26 31<\/strong>. The Flight of the Apostles foretold and the Denials of St Peter<\/p>\n 26<\/strong>. when they had sung an hymn<\/em> ] In all probability the concluding portion of the Hallel. See above, note on Mar 14:16<\/span>.<\/p>\n Mar 14:26<\/span><\/p>\n And when they had sung an hymn.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The best harmony<\/strong><\/p>\n Jesus sung an hymn, and when before was heard music so pleasing to God, so grand and beautiful to listening angels? We know not what harmonies from the power of sound the Creator produces for the ceaseless joy of His intelligent creatures who fill the vast amplitudes of the sky. We know not what sublime, and to us, inconceivable realities are expressed by those descriptions given by that apostle who leant on Jesuss bosom, and heard with prophetic ear the voice as of many waters, as of a great thunder, and the voices of harpers harping with their harps; but sure am I that there was a harmony and a glory in this hymn they never heard before. For the beauty of its harmony was moral; it was harmony from the inner spirit of man; it was harmony between man and Christ; it was the melody of meekness, of obedience, of peace and joy; it was like the music of law and order from those glittering stars of night beneath which they sung-such a harmony as the character of Christ forever sounds in the ears of God. (N. Macleod, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Value of forms of prayer and praise<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the commonest objections to the constant use of stated forms of common prayer is, that at times they must inevitably jar upon our feelings, compelling us, for example, to take words of joy and praise on our lips when our hearts are full of grief, or to utter penitent confessions of sin and imploring cries for mercy when our hearts are dancing with mirth and joy. But if we mark the conduct of our Lord and His disciples, we cannot say that even this objection is final or fatal. He and they were about to part. He was on His way to the agony of Gethsemane and the shame of the cross. Their hearts, despite His comforting words, were heavy with foreboding and grief. Yet they sang the Hallel, used the common form of praise, before they went out,-He to die for the sins of the world, and they to lose all hope in Him as the Saviour of Israel. No Divine command, nothing but the custom of the Feast, enjoined this form upon them; yet they do not cast it aside. And this hymn was no dirge, no slow and measured cadence, no plaintive lament, but a joyous song of exultation. Must not these tones of irrepressible hope, of joyous and exultant trust, have jarred on the hearts of men who were passing lute a great darkness in which all the lights of life and hope and joy were to be eclipsed? If our Lord could look through the darkness and see the joy set before Him, the disciples could not. Yet they too joined in this joyous hymn before they went out into the darkest night the world has ever known. With their example before us, we cannot fairly argue that settled forms of worship are to be condemned simply because they jar on the reigning emotion of the moment. We must rather infer that, in His wisdom, God will not leave us to be the prey of any unbalanced emotion; that, when our hearts are most fearful, He calls on us to put our trust in Him; that when they are saddest He reminds us that, if we have made Him our chief good, our chief good is still with us, whatever we may have lost, and that we may still rejoice in Him, though all other joy has departed from us. And when He bids us trust in Him in every night of loss and fear, and even to be glad in Him however sorrowful our souls may be,-O how comforting and welcome the command should be! for it is nothing less than an assurance that He sees the gain which is to spring from our loss; it is nothing short of a pledge that He will turn our sorrow into joy. (S. Cox, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Place of forms in religion<\/strong><\/p>\n Religion is a thing of principles, not of forms; spirit, not letter. It is a life, a life which reveals itself in various ways under all the changes of time, a life which consecrates every faculty we possess to the service of God and man. It uses forms, but is not dependent on them. It may modify them in a thousand different ways, to suit them to the wants, emotions, aspirations of the soul. There was a most true and sincere religious life, for example, among the Hebrews, and under the laws of Moses. Worship then took the form of offerings and sacrifices, fasts and feasts. All these, in so far as they were Hebrew, and were specially adapted to Hebrew life, have passed away; but the religious life has not passed with them. It has clothed itself in simpler and more universal forms. Our worship expresses itself in prayers, hymns, sacraments, and above all in the purity and charity which bids us visit the poor and needy in their affliction, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world. In due time, these forms may be modified or pass away. But the life which works and speaks through them will not pass away. It will simply rise into higher and nobler forms of expression. No man, therefore, can live and grow simply by adhering to forms of worship and service, let him be as faithful and devoted to them as he will. They may feed and nourish life, but they cannot impart it. They will change and pass, but the life of the soul need not therefore suffer loss. If that life has once been quickened in us through faith and love, it will and must live on, for it is an eternal life, and continue to manifest itself in modes that will change and rise to meet its new necessities and conditions. Religion accepts us as we are, that it may raise us above what we are; it employs and consecrates all our faculties, that our faculties may be refined, invigorated, enlarged in scope. If we can speak, it bids us speak. If we can sing, it bids us sing. If we can labour and endure, it bids us labour and endure. If we can only stand and wait, it teaches us that they also serve who only stand and wait. Whatever we can do, it bids us do heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men, and yet do for men, that it may be unto the Lord. If we really have this life, it will reveal itself in us as it did in Him who is our life-in a love too profound and sincere to be repelled by any diversities of outward form; in a spirit of praise too pure and joyous to be quenched by any of the changes and sorrows of time; and in an earnest consecration of our every capacity and power to the service of Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us, and for all. (S. Cox, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Singing in heaven<\/strong><\/p>\n For one I would not rid myself of the hope that we shall sometimes-perhaps on great anniversaries commemorative of earthly histories-literally sing, in heaven, the very psalms and hymns which are so often the gate of heaven to us here. It would be sadder parting with this world than we hope it will be when our time comes, if we must forget these ancient lyrics, or find our tongues dumb when we would utter them. How can we live without them? Are they not a part of out very being? Take them away, with all the experiences of which they are the symbol, and what would there be left of us to carry into heaven? (Prof. Austin Phelps.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Jewish Psalms<\/strong><\/p>\n The Jewish Psalms, in which is expressed the very spirit of the national life, have furnished the bridal hymns, the battle songs, the pilgrim marches, the penitential prayers, and the public praises of every nation in Christendom, since Christendom was born. It is a sentence from the Jewish Psalm book, which we have written over the portico of the chief temple of the worlds industry and commerce, the London Exchange. These psalms have rolled through the din of every great European battlefield, they have pealed through the scream of the storm in every ocean highway of the earth. Drakes sailors sang them when they clove the virgin waves of the Pacific; Frobishers, when they dashed against the barriers of the Arctic ice and night. They floated over the waters on that day of days, when England held her Protestant freedom against Pope and Spaniard, and won the naval supremacy of the world. They crossed the ocean with the Mayflower <\/em>pilgrims; they were sung around Cromwells camp fires, and his Ironsides charged to their music; while they have filled the peaceful homes of England and of Christendom with the voice of supplication and the breath of praise. In palace halls, by happy hearths, in squalid rooms, in pauper wards, in prison cells, in crowded sanctuaries, in lovely wildernesses, everywhere these Jews have uttered our moan of contrition and our song of triumph, our tearful complaints and our wrestling, conquering prayer. (J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The love of singing sanctioned by Jesus<\/strong><\/p>\n At a gathering of children one Christmas Day a gentleman present related the following very interesting incident: A little girl, only three years of age, was very curious to know why Christmas evergreens were so much used, and what they were intended to signify. So Mr. L-told her the story of the Babe of Bethlehem, the child whose name was Jesus. The little questioner was just beginning to give voice to the music that was in her heart; and after Mr. L-concluded the narrative, she looked up in his face and asked, Did Jesus sing? Who had ever thought of that? The text is almost conclusive proof that our Lord did sing; it is, at any rate, quite conclusive proof that He sanctioned the use of song on the part of His disciples.