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Page 685
Chapter 74
Gethsemane
In company with His disciples, the Saviour slowly made His way
to the garden of Gethsemane. The Passover moon, broad and full,
shone from a cloudless sky. The city of pilgrims’ tents was hushed
into silence.
Jesus had been earnestly conversing with His disciples and instructing
them; but as He neared Gethsemane, He became strangely silent.
He had often visited this spot for meditation and prayer; but never with
a heart so full of sorrow as upon this night of His last agony. Throughout
His life on earth He had walked in the light of God’s presence.
When in conflict with men who were inspired by the very spirit of Satan,
He could say, “He that sent Me is with Me: the Father hath not left Me
alone; for I do always those things that please Him.” John 8:29. But
now He seemed to be shut out from the light of God’s sustaining presence.
Now He was numbered with the transgressors. The guilt of
fallen humanity He must bear. Upon Him who knew no sin must be
laid the iniquity of us all. So dreadful does sin appear to Him, so great
is the weight of guilt which He must bear, that He is tempted to fear it
will shut Him out forever from His Father’s love. Feeling how terrible
is the wrath of God against transgression, He exclaims, “My soul is
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.”
As they approached the garden, the disciples had marked the change
that came over their Master. Never before had they seen Him so utterly
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sad and silent. As He proceeded, this strange sadness deepened; yet
they dared not question Him as to the cause. His form swayed as if
He were about to fall. Upon reaching the garden, the disciples looked
anxiously for His usual place of retirement, that their Master might rest.
Every step that He now took was with labored effort. He groaned
aloud, as if suffering under the pressure of a terrible burden. Twice His
companions supported Him, or He would have fallen to the earth.
Near the entrance to the garden, Jesus left all but three of the
disciples, bidding them pray for themselves and for Him. With Peter, James,
and John, He entered its secluded recesses. These three disciples were
Christ’s closest companions. They had beheld His glory on the mount
of transfiguration; they had seen Moses and Elijah talking with Him;
they had heard the voice from heaven; now in His great struggle, Christ
desired their presence near Him. Often they had passed the night with
Him in this retreat. On these occasions, after a season of watching and
prayer, they would sleep undisturbed at a little distance from their
Master, until He awoke them in the morning to go forth anew to labor.
But now He desired them to spend the night with Him in prayer. Yet
He could not bear that even they should witness the agony He was
to endure.
“Tarry ye here,” He said, “and watch with Me.”
He went a little distance from them—not so far but that they could
both see and hear Him—and fell prostrate upon the ground. He felt
that by sin He was being separated from His Father. The gulf was so
broad, so black, so deep, that His spirit shuddered before it. This agony
He must not exert His divine power to escape. As man He must suffer
the consequences of man’s sin. As man He must endure the wrath of
God against transgression.
Christ was now standing in a different attitude from that in which
He had ever stood before. His suffering can best be described in the
words of the prophet, “Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, and
against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of hosts.” Zech. 13:7.
As the substitute and surety for sinful man, Christ was suffering under
divine justice. He saw what justice meant. Hitherto He had been as an
intercessor for others; now He longed to have an intercessor for Himself.
As Christ felt His unity with the Father broken up, He feared that
in His human nature He would be unable to endure the coming conflict
with the powers of darkness. In the wilderness of temptation the destiny
of the human race had been at stake. Christ was then conqueror. Now
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the tempter had come for the last fearful struggle. For this he had been
preparing during the three years of Christ’s ministry. Everything was
at stake with him. If he failed here, his hope of mastery was lost; the
kingdoms of the world would finally become Christ’s; he himself would
be overthrown and cast out. But if Christ could be overcome, the earth
would become Satan’s kingdom, and the human race would be forever
in his power. With the issues of the conflict before Him, Christ’s soul
was filled with dread of separation from God. Satan told Him that if
He became the surety for a sinful world, the separation would be eternal.
He would be identified with Satan’s kingdom, and would nevermore
be one with God.
And what was to be gained by this sacrifice? How hopeless appeared
the guilt and ingratitude of men! In its hardest features Satan pressed
the situation upon the Redeemer: The people who claim to be above
all others in temporal and spiritual advantages have rejected You. They
are seeking to destroy You, the foundation, the center and seal of the
promises made to them as a peculiar people. One of Your own disciples,
who has listened to Your instruction, and has been among the foremost
in church activities, will betray You. One of Your most zealous followers
will deny You. All will forsake You. Christ’s whole being abhorred
the thought. That those whom He had undertaken to save, those whom
He loved so much, should unite in the plots of Satan, this pierced His
soul. The conflict was terrible. Its measure was the guilt of His nation,
of His accusers and betrayer, the guilt of a world lying in wickedness.
