1130 to some friend of our Lord, to which He had access, and which becapie a favorite reso rt for H imself and His disciples, and where He often resorted for prayer (Luke 2 2 :3 9 ). (1 ) The Sorrow ing and Supplicating Saviour, vs. 82-40. It is n igh t when Jesus leads th e lit tle company into th e qu iet of th a t sacred spot. Leaving th e eight n ea r th e en trance, He takes Peter, Jam es and John w ith Him into th e deep recesses of the garden. It is the picture of Abraham leaving the servan t behind and ascend ing, w ith his son, into the mount so near th is very place. (Gen. 22 :5 .) F o r w hat purpose does He select these th ree men who had been w ith Him -in th e glory of th e transfiguration, and at th e resu rrection of Ja iru s’ daughter? Are they to be merely w itnesses of th is most sacred scene? Does th e hum anity of Jesus crave fellowship in the hour of tem p tation th a t lies ju st before Him? Is th is lesson to be a certificate of His perfect hum anity, m anifest in H is deep desire for th e presence of these loved men who had for so long a tim e shared His earth ly m inistry? Does He long for th e conscious touch w ith hum anity as He en ters the aw ful gloom of th a t dreadful, d ark trial? “He began to be sorrow ful and very heavy” and tend erly said to them, “T arry ye here and watch w ith me.” The w inepress is before Him (Rev. 1 9 :1 5 ); He m ust en ter it alone. But here are th ree faith fu l ones— men who love Him — th e ir presence will com fort Him. His m inistry opened w ith a conflict and it closes in th e same way. There m ust be complete victory over th e ru ler of th is world. S atan is to have a final proof of His perfection as a man, for His hum anity is to be fully tested. On th e cross He deals w ith God for sin, bu t here He is to deal w ith Satan. In the first tem ptation He had a vision of the kingdoms of th is world which were of- .fered Him by Satan. Now He has a
T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S vision of th e suffering aw aiting Him upon th e cross. “And fell on His face and prayed.” (v. 39.) Here is one of the most strik ing pictures in th e whole Bible, sad, sacred, solemn! We stand in awe as we behold it. This is a holy place. Alone, in th e deep recesses of the garden, in the dead of night, a Man goes to bat tle,— no t for Himself, no t for His coun try, but for a lost world. P ro stra te upon His face, pleading w ith His F ath er, lies the form of the beloved Son of God. Issuing from His lips comes th e strange cry, “O, my F ath e r, if it be possible, let th is cup pass from m e!” The expres sion conveys the sense of horror. (Gen. 15:12.) “And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram ; and, lp, a ho rro r of g reat darkness fell upon him .” Is God to rtu rin g His Son? Does the Saviour sh rink from death? O ther men have met it calm ly; would He shrink from the suffering of th e Cross? He had already said: “ i have power to lay my life down, and I have power to take it up again .” (John 10:18; 12:27.) What, then, is the mieaning of th is prayer? In the w ilderness tem ptation, when Jesu s had m astered Satan, we are told th a t Satan left Him for a season (Luke 4 :1 3 ). And in th e upper room He had ju st said: “The prince of this world cometh and h ath nothing in me.” (John 14:30.) Now he comes, m ar shalling all th e powers of darkness, and sweeps down upon th e Son of God. All th e m alignan t h atred of hell itself is manifest in th is attack . The cloud is descending which was to finally settle on th e cross. Jesus stands confronted w ith th e fact th a t H is own people have rejected Him. He was to be hum iliated before men in a mock trial. H is body was to endure the cruel scourge. There was to be the cross and physical suffering. Beyond all th is was th e aw ful sense of th e load of
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