<\/p>\n Singing in prospect of death<\/strong><\/p>\n Jerome, of Prague, bound naked to the stake, continued to sing hymns with a deep untrembling voice. (A. W. Atwood.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Soothing influence of hymn singing<\/strong><\/p>\n I remember a remarkable instance which occurred in my fathers lecture room during one of those sweet scenes which preceded the separation of the Presbyterian Church into the old and new schools. At that time controversy ran high, and there were fire and zeal and wrath mingled with discussion; and whoever sat in the chair, the devil presided. On the occasion to which I refer an old Scotchman, six feet high, much bent with age, with blue eyes, large features, very pale and white all over his face, and bald-headed, walked up and down the back part of the room, and as the dispute grew furious he (and only he could have done it) would stop and call out, Mr. Moderator, let us sing Salvation; and someone would strike up and sing the tune, and the men who were in angry debate were cut short; but one by one they joined in, and before they had sung the hymn through they were all calm and quiet. When they resumed the controversy, it was in a much lower key. So this good old man walked up and down, and threw a hymn into the quarrel every few minutes, and kept the religious antagonists from absolute explosion and fighting. It is the nature of hymns to quell irascible feeling. I do not think that a man who was mad could sing six verses through without regaining his temper before he got to the end. (H. W. Beecher.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The power of a hymn<\/strong><\/p>\n On one of the days that President Garfield lay dying at the seaside, he was a little better, and was permitted to sit by the window, while Mrs. Garfield was in the adjoining room. Love, hope, and gratitude filled her heart, and she sang the beautiful hymn, commencing, Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah! As the soft and plaintive notes floated into the sick chamber, the President turned his eyes up to Dr. Bliss and asked, Is that Crete? Yes. replied the Doctor; it is Mrs. Garfield. Quick, open the door a little, anxiously responded the sick man. Dr. Bliss opened the door, and after listening a few moments, Mr. Garfield exclaimed, as the large tears coursed down his sunken cheeks, Glorious, Bliss, isnt it?<\/p>\n The power of a hymn<\/strong><\/p>\n A little boy came to one of our city missionaries, and holding out a dirty and well-worn bit of printed paper, said, Please, sir, father sent me to get a clean paper like this. Taking it from his hand, the missionary unfolded it, and found it was a paper containing the beautiful hymn beginning, Just as I am. The missionary looked down with interest into the face earnestly upturned to him, and asked the little boy where he got it, and why he wanted a clean one. We found it, sir, said he, in sisters pocket after she died; she used to sing it all the time when she was sick, and loved it so much that father wanted to get a clean one to put in a frame to hang it up. Wont you give us a clean one, sir?<\/p>\n And when they had sung an hymn<\/strong>,…. The Hallell, used at the passover:<\/p>\n they went out into the Mount of Olives<\/strong>; Christ, and eleven of his disciples; for Judas now separated from them, and went to the chief priests to acquaint them how things were, where Jesus was going, and where they might apprehend him; [See comments on Mt 26:30]<\/span>.<\/p>\n Sung a hymn <\/B> (<\/SPAN><\/span>). See Mt 26:30<\/span> for discussion. <\/P> <\/p>\n Sung an hymn. See on Mt 26:30<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n PETER’S DENIAL OF JESUS FORETOLD, V. 26-31 (On the Way to Gethsemane)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) “And when they had sung an hymn,”<\/strong> (kai hunesantes) “And having sung a hymn,” as a final act of worship, as they concluded the passover and the institution and observance (as a church body), of the first Lord’s Supper here, as prophesied, He sang in the midst of the church, Heb 2:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n 2) “They went out into the Mount of Olives.”<\/strong> (ekselthon eis to oros ton elaion) “They went out to the Mount of Olives,” East of Jerusalem, from the upper room, where they had spent the evening, Mat 26:30<\/span>. Between our Lord’s drinking of the cup and singing the hymn He delivered His final discourse (Joh 15:1-27<\/span>) and offered His intercessory prayer, Joh 17:1-26<\/span>.<\/p>\n Mar 14:26<\/span><\/p>\n . When they had sung a hymn. Our three Evangelists leave out those divine discourses, (198) which John relates to have been delivered by our Lord, both in the house and on the road. For, as we have elsewhere stated, their object was rather to embrace the history of our Lord’s actions than his doctrine. They glance only at the fact, that he went out of his own accord where Judas was to come; and their object is to inform us that he made such an arrangement of his time, as willingly to meet him who betrayed him. <\/p>\n (198) “ Ces beaux propos pleins de majest, divine;” — “those beautiful discourses, full of divine majesty.” <\/p>\n (26-42) And when they had sung an hymn.<\/strong>See Notes on Mat. 26:30-46<\/span>.<\/p>\n ‘And when they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives.’<\/p>\n The hymn would be Psalms 115-118, regularly sung at the end of the Passover meal. The Passover meal now being over Jesus led His disciples to the Mount of Olives ‘as His custom was’ (Luk 22:39<\/span>). Judas had by now slipped away (Joh 13:27-30<\/span>) but he would know the place that they were heading for (Joh 18:2<\/span>).<\/p>\n Mention of the Mount of Olives connects this incident with the entry into Jerusalem (Mar 11:1<\/span>) and His words concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and His second coming (Mar 13:3<\/span>). It was thus a fitting place for the working out of His destiny.<\/p>\n Note on the Different Versions of the Passover Meal.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Let us first consider the breaking of the bread passages, putting in capitals the words which are exactly the same.<\/p>\n Mat 26:26<\/span> ‘And as they were eating, Jesus TOOK BREAD, and blessed, and BROKE IT, and he gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; THIS IS MY BODY.’<\/p>\n Mar 14:22<\/span> ‘And as they were eating, he TOOK BREAD, and when he had blessed, he BROKE IT, and gave to them, and said, Take you, THIS IS MY BODY.’<\/p>\n Luk 22:19<\/span> ‘And he TOOK BREAD, and when he had given thanks, he BROKE IT, and gave to them, saying, THIS IS MY BODY which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me.’