In Gethsemane
59
The Saviour’s heart was filled with pity and sympathy at the weak-
ness of His disciples. He feared that they could not endure the test
which His suffering and death would bring upon them.
Yet He did not sternly reprove them for their weakness. He thought
of the trials that were before them, and said:
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”
He made an excuse for their failure in duty toward Him: “The
spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26:41
. What
an example of the tender, loving pity of the Saviour!
Again the Son of God was seized with superhuman agony. Fainting
and exhausted, He staggered back, and prayed as He had prayed before:
“O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I
drink it, Thy will be done.”
Matthew 26:42
.
The agony of this prayer forced drops of blood from His pores.
Again He sought the disciples for sympathy, and again He found them
sleeping. His presence aroused them. They looked upon His face with
fear, for it was stained with blood. They could not understand the
anguish of mind which His face expressed.
The third time He sought the place of prayer. A horror of great
darkness overcame Him. He had lost the presence of His Father.
Without this, He feared that in His human nature He could not endure
the test.
The third time He prays the same prayer as before. Angels long to
bring relief, but it may not be. The Son of God must drink this cup,
[105]
or the world will be lost forever. He sees the helplessness of man. He
sees the power of sin. The woes of a doomed world pass in review
before Him.
He makes the final decision. He will save man at any cost to Him-
self. He has left the courts of Heaven, where all is purity, happiness,
and glory, to save the one lost sheep, the one world that has fallen by
transgression, and He will not turn from His purpose. His prayer now
breathes only submission:
“If this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will
be done.”
The Saviour now falls dying to the ground. No disciple is there,
to place his hand tenderly beneath his Master’s head, and bathe that
brow, marred indeed more than the sons of men. Christ is alone; of all
the people there are none with Him.