Luke 22 v 44. “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”
When the King knelt down to pray that day on the Mount of Olives, he did so not only on his own behalf, but also on behalf of disobedient Israel and indeed, on behalf of the whole world.
The apostle Paul wrote:
“For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man, the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5 v 19).
Jesus knew as he prayed that the cup he was about to drink contained nothing sweet. We can often do good things, even if slightly inconvenient to us in our world, and feel good about it. But now when the best of men, the very Messiah himself came to drink the cup, it was a cup of immeasurable and unutterable bitterness. It was an exceedingly good thing he was doing but it would bring unspeakable woe upon his soul.
It is no wonder that as a Man Jesus prayed that if it were possible the cup might be taken from him. But God was not willing, not because he took pleasure in his Son’s suffering, but simply, in all the universe there was no other way for people to be saved. If there was no other way, then even if every fibre in his body rose up against the prospect of becoming sin for us, and even if his body sweat blood in its agony, he would pray: “Not my will, but yours be done.”
It is very difficult to write about these things, for who can understand the pressure on our Saviour’s frame as he came at last face to face with the purpose of his coming to earth. We should read his prayers on the Mount of Olives with great worship and humility.
What a Saviour.