<\/p>\n 1Co 11:23-24<\/span> ‘For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed TOOK BREAD, and when he had given thanks, he BROKE IT, and said, “THIS IS MY BODY, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ‘<\/p>\n Common to all is that HE TOOK BREAD, BROKE IT AND SAID, ‘THIS IS MY BODY’, stressing the essential unity of the passages. Matthew adds to Jesus’ words, ‘Take you, eat’, Mark adds ‘Take you’. Luke and Paul omit this but it is clearly implied. Luke adds, ‘Which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me,’ and Paul adds, ‘which is for you, Do this in remembrance of me’. Paul’s ‘which is for you’ parallels Matthew’s ‘take, eat’ and especially Mark’s ‘take you’. Luke’s ‘given for you’ simply amplifies the idea. Thus the basic idea is the same in all, with small differences of presentation in order to bring out particular points (these are all translations of the Aramaic so that we should expect differences if they did not copy from each other). The additional words, ‘Do this in remembrance of me’ are really required to explain the perpetuation of the feast in the early church. Thus even if we had not been told about it we would have had to assume it. Indeed, while ‘This is my body’ would certainly be impressive standing alone, it requires extra words for it to make sense to the hearers. It is possibly the writers and ministers, not the original speaker, who wish it to stand in its starkness, knowing that the readers\/recipients would know its deeper significance. What His exact words in Aramaic were can only be postulated. The Greek in each case gives the true meaning.<\/p>\n Slightly more complicated are the words about the cup.<\/p>\n The Passion in Gethsemane.<\/p>\n <\/strong> The walk to Gethsemane:<\/p>\n v. 26<\/strong>. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.<\/strong><\/p>\n v. 27<\/strong>. And Jesus smith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of Me this night; for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.<\/strong><\/p>\n v. 28<\/strong>. But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.<\/strong><\/p>\n v. 29<\/strong>. But Peter said unto Him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.<\/strong><\/p>\n v. 30<\/strong>. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice thou shalt deny Me thrice.<\/strong><\/p>\n v. 31<\/strong>. But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.<\/p>\n <\/strong> Jesus had duly finished His last paschal meal; He had incidentally given to His disciples and to all the believers of the New Testament the wonderful blessing of the Eucharist. They now, all together, sang the last part of the Hallel, and then left the upper room and the house of the celebration and slowly wended their way across the Brook Kidron and over to a little garden or orchard on the western slope of Mount Olivet, called Gethsemane, which means “olive-press. ” It was probably an olive orchard overlooking the valley and the Temple mount. While on their way over there, Jesus suddenly says to His disciples (note the vivid narration of Mark): All of you will stumble, will be offended, this night. “The discipleship was about to experience a moral breakdown. ” In making this startling announcement, Jesus referred them to a prophecy, Zec 13:7<\/span>. God had foretold that He would afflict, smite the Shepherd, and as a result the sheep would be dispersed, scattered. The suffering of Christ was God’s doing, His affliction; it was demanded by His holiness and righteousness: the Substitute of mankind must suffer the stripes for all mankind. At the same time, Jesus adds a cheering prediction. They would not lose their Shepherd, their Master, for all time, since He would rise from the dead and would go before them into Galilee. Note the promise: Their offense would thus not last; His sufferings would terminate in death, but death would not be able to hold Him, He would throw off its fetters and arise from the grave; He would resume the old relation toward them. But Peter, the impetuous and untried, felt his honor assailed in the first announcement of the Lord. Quickly he turns to Jesus with a protest: Even if all should be offended, most certainly not I. Note the presumption: The others may be weak enough, of them perhaps no more can be expected, but it is altogether different, with me. Peter was suffering with too much self-confidence, with too much trust in his own abilities and powers. He should have begged the Lord most humbly to come to his assistance in case the temptation would become too severe for his weakness. Peter’s case is that of many Christians whom the Lord has given some special grace, and who then become obsessed with the idea that they really amount to something in the kingdom of God, that without them the Church would suffer a great loss. As a matter of fact, no person is irreplaceable in the work of the kingdom of Christ, and unless every worker makes use of the greatest humility at all times, he may find the experience of Peter repeated in himself, 1Co 10:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n Jesus takes the opportunity to give Peter a very emphatic, energetic warning in the form of a prophecy. Solemnly He declares: Verily I say to thee <\/em> that thou<\/em>, with all thy boasting, today, in this very night (exact indication of time), before the second cock-crowing (a still more precise fixing of the time), shalt thrice deny Me. Mark gives the most exact account of the denial and all that preceded it, undoubtedly at the instigation of Peter, who always felt the depth of his fall on the night before his Lord’s death. Instead of shaking Peter out of his sleepy security, the solemn declaration of Jesus only aroused his zeal the more. He began to say and kept on saying, “abundantly in manner and matter, with vehemence and iteration. ” He used increasing force in expressing what he thought was the honest conviction of his heart; even if he should have to go into death with the Lord, he would not deny Him. And his self-confident words were echoed in the protestations of the others, who, however, made the assertion only once, and without his fire.<\/p>\n Mar 14:26<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>They went out<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> At the conclusion of the supper, Jesus and his disciples sung a proper Psalm or song of praise together, as was customary at the close of the passover, and then he set out for the mount of Olives; choosing to retire thither that he might prevent a riot in Jerusalem, and bring no trouble upon the master of the house where he celebrated the passover. <\/p>\n Mar 14:26-31<\/span> . See on Mat 26:30-35<\/span> .<\/p>\n Mar 14:29<\/span> . ] even if<\/em> . On the difference between this and (which here occurs as a various reading), see Klotz, ad Devar.<\/em> p. 519 f.<\/p>\n ] in the apodosis of a connecting sentence, at certe;<\/em> see Heindorf, ad Plat. Soph.<\/em> p. 341 f.; Klotz, p. 93.<\/p>\n Mar 14:30<\/span> . ] has the emphasis of the contrast with .<\/p>\n ] (see the critical remarks) impassioned climax: to-day, in this<\/em> night. As to , see on Mat 1:18<\/span> .<\/p>\n ] a later form assumed by the utterance than in Matthew. Comp. Mar 14:68<\/span> ; Mar 14:72<\/span> . Even Joh 13:38<\/span> has it not. There was no occasion for a later simplification (Weiss), if the characteristic was there from the first.<\/p>\n Mar 14:31<\/span> . ] (see the critical remarks): but he was speaking exceedingly much<\/em> . Observe the difference between this and the subsequent (comp. on Mar 1:34<\/span> he latter is the simple, definite saying;<\/em> the former, with , is in keeping with the passionate nature of Peter not even yet silenced by Mar 14:30<\/span> . The word . is not preserved elsewhere.<\/p>\n ] , with the future (see Ellendt, Lex. Soph.<\/em> II. p. 410 ff.), denotes the right sure expectation. Comp. on Mat 26:35<\/span> .<\/p>\n XXV<\/p>\n<\/p>\n JESUS IN GETHSEMANE<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Harmony, pages 183-186 and Mat 26:30<\/span><\/strong> ; Mat 26:36-48<\/span><\/strong> ; Mar 14:26-42<\/span><\/strong> ; Luk 22:39-46<\/span><\/strong> ; Joh 18:1<\/span><\/strong> ; Heb 5:7-8<\/span><\/strong> .<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n This section commences on page 183 of the Harmony, introducing us at once to the Gethsemane scene. It is of vital importance that the interpreter of the Bible should know what significance to attach to this scene in the garden. We have four accounts Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul. You will observe that while John touches the other historians on some things, he has nothing to say about this garden scene. His Gospel was written so much later than the others, and the others had so clearly set forth all the necessary facts about the garden of Gethsemane that he does not mention it at all. And when we confine ourselves to the accounts given by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul, we get at results about which I will now speak in their order.