The sins of men weighed heavily upon Christ, and the sense of God’s
wrath against sin was crushing out His life.
Behold Him contemplating the price to be paid for the human soul.
In His agony He clings to the cold ground, as if to prevent Himself from
being drawn farther from God. The chilling dew of night falls upon
His prostrate form, but He heeds it not. From His pale lips comes the
bitter cry, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.”
Yet even now He adds, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
The human heart longs for sympathy in suffering. This longing
Christ felt to the very depths of His being. In the supreme agony of His
soul He came to His disciples with a yearning desire to hear some words
of comfort from those whom He had so often blessed and comforted,
and shielded in sorrow and distress. The One who had always had
words of sympathy for them was now suffering superhuman agony,
and He longed to know that they were praying for Him and for themselves.
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How dark seemed the malignity of sin! Terrible was the temptation
to let the human race bear the consequences of its own guilt, while
He stood innocent before God. If He could only know that His disciples
understood and appreciated this, He would be strengthened.
Rising with painful
effort, He staggered to
the place where He had
left His companions.
But He “findeth them
asleep.” Had He found
them praying, He would
have been relieved. Had
they been seeking refuge
in God, that satanic agencies
might not prevail
over them, He would
have been comforted by
their steadfast faith. But
they had not heeded
the repeated warning,
“Watch and pray.” At
first they had been much
troubled to see their Master,
usually so calm and
dignified, wrestling with
a sorrow that was beyond
comprehension. They
had prayed as they heard
the strong cries of
the sufferer. They did not intend to forsake their Lord, but they seemed
paralyzed by a stupor which they might have shaken off if they had
continued pleading with God. They did not realize the necessity of
watchfulness and earnest prayer in order to withstand temptation.
Just before He bent His footsteps to the garden, Jesus had said to
the disciples, “All ye shall be offended because of Me this night.” They
had given Him the strongest assurance that they would go with Him
to prison and to death. And poor, self-sufficient Peter had added, “Although
all shall be offended, yet will not I.” Mark 14:27, 29. But the
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disciples trusted to themselves. They did not look to the mighty Helper
as Christ had counseled them to do. Thus when the Saviour was most
in need of their sympathy and prayers, they were found asleep. Even
Peter was sleeping.
And John, the loving disciple who had leaned upon the breast of
Jesus, was asleep. Surely, the love of John for his Master should have
kept him awake. His earnest prayers should have mingled with those
of his loved Saviour in the time of His supreme sorrow. The Redeemer
had spent entire nights praying for His disciples, that their faith might
not fail. Should Jesus now put to James and John the question He had
once asked them, “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
would not have ventured to answer, “We are able.” Matt. 20:22.
The disciples awakened at the voice of Jesus, but they hardly knew
Him, His face was so changed by anguish. Addressing Peter, Jesus
said, “Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? Watch
ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but
the flesh is weak.” The weakness of His disciples awakened the sympathy
of Jesus. He feared that they would not be able to endure the test
which would come upon them in His betrayal and death. He did not
reprove them, but said, “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.”
Even in His great agony, He was seeking to excuse their weakness.
“The spirit truly is ready,” He said, “but the flesh is weak.”
Again the Son of God was seized with superhuman agony, and fainting
and exhausted, He staggered back to the place of His former struggle.
His suffering was even greater than before. As the agony of soul
came upon Him, “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling
down to the ground.” The cypress and palm trees were the silent witnesses
of His anguish. From their leafy branches dropped heavy dew
upon His stricken form, as if nature wept over its Author wrestling
alone with the powers of darkness.
A short time before, Jesus had stood like a mighty cedar, withstanding
the storm of opposition that spent its fury upon Him. Stubborn
wills, and hearts filled with malice and subtlety, had striven in vain to
confuse and overpower Him. He stood forth in divine majesty as the
Son of God. Now He was like a reed beaten and bent by the angry
storm. He had approached the consummation of His work a conqueror,
having at each step gained the victory over the powers of darkness. As
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one already glorified, He had claimed oneness with God. In unfaltering
accents He had poured out His songs of praise. He had spoken to His
disciples in words of courage and tenderness. Now had come the hour
of the power of darkness. Now His voice was heard on the still evening
air, not in tones of triumph, but full of human anguish. The words
of the Saviour were borne to the ears of the drowsy disciples, “O My
Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy
will be done.”
The first impulse of the disciples was to go to Him; but He had
bidden them tarry there, watching unto prayer. When Jesus came to
them, He found them still sleeping. Again He had felt a longing for
companionship, for some words from His disciples which would bring
relief, and break the spell of darkness that well-nigh overpowered Him.
But their eyes were heavy; “neither wist they what to answer Him.”
