiling all the way? What help would that have been to fleshly mortals? Either we would doubt His sincerity or scoff at the idea of His telling us how costly it was to do God's will. How then could He preach to others about cost? Or, He would have appeared as a divine being that nothing in the human circumstance could ever touch or bother. We might be awed by His divine strength and power, but we would have difficulty believing He could understand our weaknesses and frailties. There are times when human beings do not want to do the will of Goddoes Jesus understand that? Yes! Man must have just such a Savior and Intercessor. Jesus did not want to go to the cross. It was there God would make Him who knew no sin, to become sin on our behalf (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21). He did not deserve to be punished for anyone's sin. Justice would demand every sinner die for his own sin (Ezekiel 18:5-24; Romans 3:10 f.). But Jesus was sent to the world in human form to conquer sin in the flesh (that is, to live in the flesh without ever sinning), then to die a vicarious death (separation from God) on man's behalf. Here we see Jesus, all alone, working out the great struggle of His own mind and heart in His dread of the will of God for Him at Calvary. Jesus must do it Himself. God will not and cannot decide for Him. It is Jesus-' choice alone! Here we see Man as God intended him to be when He created man. Here we see Man choosing the will of God above the greatest temptation to selfishness that could be thrown against man. By all that is fair, and meritorious, Jesus could have said, It is not My cup to drinkI have done nothing that I deserve this. Virgil Hurley wrote, in Christian Standard, March 31, 1974:

The humanity of Jesus dreaded the cross. Jesus was a man, with a flesh and blood body, capable of fear, shock, sorrow, weariness, and weakness.. We tend to overlook this. We don-'t want Him to have any doubts or fears about anything, or we think He might be less than deity.. But there is no need to say, Be perfect, like Christ, unless Christ had the same kind of body we have, susceptible to weaknesses and temptations; unless He lived perfectly only because He relied on God.. Jesus proved to be a human being in Gethsemane.. He also proved that humanity, devoted to God, can overcome all problems and circumstances. He proved that He, too, had to struggle to do God's will. We can understand this. We always have to struggle to do right.. This is the one relationship in which we see Jesus struggle, but it is enough to teach us that we can have inward conflicts without sinning. It is possible to know the right thing, to want to do the right thing, to intend to do the right thingand still have to fight oneself to do it.

Jesus-' struggle is a demonstration in human flesh of agape-love. Agape-love does what is right, what is the will of God, regardless of what one's feelings may urge him to do. Agape-love is a matter of the will, of the power of choicenot a matter of infatuation or emotions. Feelings are controlled by agape-love. This is why Jesus could say, A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you, (John 13:34-35). That kind of love can be commanded. One does not have to wait until he feels like it to love in that manner.

There are some ancient manuscripts which omit Luke 22:43-44 (Vaticanus, Alexandrinus and Washingtonius), but some ancient and weightier manuscripts include the verses (Sinaiticus, Bezae, Cyprius, Freerianus, Koridethi and others). The weight of textual evidence seems to favor its inclusion.

Luke alone tells us that an angel came, strengthening Jesus between His first season of prayer and the second and third. Matthew and Mark tell us Jesus prayed three times, using the same words (Matthew 26:42-44; Mark 14:35-39). Just how the angel strengthened Him we are not told. We presume the heavenly being brought words of encouragement and admiration to Jesus directly from the Father as had been done before (cf. Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 4:11; John 12:27-29).

Luke 22:44-46 Agony: The Greek word agonia, translated agony is used by some ancient Greek to mean anxiety. One commentator seems to think the word as used by Luke has the idea of agony of fear. If it was fear it was godly fear for the inspired comment from Hebrews 5:7-9 indicates that by the use of the Greek word eulabeias which means, reverent awe, fear of God. The Greek word ektenesteron is translated more earnestly, and is from a root word which means to stretch, to make tense. The idea suggested is that of not relaxing, of being wound up tight, of being totally concentratedfervency. This was not a matter of half-heartedness. He was pouring out His soul in filling up the cup of God. He was totally oblivious to every other thing or thought. Every fiber of His being was focused on the ultimate act God had sent Him here to dobecome sin for all mankind! There was no reason He shouldthere was no justification for it. The question He must settle, once and for all, was, Did He love man enough to do this in spite of how He felt about it or how unjust it was? Yes, He did!

But He did not settle it before He cried tears and sweat great drops of blood. Literally, the Greek text would read, And became the sweat of Him as clots of blood falling down onto the earth. The Greek word thromboi, is the word from which the English word thrombosis comes. We quote here from The Final Week, by R. C. Foster, pg. 180, pub. Baker:

The word translated great drops of blood can be rendered blood clots. It seems to mean more than that His drops of sweat resembled drops of blood by their size and frequency; otherwise there would be no reason or force in such a comparison. Bloody sweat is a good translation. Plummer cites the case of Charles IX of France as reported by Stroud, The Physical Cause of the Death of Christ (Commentary on Luke, p. 511): During the last two weeks of his life (May 1754) his constitution made strong efforts. blood gushed from all the outlets of his body, even from the pores of his skin; so that on one occasion he was found bathed in a blood sweat. Even if no such phenomenon were known today, it would not prove that such did not occur in the case of Jesus. His agony was unique. The nobler the person, the more sensitive he is to suffering of this type.