<\/p>\n The word, “Gethsemane,” means an oil-press. The word, “place,” as Matthew calls it “He came to a place” means an “enclosed place.” In this were olive trees, other trees, and flowers. Just as you cross the brook Kidron, which separates that part of Jerusalem near the Temple from Mount Olivet, and right at the base of Mount Olivet, was this enclosed space. If you were there now you would see about an acre of ground with old olive trees in it, centuries old, but you are not to understand that this enclosure represents the enclosure of the text, or that these very trees were there when Christ spent this night of agony in that garden. We know from history, Josephus among others, that all of the trees of every kind for miles were cut down by the Romans when they were besieging Jerusalem about forty years after Christ’s entrance into the garden of Gethsemane.<\/p>\n Right at the foot of the mountain three roads went over or around Mount Olivet. They centered in that garden, and Jesus was accustomed to stop there. Our record tells us that he was accustomed to stop in that garden, either going to Jerusalem from Bethany; or going to Bethany from Jerusalem; and Judas, we learn, was sure that there Jesus could be found, if he had left the upper room where the Lord’s Supper was celebrated. You will remember that just at the close of the Passover supper, Judas “went immediately out,” and gathered the crowd unto whom he wished to betray him. He knew he would find Jesus either where he left him, in that upper chamber, or in that garden on his way back to Bethany, which was his headquarters. So much, then, for the place.<\/p>\n The next item is that when he came to that garden he stopped eight of the apostles at the gate: “You stay here.” He took three with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, and with these three he entered deeper into the garden. Then he stationed the three, and went deeper still into the garden, as far as you can throw a stone say fifty paces. Those at the gate, and particularly these three, were commanded to watch and pray; to watch, because he wanted to be informed when his betrayer was coming; to pray, lest they should enter into temptation when they saw him openly captured by his enemies. He knew that it would greatly shake them, and that they ought to be praying.<\/p>\n It was very late in the night, and being in the time of the Passover, it was full moon, but they were weary and sleepy. As he said of them, “The flesh is weak; your spirit is ready, but your flesh is weak.” These three that entered with him are mentioned on two other special occasions in the Gospels. Peter, James, and John were selected from the twelve apostles to be witnesses of his power when he raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead, as we learn from Mar 5<\/span> . Peter, James, and John were selected to witness his glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, as we learn from Mat 17<\/span> , and now Peter, James, and John are selected to witness his agony in this garden. They became very important witnesses to all of these events.<\/p>\n We notice the next point. He said, as Matthew expresses it, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” Mark says the same thing. This language evidently teaches that Jesus really had a human soul. There is an old heresy to the effect that he had only a human body, and that the Deity inhabited that body. But Jesus was a man in the true sense of the word. He took upon himself our nature, apart from any sin, but yet it was fully human nature, soul and body. Or, if you want to express it in a trichotomous way body, soul, and spirit. He was fully human. This sorrow proves that he was human in every true sense of the word. “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” The agony described here is mental and spiritual. The effect is shown in his body, in that he sweats, as it were, great drops of blood. This is the most thrilling description in literature of the intensity of spiritual suffering under the preparation of the coming evil, and how that suffering evidences itself in the body. The body and the soul are intimately connected. When Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall, his knees shook, the terror in his soul was connected with his body. Or, as a man in reading a letter, or receiving a telegram of awful news, becomes so transfixed with pain that he has a tendency to faint. That is the reaction of the inner man on the outer man.<\/p>\n The next thought is what caused that sorrow even unto death? A young preacher, and a very brilliant one, preached a sermon on this subject in which he took the position that the devil, as a person a visible, tangible person that night tried to kill Jesus, as he had first tried to have Jesus killed when he was a baby. So there was a wrestle between Christ and Satan, and that when Jesus prayed, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” he meant, “If it be possible, don’t let the devil kill me before I go to the cross and expiate human sin.”<\/p>\n It was a very ingenious thing that young preacher preached, but it was very unscriptural. The sorrow that came over Jesus the trouble of his soul, of his spirit, was that he was very near the time of dying on the cross, not as a martyr for a martyr has no such sorrow as that; not as a guilty person in view of pending execution, for he was without sin; but it was a sorrow caused by the thought that in dying he was to die alienated in soul from God; to die as a sinner, though no sinner; to die the death of a felon, and, for the time being, pass under the power of Satan. He knew that when that sacrifice was made the Father would forsake him; that he would have to die the spiritual death, and the spiritual death is absence of the soul from God.<\/p>\n You get at a fine idea of the thought a very fine idea indeed when you consider the petition of Major John Andre to George Washington, commander-in-chief of the American armies. He prayed that he might be shot as a soldier, and not hanged as a spy. His agony was not the thought of death, for he was a very brave man, but the thought of a felon’s death. To die by a hangman that constituted the agony of Major Andre. He did not want to die that death.<\/p>\n The humanity of Jesus, not merely his body, but his soul and spirit, suffered vicariously the spiritual death. His soul shuddered unspeakably at the thought of passing away from God and going under the power of Satan, and to feel the stroke of the punitive sword of the divine law won him. That was his trouble.<\/p>\n Paul’s statement of the case is thus expressed: “Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear, though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered” (Heb 5:7-8<\/span> ).<\/p>\n The next thought is this that in that agony of approaching separation from his Father, he prays to his Father, that if it be possible, to let this cup pass from him. That means this: “I came to the earth to save men; to do anything that is necessary to their salvation, and the means appointed for their salvation is that I should take the sinner’s place; die the sinner’s death; die under God’s judgment; die under the sword of the divine law.” Now when he says, “Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me,” he means this: “If there is any other way to save men, then let this cup pass from me; it is so bitter.”<\/p>\n The theology involved in that prayer has a depth that has never yet been sounded. It is the strongest possible proof of the sinner’s destiny; of the enormity of the sinner’s death. It is the strongest proof that I know that the only available way to save men was by substitution.<\/p>\n In other words, the law of God, which is holy, just, and good, must be vindicated. That law says, “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” “Man has sinned. If I came to redeem man, and to take the place of man, I must pay man’s debt to the law. I must die the death of the sinner, or God can never be just in justifying man in forgiving man.” The claim of the law must be met, and if you just think a moment, when a man talks about your being saved without the expiation of sin by Jesus Christ upon the cross, remember that Jesus prayed: “If it be possible, i.e., if there be any other way under heaven among men whereby man can be saved, apart from vicarious and substitutionary death in his behalf, then let this cup pass from me.” And the cup was not allowed to pass.<\/p>\n Let us suppose that some one takes the position: “I believe in God; I believe in his love and in his mercy, but I reject this idea of Jesus Christ as a Saviour, and whenever I come to stand before the judgment bar of God my petition will be: ‘Lord have mercy on me and save me.’ ” The answer will be: “If it had been possible for man to have been saved in that way, then the petition of Jesus would have been answered.” The omniscience of God could see no other way; the omnipotence of God could work out no other way; the omnipresence of God could get in touch with no other way; the holiness and justice of God could find no other way. And, therefore, Peter, who witnesses this, says, “There is no other name given among men whereby we can be saved, but by the name of Jesus,” and the name of Jesus avails only as Jesus died in our behalf. “God made him to be sin, though he knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” In the Old Testament we have his words, as given, not by these Gospel historians, but by prophetic historians, and one of his words is, “Save me from the sword,” not the sword of man, but the sword of divine justice. And the reply that came to that petition was: “Awake, O sword, and smite the shepherd.” Another one of his prayers, as given by the prophetic historian, is, “Lord, save me from the lion.” The lion is the devil. He is the one who goeth about like a roaring lion. He was not saved from the lion. In other words, he was to be the live goat; the goat laden with the sins of the people; the goat that was to be sent into the wilderness to meet Azazel; he was “set alive before Jehovah to make atonement for him, to send him away to Azazel into the wilderness.” So Jesus must meet the prince of evil and there fight out the battle in which Jesus would be bruised in the heel and Satan would be crushed in the head, and in which Jesus’ body would die, but his soul would be triumphant and Satan be cast out.<\/p>\n The devil knew that Christ was near the cross; he knew that if Christ got to the cross and died on the cross, what would be the effect of that death. And what he was trying to effect here (for this was a real temptation of Jesus), was not to bring about the physical death of Jesus, as that young preacher taught, but it was to get Jesus to so shrink back from this suffering that he would not undertake it. That was his point. And Jesus felt all of the agony, so deeply felt it that he prayed, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” But he said, “Not my will, but thine be done.” It was the will of God that the sufferer for sinners must die for sinners.<\/p>\n It is noticeable in all cases of this kind, that the great internal fight is made before we get to the actual reality. I never undertook a great enterprise that I did not first pass through all of the agony before I started out. I had my battle then, and after I had fought the battle out, I never fought it the second time. And when Jesus fights it out here in Gethsemane, he is as serene and equable from this time on as he ever was in his earlier life, when this dark shadow was yet a long way off. Notice that while the Father does not remove the curse, and could not remove it and save man, that he does send an angel to strengthen Jesus to hold up his fainting head.<\/p>\n I ask the reader to notice in the next place that these prayers of Jesus were threefold. He prayed, and the hardest of the fight was in the first prayer; he prayed again, a prayer which was not such a terrible prayer as the first one; he prayed the third time, and in the last prayer peace came to him. He had asked these men to watch, and they slept; he had asked them to pray, not for him, but lest they enter into temptation when they saw their Captain taken, and their hopes, as they understood them, blasted, but they slept. And how pathetic were his words to Peter: “Simon, could not you have watched with me one hour? You have been up a good deal and it is now midnight; the flesh is weak, but your Lord is going through a death agony. Could you not hold out just one more hour?” What a great text! He felt the need of human sympathy. But he was alone in Gethsemane, as we will see him later alone on the cross.<\/p>\n I ask the reader to notice also three prayers of Jesus: First, the prayer that he taught his disciples to pray, commencing, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.” Next, the prayer that we discussed in our last chapter, in which he prayed for the disciples. And now this prayer in which he prays for himself. From these prayers we learn what he prayed for, and how he prayed for himself.<\/p>\n I also note in this connection, the three gardens: The garden of Eden, in which the first Adam was tempted and fell; the garden of Gethsemane, in which the Second Adam resisted all of the wiles of the devil, the weakness of the flesh, and the mental despondency that comes from the contemplation of the felon’s death, and, finally, the garden of Paradise, in the last chapter of the Bible that as Adam in the first garden of Paradise turned it into a desert of sin, Jesus in Gethsemane turned the desert into a garden of flowers; that by the preparation here for that which must be accomplished for man’s redemption, viz., to die on the cross, he made possible our entrance into the garden of Paradise. The last chapter in the Bible says, “Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to come to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.”<\/p>\n Please notice again in what the essence of prayer consists: “Not my will, but thine be done.” As it is expressed later: “If we ask anything according to his will,” and John got the thought right here, when witnessing that agony; so he afterward wrote, “If ye ask anything according to the will of God, he heareth us.” This shows the limit there is upon prayer. I could not pray that God would enable me to steal from a man, or kill a man. I could not rightfully pray for anything in order that I might consume it upon my lusts and passions. James says that is asking amiss; that is asking not according to the will of God. That is the limitation upon all prayer. And Jesus hedged upon that point, “Not my will, but thine be done.”<\/p>\n I heard Major Penn one hundred times, standing up before great crowds of people, when he had invited hundreds not to come and take -the mourner’s bench, but to come up as inquirers to investigate; and he would stand up, and pointing his finger at them, say, “Now have you come to this point: the will of the Lord be done? Have you come to the point that you can say, I want that to be undergone because it is the will of God?’ Are you willing for the will of God to prevail in regard to your conversion, whoever should be the instrument? Or, do you say, I will be converted if a certain preacher should come; or, if it be at home; or, if God shall convert me some night when they shout; or, when they do not shout?’ Are you ready for the will of God to be done?”<\/p>\n The next point is who were coming to capture him? A statement in John in the original Greek says, “These saw the band, and the chief captain.” “The band,” with the definite article is, in the Greek, “the cohort,” which was that special cohort of Roman soldiers quartered in the tower of Antonio, which sat over the Temple; and the chief captain there, in the Greek, chiliarch<\/em> ( chiliarchos<\/em> ), means “chief of the thousand.” The Roman legion usually, at this time, consisted of 6,000 men; there would be six chiliarchs, six men each over one thousand; and each chiliarch would have under him ten men, centurions, each over one hundred. The chiliarch was one who occupied an office similar to our colonel commander of a regiment; and the legion answered somewhat to our brigade, or division, more to a division than to a brigade. When it says, “the chief captain,” or chiliarch, was there, it means the most important Roman officer in the city a man of great dignity and power and while the legions were not always full, and therefore the band or number commanded by the chiliarch was not always full in number, yet it meant that hundreds of trained Roman soldiers had here come; the colonel of the regiment, and the captains of several companies. That shows that there was a strong realization, that even in the night people might wake up and that an attempt might be made to rescue him. For fear of that very thing the Sanhedrin would not arrest him in the day time. The chiliarch and the cohort came not to arrest, but merely to prevent a tumult of the people when the Temple officers arrested Jesus. It is quite important to note not only the presence of the cohort and the reasons therefore negatively and positively, and the fact that they did not arrest Jesus, nor carry him to Pilate, nor to anybody else, but were present to prevent possible disorder. Then the text also says that the officers of the Sanhedrin, and the partially armed rabbis that attended them, and their followers carrying staves, were there. The soldiers, of course, had their swords. The short sword of the Roman soldier was a very deadly weapon. So that at least, counting the representatives of the Sanhedrin and the rabbis, and that disciplined band of Roman soldiers, who could not have been sent without the consent of Pilate, at night were all apparently coming to arrest a man that never carried a weapon in his life; coming to arrest a man whose constant followers were twelve, or eleven in this case, unarmed men; coming by night to arrest a man who had taught every day openly in their Temple and in their city. Hence his question: “Do you bring out this army here as if you are going to capture a robber or a thief? Why do you come by night when you could have found me any time by day in the very heart of the city?”