His presence aroused them. They saw His face marked with the bloody
sweat of agony, and they were filled with fear. His anguish of mind
they could not understand. “His visage was so marred more than any
man, and His form more than the sons of men.” Isa. 52:14.
Turning away, Jesus sought again His retreat, and fell prostrate,
overcome by the horror of a great darkness. The humanity of the Son
of God trembled in that trying hour. He prayed not now for His
disciples that their faith might not fail, but for His own tempted,
agonized soul. The awful moment had come—that moment which was
to decide the destiny of the world. The fate of humanity trembled in
the balance. Christ might even now refuse to drink the cup apportioned
to guilty man. It was not yet too late. He might wipe the bloody sweat
from His brow, and leave man to perish in his iniquity. He might say,
Let the transgressor receive the penalty of his sin, and I will go back
to My Father. Will the Son of God drink the bitter cup of humiliation
and agony? Will the innocent suffer the consequences of the curse of
sin, to save the guilty? The words fall tremblingly from the pale lips
of Jesus, “O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except
I drink it, Thy will be done.”
Three times has He uttered that prayer. Three times has humanity
shrunk from the last, crowning sacrifice. But now the history of the
human race comes up before the world’s Redeemer. He sees that the
transgressors of the law, if left to themselves, must perish. He sees the
helplessness of man. He sees the power of sin. The woes and lamentations
of a doomed world rise before Him. He beholds its impending
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fate, and His decision is made. He will save man at any cost to Himself.
He accepts His baptism of blood, that through Him perishing millions
may gain everlasting life. 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 mission.
He will become the propitiation of a race that has willed to sin. His
prayer now breathes only submission: “If this cup may not pass away
from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.”
Having made the decision, He fell dying to the ground from which
He had partially risen. Where now were His disciples, to place their
hands tenderly beneath the head of their fainting Master, and bathe that
brow, marred indeed more than the sons of men? The Saviour trod
the wine press alone, and of the people there was none with Him.
But God suffered with His Son. Angels beheld the Saviour’s agony.
They saw their Lord enclosed by legions of satanic forces, His nature
weighed down with a shuddering, mysterious dread. There was silence
in heaven. No harp was touched. Could mortals have viewed the amazement
of the angelic host as in silent grief they watched the Father
separating His beams of light, love, and glory from His beloved Son,
they would better understand how offensive in His sight is sin.
The worlds unfallen and the heavenly angels had watched with
intense interest as the conflict drew to its close. Satan and his confederacy
of evil, the legions of apostasy, watched intently this great crisis in the
work of redemption. The powers of good and evil waited to see what
answer would come to Christ’s thrice-repeated prayer. Angels had
longed to bring relief to the divine sufferer, but this might not be. No
way of escape was found for the Son of God. In this awful crisis, when
everything was at stake, when the mysterious cup trembled in the hand
of the sufferer, the heavens opened, a light shone forth amid the stormy
darkness of the crisis hour, and the mighty angel who stands in God’s
presence, occupying the position from which Satan fell, came to the side
of Christ. The angel came not to take the cup from Christ’s hand, but
to strengthen Him to drink it, with the assurance of the Father’s love.
He came to give power to the divine-human suppliant. He pointed
Him to the open heavens, telling Him of the souls that would be saved
as the result of His sufferings. He assured Him that His Father is
greater and more powerful than Satan, that His death would result in
the utter discomfiture of Satan, and that the kingdom of this world
would be given to the saints of the Most High. He told Him that He
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would see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied, for He would see
a multitude of the human race saved, eternally saved.
Christ’s agony did not cease, but His depression and discouragement
left Him. The storm had in nowise abated, but He who was its object
was strengthened to meet its fury. He came forth calm and serene. A
heavenly peace rested upon His bloodstained face. He had borne that
which no human being could ever bear; for He had tasted the sufferings
of death for every man.
The sleeping disciples had been suddenly awakened by the light
surrounding the Saviour. They saw the angel bending over their prostrate
Master. They saw him lift the Saviour’s head upon his bosom, and
point toward heaven. They heard his voice, like sweetest music, speaking
words of comfort and hope. The disciples recalled the scene upon the
mount of transfiguration. They remembered the glory that in the
temple had encircled Jesus, and the voice of God that spoke from the
cloud. Now that same glory was again revealed, and they had no further
fear for their Master. He was under the care of God; a mighty angel
had been sent to protect Him. Again the disciples in their weariness
yield to the strange stupor that overpowers them. Again Jesus finds
them sleeping.
Looking sorrowfully upon them He says, “Sleep on now, and take
your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed
into the hands of sinners.”
