Guines Fowl
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 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
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.
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 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 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 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 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.
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
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!
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.