<\/p>\n And notice the traitor: Though it was full moon, this man brought lanterns and torches. They wanted to identify the Person, and while the lanterns were shining and their torches throwing out a lurid glare, Jesus says, “Whom do you seek?” And as he stepped out and said, “Whom do you seek?” they fell, just as if they were shot. That was a supernatural event. It showed how easily he could have blotted the whole band out of existence. And when they got up he repeated his question, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answers them, “I am he: you have not said you have come seeking these followers of mine. Let them go; do not arrest them.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n QUESTIONS <\/strong> 1. Who are the historians of the Gethsemane scene and why, in all probability, was it omitted by John?<\/p>\n 2. What is the meaning of the word “Gethsemane,” what is the meaning of the word “place” as used by Matthew in his account and how is Gethsemane described as to location, its contents, etc.?<\/p>\n 3. What was the access to this garden and what made it easy for Judas to find our Lord here on the night of his betrayal?<\/p>\n 4. Upon entering this garden on the night of his betrayal how did our Lord station the disciples, what command did he give them; why watch and why pray?<\/p>\n 5. What hour of the night, who were with him and on what occasions were they admitted to special privileges with Jesus?<\/p>\n 6. What does the expression, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, etc.,” teach, what heresy mentioned, was Jesus dichotomous or trichotomous, what proof, what was the nature of the agony which Christ suffered, and what is the reaction of the inner man on the outer man? Illustrate.<\/p>\n 7. What was the young preacher’s theory as to the sorrow of Christ in. Gethsemane, what was the real cause of the sorrow, how does the case of Major Andre illustrate this? what was the nature of Christ’s death and how does Paul express this Gethsemane suffering?<\/p>\n 8. What is the meaning of Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane and of what is it a proof?<\/p>\n 9. What is the judgment test of this idea of our salvation, what is the answer from the standpoint of God’s omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, holiness, and justice? What was Peter’s testimony? Paul’s? the prophetic historian’s? What Old Testament type of this vicarious work of our Lord?<\/p>\n 10. What was the devil’s real temptation of our Lord in Gethsemane”<\/p>\n 11. What notable fact about this Gethsemane conflict of our Lord?<\/p>\n 12. What relief did the Father send to our Lord in this very intense agony?<\/p>\n 13. How is Christ’s need of human sympathy revealed in this scene, what three prayers of Jesus cited and what do they teach?<\/p>\n 14. What 3 gardens are mentioned here, what were the points of correspondence and what was the condition of entrance into the garden of Paradise?<\/p>\n 15. In what does the essence of prayer consist, what was John’s testimony on this point, what does this show, what was James’s testimony, and what practical illustration of the application of this principle given?<\/p>\n 16. Who arrested Jesus, why this great band of Roman soldiers, and in what consists the ridiculousness of their course?<\/p>\n 17. Why did Judas carry lanterns and torches, what supernatural event happened at this arrest, what does it show and what request did he make for his disciples?<\/p>\n 26 31.<\/strong> ] DECLARATION THAT ALL SHOULD FORSAKE HIM. CONFIDENCE OF PETER. Mat 26:30-35<\/span> . (See Luk 22:31-34<\/span> , and notes there.) Our account is almost verbatim the same as that in Matt., where see notes. The few differences are there commented on.<\/p>\n Mar 14:26-31<\/span> . On the way to Gethsemane<\/em> (Mat 26:30-35<\/span> , Luk 22:39<\/span> ).<\/p>\n Mar 14:26<\/span> , exactly as in Mat 26:30<\/span> , states that after singing the paschal hymn the company went forth towards the Mount of Olives.<\/p>\n NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar 14:26<\/p>\n 26After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.<\/p>\n Mar 14:26 “singing a hymn” This Greek verb is the source of the English word “hymn.” This was probably part of the Hallel Psalms (i.e., Psalms 113-118, cf. Mat 26:30), which was the last part of the Passover ritual. These psalms were expressions of joy and gratitude for YHWH’s redemption. They are recited or chanted in whole, or in part, at all major feast days, except the Day of Atonement. Psalms 113-114 are chanted early in the Passover meal and 115-118 towards the end of the meal.<\/p>\n “the Mount of Olives” Jesus and the disciples must have regularly used this as a campground or place of prayer during the Passover period (i.e., eight days).<\/p>\n sung an hymn. See Mat 26:30. <\/p>\n 26-31.] DECLARATION THAT ALL SHOULD FORSAKE HIM. CONFIDENCE OF PETER. Mat 26:30-35. (See Luk 22:31-34, and notes there.) Our account is almost verbatim the same as that in Matt., where see notes. The few differences are there commented on.<\/p>\n Mar 14:26-31<\/p>\n Commentary On Mar 14:26-31<\/p>\n J.W. McGarvey<\/p>\n Desertion and Denial Foretold, Mar 14:26-31. (Mat 26:30-35; Luk 22:31-38; Joh 13:36-38)<\/p>\n 30. crow twice.-Only in this expression is there any thing in Mark’s account so different from Matthew’s as to call for a remark. All the other historians report Jesus as saying, “before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice,” or, “the cock shall not crow” before thou shalt deny me thrice, while Mark has it, “before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.” This is no other than an instance in which Mark reports with more exactness a speech which the other historians report in terms less definite, but having in effect the same meaning. Doubtless, Mark quotes the exact words of Jesus; but the other writers, knowing that the object of the mention of cock-crowing was to indicate the time at which the denial would occur, and knowing that when one cock crows in the morning, he is always followed by others in rapid succession, saw fit to employ the less definite style to indicate the same time of night.<\/p>\n CHAPTER 66<\/p>\n A Great Savior for Great Sinners<\/p>\n And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all. <\/p>\n (Mar 14:26-31)<\/p>\n When John Newton was an old man he once said, I am an old man now and cannot remember as well as I used to; but I remember two great things: I remember that I am a great sinner; and Jesus Christ is a great Savior. Truly, the Lord Jesus Christ shows himself the great Savior of great sinners in these six verses of Inspiration. Christs greatness as our Savior is set before us here in three things: The people he saves, the punishment he suffered, and the perseverance of his love. <\/p>\n The People He Saves<\/p>\n Our blessed Savior knew exactly what he was getting when he saved us. That shows his greatness as our Savior. My sin often astonishes me; but it never astonishes him. The Lord Jesus knew when he chose me, long before he saved me, what a vile, fickle sinner I would be. He knew before he saved me that I would constantly be in need of his grace and his forgiveness. Just in case you are wondering, he knew the same about you. <\/p>\n We see this clearly exemplified in this passage. Our Lord knew the weaknesses, sins, and infirmities of his disciples. He told them plainly what they were going to do. Their pride was offended when they heard it. None of them really believed they were capable of such evil. He said, All ye shall be offended because of me this night. He told Peter, specifically, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.<\/p>\n Yet, our Saviors knowledge of what poor disciples they would be did not prevent him from choosing these men to be his disciples, even his apostles. And his knowledge of what poor disciples we would be did not prevent him from choosing us. The Lord Jesus loved us and chose us, though he knew we would never choose him and would never love him in return, except he create that love in us and cause us by his grace to choose him. Our Savior loved us, though he knew that our love for him, as long as we live in this world, will be an alloyed love at best. The Son of God chose us, as he did these disciples, to be his intimate friends and companions, though he knew beforehand what great evil we would do.