Even as He spoke these words, He heard the footsteps of the mob
in search of Him, and said, “Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand
that doth betray Me.”
No traces of His recent agony were visible as Jesus stepped forth
to meet His betrayer. Standing in advance of His disciples He said,
“Whom seek ye?” They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied,
“I am He.” As these words were spoken, the angel who had lately
ministered to Jesus moved between Him and the mob. A divine light
illuminated the Saviour’s face, and a dovelike form overshadowed Him.
In the presence of this divine glory, the murderous throng could not
stand for a moment. They staggered back. Priests, elders, soldiers, and
even Judas, fell as dead men to the ground.
The angel withdrew, and the light faded away. Jesus had opportunity
to escape, but He remained, calm and self-possessed. As one glorified He
stood in the midst of that hardened band, now prostrate and helpless
at His feet. The disciples looked on, silent with wonder and awe.
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But quickly the scene changed. The mob started up. The Roman
soldiers, the priests and Judas, gathered about Christ. They seemed
ashamed of their weakness, and fearful that He would yet escape. Again
the question was asked by the Redeemer, “Whom seek ye?” They had
had evidence that He who stood before them was the Son of God, but
they would not be convinced. To the question, “Whom seek ye?” again
they answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” The Saviour then said, “I have
told you that I am He: if therefore ye seek Me, let these go their
way"—pointing to the disciples. He knew how weak was their faith, and
He sought to shield them from temptation and trial. For them He was
ready to sacrifice Himself.
Judas the betrayer did not forget the part he was to act. When the
mob entered the garden, he had led the way, closely followed by the
high priest. To the pursuers of Jesus he had given a sign, saying,
“Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is He: hold Him fast.” Matt. 26:48. Now he pretends to have no part with them. Coming close to
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Jesus, he takes His hand as a familiar friend. With the words, “Hail,
Master,” he kisses Him repeatedly, and appears to weep as if in sympathy
with Him in His peril.
Jesus said to him, “Friend, wherefore art thou come?” His voice
trembled with sorrow as He added, “Judas, betrayest thou the Son of
man with a kiss?” This appeal should have aroused the conscience of
the betrayer, and touched his stubborn heart; but honor, fidelity, and
human tenderness had forsaken him. He stood bold and defiant, showing
no disposition to relent. He had given himself up to Satan, and
he had no power to resist him. Jesus did not refuse the traitor’s kiss.
The mob grew bold as they saw Judas touch the person of Him
who had so recently been glorified before their eyes. They now laid
hold of Jesus, and proceeded to bind those precious hands that had
ever been employed in doing good.
The disciples had thought that their Master would not suffer Himself
to be taken. For the same power that had caused the mob to fall as
dead men could keep them helpless, until Jesus and His companions
should escape. They were disappointed and indignant as they saw the
cords brought forward to bind the hands of Him whom they loved.
Peter in his anger rashly drew his sword and tried to defend his Master,
but he only cut off an ear of the high priest’s servant. When Jesus saw
what was done, He released His hands, though held firmly by the
Roman soldiers, and saying, “Suffer ye thus far,” He touched the
wounded ear, and it was instantly made whole. He then said to Peter,
“Put up again thy sword into his 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 shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of
angels?”—a legion in place of each one of the disciples. Oh, why, the
disciples thought, does He not save Himself and us? Answering their
unspoken thought, He added, “But how then shall the scriptures be
fulfilled, that thus it must be?” “The cup which My Father hath given
Me, shall I not drink it?”
The official dignity of the Jewish leaders had not prevented them from
joining in the pursuit of Jesus. His arrest was too important a matter to
be trusted to subordinates; the wily priests and elders had joined the
temple police and the rabble in following Judas to Gethsemane. What
a company for those dignitaries to unite with—a mob that was eager
for excitement, and armed with all kinds of implements, as if in pursuit
of a wild beast!
Page 697
Turning to the priests and elders, Christ fixed upon them His searching
glance. The words He spoke they would never forget as long as life
should last. They were as the sharp arrows of the Almighty. With
dignity He said: You come out against Me with swords and staves as
you would against a thief or a robber. Day by day I sat teaching in the
temple. You had every opportunity of laying hands upon Me, and you
did nothing. The night is better suited to your work. “This is your
hour, and the power of darkness.”
The disciples were terrified as they saw Jesus permit Himself to be
taken and bound. They were offended that He should suffer this
humiliation to Himself and them. They could not understand His
conduct, and they blamed Him for submitting to the mob. In their
indignation and fear, Peter proposed that they save themselves. Following
this suggestion, “they all forsook Him, and fled.” But Christ
had foretold this desertion, “Behold,” He had said, “the hour cometh,
yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and
shall leave Me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with
Me.” John 16:32.
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