Who, among sinful men, would know the physical results of the agony of a sinless One wrestling with the will of God in such a matter as becoming sin when He did not have to?

After this first agony, Jesus arose from the ground, and sought the solace of His apostles. They had so confidently vowed they would stand with Him even if it demanded their death. But when Jesus came to where they had been stationed, He found them asleep. Luke says they were asleep out of (Gr. apo, out of) sorrow (Gr. lupes, grief). In view of the fact that Jesus, when He was praying, cried with loud cries, agonized until bloody clots fell from His body, and tears gushed from His eyes, it seems incredible that the apostles, only a stone's throw away, could go to sleep. But they had been weighed down with all the sorrow-filled things Jesus had been saying to them about His going away and that they could not go with Him. He had also said much about betrayal, death by crucifixion and the powers of Satan that night. They had been excited at first with the entrance to Jerusalem on Sunday, the power and potential Jesus displayed on Monday and Tuesday when one enemy after another was dispatched in humiliation. The Passover supper excited them to begin making plans as to who would be the greatest in the kingdom. Excitement, depression, stuffed with food, awake for long hours each day and missing many hours of sleep already this week, the spirit may have been willing, but the flesh was weak (cf. Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38). Indeed, every follower of Jesus needs to take warning against overconfidence. Even the great apostle Paul buffeted his body and subdued it, lest after preaching to others he himself should be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:12). The apostles thought that they could stand, but they fell. It is one thing to stay awake to fight with a swordit is another thing to stay awake to sympathize with someone who needs you.

Jesus told the apostles, Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation. Jesus then withdrew a second time to pray (Matthew 26:42; Mark 14:39). When He returned to the apostles, He found them asleep again. This time their eyes were so heavy and they were in such a stupor, they did not know what to answer Him (Mark 14:40). He withdrew a third time and prayed (Matthew 26:44; Mark 14:41); a third time He returned and found them sleeping. This time He said, Sleep now (katheudete, imperative, a command, Mark 14:41) and take your rest. Now His agony is over. His struggle is resolved. He is ready to face the mob and Calvary. But they will need their sleep. How patient He was, how loving. No rebuke, no haughty criticism, no poutingjust concern for them when they had been totally concerned for themselves. Finally, He awakened them and said, It is enough; the hour has come; the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand (Matthew 26:45-46; Mark 14:41-42).

Applebury's Comments

The Agony in Gethsemane
Scripture

Luke 22:39-46 And he came out, and went, as his custom was, unto the mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed him. 40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. 41 And he was parted from them about a stone's cast; and he kneeled down and prayed, 42 saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43 And there appeared unto him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became as it were great drops of blood falling down upon the ground. 45 And when he rose up from his prayer, he came unto the disciples, and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.

Comments

As his custom was unto the Mount of Olives.John says that Jesus and His disciples went out of the city across the Brook Kidron and entered into a Garden (John 18:1). Matthew says it was called Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36). Jesus said to the disciples, Pray that you enter not into temptation. He was well aware what Judas was about to do and that Peter, who boasted of his loyalty, would soon deny Him.

remove this cup from me.Just before this prayer, He had said to the disciples, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death (Matthew 26:38). His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Jesus was near death in the garden. Then angels came and strengthened Him, but He prayed the more earnestly that this cup might be removed.

It is generally believed that Jesus was asking that He might not have to go to the cross. It is assumed that human weakness caused Him to shrink from that ordeal. But Jesus had come into the world for the express purpose of giving Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. He had reminded his disciples on several occasions that He had to go to Jerusalem and there to be put to death. He had also said that He had the right to lay down His life and take it up again; no man took it from Him. After His prayer in the garden, He said, The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it? (John 18:11) Does this refer to the experience in Gethsemane or to the fact which He had announced on many occasions that He had come into the world to offer Himself on the cross?

Light is thrown on this problem by the remarks of Jesus at the time that the Greeks came saying, We would see Jesus. He said, Except the grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abides by itself alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit (John 12:24). Then He said, 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 (John 12:27). But this passage is also punctuated so that it reads, Shall I say, Father, save me from this hour? In that case, He did not ask to be excused from death on the cross. Then He prayed, Father, glorify thy name. John reminds us that the voice of God said I have glorified it and will glorify it again. It is also possible to interpret the prayer in Gethsemane to mean that Jesus was asking that He might not die in the Garden but that He might have the strength to go on and complete His earthly mission; that is, to die on the cross.