<\/p>\n With such a charitable, gracious, forbearing Savior, you and I ought to be charitable, forbearing, and gracious with one another. We ought never conclude that a person has no grace, or does not know Christ, because we perceive that he or she has many weaknesses and much corruption. We are all weak, sinful, fallen and falling creatures. Our only hope is grace. Our only salvation is Christ. As such, we ought to pity one another. God the Holy Spirit puts it this way, And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children (Eph 4:32 to Eph 5:1). Our Saviors greatness is to be seen in the people he saves.<\/p>\n For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (1Co 1:26-31)<\/p>\n The Punishment He Suffered<\/p>\n Next, our blessed Saviors greatness as our Savior is displayed in the punishment he suffered as our Substitute. And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered (Mar 14:27). In making that statement the Lord Jesus was quoting Zec 13:7.<\/p>\n Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.<\/p>\n In order to redeem and save us the Son of God assumed our nature, became one of us. bore our sins in his own body on the tree, was made sin for us, and voluntarily suffered all the infinite fulness of Gods holy wrath to the full satisfaction of his justice as our Substitute. Look at this verse line by line.<\/p>\n Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ is Jehovahs Shepherd. These are the words of God the Father concerning his Son as our Mediator. He calls the God-man My Shepherd, because he was chosen, appointed, called, and trusted by God the Father as the Shepherd of his sheep in the covenant of grace before the world began. He is the One on whom the Father has laid the iniquity of his sheep. And he is the one responsible and accountable for the sheep.<\/p>\n Those words, Awake, O sword, speak of the violent death of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the glittering sword of divine justice, which was drawn out against him, when he was made sin for us. That sword, once unsheathed in Jehovahs angry hands of omnipotent wrath, was never sheathed again, until it was sheathed forever in Immanuels heart!<\/p>\n The sword of justice is here called to awake, because it appeared to sleep, and to have been asleep for a very long time. It had been a long, long time since sin first entered into the world by our father Adam demanding satisfaction. It had been a very long time since the Son of God, our ever-blessed Christ, stepped forward and became our Surety, pledging himself in eternity to satisfy the justice of God for us. It had been a long time since the promise was first given that the Son of God would be stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted as our Substitute.<\/p>\n Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. He who is our Redeemer is and must be a man; and this man, who is our Substitute and Savior, is and must be Jehovahs fellow God incarnate!<\/p>\n Smite the Shepherd! The order was given by God himself to the sword of his justice to smite his darling Son to death. The Lord Jesus Christ was delivered to death and slain by the hand of God, according to the decree of God, at the command of God, for the glory of God. <\/p>\n Next, we hear the God of Glory who slew his Son for us declare, and the sheep shall be scattered. This is the part of Zechariahs prophecy that our Lord Jesus applied to his disciples, when he said, All ye shall be offended because of me this night.<\/p>\n Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroadBut all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. (Mat 26:31; Mat 26:56) <\/p>\n Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. I am so thankful that the text does not end there. The Lord God goes on to say something else, something great and glorious! And I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.<\/p>\n These little ones are the sheep who were scattered, the straying, scattered sheep, the disciples of Christ who forsook him. Yet, the text in Zechariah clearly speaks of more than just those sheep. It speaks of the certain salvation of all the Lords sheep. Zechariahs prophecy asserts emphatically that all those sheep for whom the Shepherd was smitten at Calvary shall be saved.<\/p>\n Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God. (Zec 13:7-9)<\/p>\n There is a remnant according to the election of grace (here called a third part of the earth), which shall be saved because Christ died for them. The Lord God says, I will turn mine hand upon the little ones, not his hand of wrath and justice, but his hand of mercy, grace, and power.<\/p>\n The Perseverance of His Love<\/p>\n We see our Saviors greatness in the perseverance of his love, too. I will say nothing about the perseverance of his love for us through all the ages of time and all the stages of our rebellion and ungodliness. Let me simply remind you of the perseverance of his mercy, love, and grace to his erring, fallen, sinful people.<\/p>\n What great comfort there is for our souls in this! The Lord Jesus does not cast off or forsake his people because of their faults, failures, and sins. He knows what we are. He remembereth our frame. He knoweth that we are dust. Like a loving husband who has taken a wife, takes her forever, and never dreams of putting her away because he later finds some fault in her, so Christ took us, knowing our deformity, to be his bride forever. <\/p>\n Yes, the Lord Jesus chose us, redeemed us, called us, and took us for his bride, knowing full well what he was getting! He is a merciful and compassionate High Priest. It is the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ to pass over iniquity, transgression, and sin. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing (Pro 25:2). Our Lord Jesus knew what we were before he saved us; yet he saved us. He knew what we would be after he saved us; yet he saved us. He cannot be induced for any reason, by anything, or at any time to cast us away now! He says, I will never leave the nor forsake thee. He is our unchanging, unchangeable God, Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, and today, and for ever!<\/p>\n A Great Thief<\/p>\n What a great thief unbelief is! Our Lord Jesus spoke to his disciples often and plainly about his death and his resurrection. He said, in Mar 14:28, But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.<\/p>\n He could not have been clearer. Yet, his words seem to have just passed over their heads altogether. Not one of the disciples laid them up in his heart. Not one of the disciples remembered them. When he was betrayed, they all forsook him. When he was crucified, they were almost driven to despair. When he was raised from the dead, and they were told about it by credible witnesses, none of them were quick to believe it.<\/p>\n Only in eternity will we know how much we have robbed ourselves by our unbelief. Our unbelief robs God of his glory; and robs us of more peace, joy, and contentment than we can imagine. Like Hagars well in the wilderness, we have the truths and promises of our God right before our eyes in his Word; but we do not see them, because of unbelief (Gen 21:19). What anxiety, what tears, what misgivings, what sorrows we might avoid if we simply believed God!<\/p>\n Great Sinners<\/p>\n But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all (Mar 14:29-31).<\/p>\n What great and horrible sinners we are! There is in all of us an enormous measure of pride that must be abased, a huge portion of self-confidence that must be destroyed, and a hideous mass of self-righteousness that must be slain. Peter simply could not believe what the Lord Jesus said. He argued in defense of himself. He was highly offended and insulted that the Lord should even think he might forsake him. He said, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee. But Peter was not alone in his arrogance. All the other disciples were of the same high opinion about themselves. Likewise said they all.<\/p>\n Peter told the truth. He was truly willing to die with his Lord, and eventually did. But Peter, as well as the others, was unaware of the great evil still in him, which had to be exposed and dealt with. In just twelve hours, all these men forsook the Master. Their bold, proud claims were forgotten. Their promises of fidelity were swept away. Their imagined strength withered. Their great faith failed.<\/p>\n Yet, even in this, we see the overruling hand of our God in goodness, grace, and providence. Had Peter not trembled before the maid and denied his Lord here, he could never have preached so boldly as he did at Pentecost or confessed Christ so fearlessly as he did in Acts 4. Had Peter and these disciples, our brethren, not forsaken the Lord Jesus, we could never have known the goodness, grace, love, and faithfulness of our great God and Savior in his absolute immutability toward his fallen saints as it is here revealed.<\/p>\n Though redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, justified, forgiven of all sin, regenerated and kept by the grace of God, we are still such great sinners, that there is no sin into which the most eminent saint will not run, except God hold us by his grace. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall (Pro 16:18). Wisely does Solomon counsel us, He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool (Pro 28:26).<\/p>\n Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1Co 10:12-13) <\/p>\n What great reason we have to ever give thanks to our God that salvation is by grace alone, without works!<\/p>\n sung: Psa 47:6, Psa 47:7, Act 16:25, 1Co 14:15, Eph 5:18-20, Col 3:16, Jam 5:13, Rev 5:9 <\/p>\n hymn: or, psalm, This was probably Psa. 113-118, which the Jews term the great Hallel, or praise, and always sing at the paschal festivity. they went. Mat 26:30, Luk 22:39, Jdg 18:1-4 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Psa 81:2 – General Psa 113:1 – General Luk 19:37 – at<\/p>\n 6<\/p>\n According to Thayer and Robinson this hymn was a Psalm of David.<\/p>\n And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. <\/p>\n [And when they had sung an hymn.] I. “What difference is there between the first Passover and the second?” [that is, the Passover of the first month and of the second, Numbers_9]. “In the first, every one is bound under that law, ‘Leaven shall not be seen nor found among you.’ In the second, ‘Leaven and unleavened bread may be with a man in his house.’ In the first, he is bound to a hymn when he eats the Passover. In the second, he is not bound to a hymn when he eats it. In both, he is bound to a hymn while he makes or kills. Both are to be eaten roast, and with unleavened bread, and bitter herbs, and both drive away the sabbath.” The Gemarists ask, “Whence this is, that they are bound to a hymn; while they eat the Passover? R. Jochanan in the name of R. Simeon Ben Josedek saith, The Scripture saith, ‘You shall have a song, as in the night when a feast is kept,’ Isa 30:29. The night which is set apart for a feast is bound to a hymn; the night which is not set apart for a feast is not bound to a hymn.” The Gloss writes thus; “As ye are wont to sing in the night when a feast is kept: but there is no night wherein they are obliged to a song, besides the night when the Passover is eaten.”<\/p>\n II. That hymn is called by the Rabbins the Hallel; and was from the beginning of Psalms_113, to the end of Psalms_118, which they cut in two parts; and a part of it they repeated in the very middle of the banquet, and they reserved a part to the end.<\/p>\n How far the former portion extended, is disputed between the schools of Shammai and Hillel. That of Shammai saith, Unto the end of Psalms_113. That of Hillel saith, Unto the end of Psalms_114. But these things must not stop us. The hymn which Christ now sang with his disciples after meat was the latter part. In which, as the Masters of the Traditions observe, these five things are mentioned: “The going out of Egypt. The cutting in two of the Red Sea. The delivery of the law. The resurrection of the dead: and the sorrows of the Messias. The going out of Egypt, as it is written, ‘When Israel went out of Egypt.’ The cutting in two of the Red Sea, as it is written, ‘The sea saw it, and fled.’ The delivery of the law, as it is written, ‘The mountains leaped like rams.’ The resurrection of the dead, as it is written, ‘I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.’ And the sorrows of the Messias, as it is written, ‘Not unto us, Lord, not unto us.'”<\/p>\n [They went out into the mount of Olives.] They were bound by traditional canons to lodge within Jerusalem. “On the first Passover, every one is bound to lodge also on the second Passover he is bound to lodge.” The Gloss thus: “He that keeps the Passover is bound to lodge in Jerusalem the first night.” But it is disputed, whether it be the same night wherein the lamb is eaten; or the night first following the feast day. See the place: and let not the lion of the tribe of Judah be restrained in those cobwebs [Pesach. folio 95.2.]<\/p>\n WE see in these verses, how well our Lord foreknew the weakness and infirmity of His disciples. He tells them plainly what they were going to do. “All ye shall be offended because of me this night.” He tells Peter in particular of the astounding sin which he was about to commit: “This night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.”<\/p>\n Yet our Lord’s fore-knowledge did not prevent His choosing these twelve disciples to be His apostles. He allowed them to be His intimate friends and companions, knowing perfectly well what they would one day do. He granted them the mighty privilege of being continually with Him, and hearing His voice, with a clear foresight of the melancholy weakness and want of faith which they would exhibit at the end of His ministry. This is a remarkable fact and deserves to be had in continual remembrance.<\/p>\n Let us take comfort in the thought that the Lord Jesus does not cast off his believing people because of failures and imperfections. He knows what they are. He takes them, as the husband takes the wife, with all their blemishes and defects, and, once joined to Him by faith, will never put them away. He is a merciful and compassionate High-priest. It is His glory to pass over the transgressions of His people, and to cover their many sins. He knew what they were before conversion,-wicked, guilty, and defiled; yet He loved them. He knows what they will be after conversion,-weak, erring, and frail; yet He loves them. He has undertaken to save them, notwithstanding all their shortcomings, and what He has undertaken He will perform.<\/p>\n Let us learn to pass a charitable judgment on the conduct of professing believers. Let us not set them down in a low place, and say they have no grace, because we see in them much weakness and corruption. Let us remember that our Master in heaven bears with their infirmities, and let us try to bear with them too. The Church of Christ is little better than a great hospital. We ourselves are all, more or less, weak, and all daily need the skillful treatment of the heavenly Physician. There will be no complete cures till the resurrection day.<\/p>\n We see, in the second place, in these verses, how much comfort professing Christians may miss by carelessness and inattention. Our Lord spoke plainly of His resurrection: “After that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.” Yet His words appear to have been thrown away, and spoken in vain. Not one of his disciples seems to have noticed them, or treasured them up in his heart. When He was betrayed, they forsook Him. When He was crucified, they were almost in despair. And when He rose again on the third day, they would not believe that it was true. They had heard of it frequently with the hearing of the ear, but it had never made any impression on their hearts.<\/p>\n What an exact picture we have here of human nature! How often we see the very same thing among professing Christians in the present day! How many truths we read yearly in the Bible, and yet remember them no more than if we had never read them at all! How many words of wisdom we hear in sermons heedlessly and thoughtlessly, and live on as if we had never heard them! The days of darkness and affliction come upon us by and bye, and then we prove unarmed and unprepared. On sick-beds, and in mourning, we see a meaning in texts and passages which we at one time heard listlessly and unconcerned. Things flash across our minds at such seasons, and make us feel ashamed that we had not noticed them before. We then remember to have read them, and heard them, and seen them, but they made no impression upon us. Like Hagar’s well in the wilderness, they were close at hand, but, like Hagar, we never saw them. (Gen 21:19.)<\/p>\n Let us pray for a quick understanding in hearing and reading God’s word. Let us search into every part of it, and not lose any precious truth in it for want of care. So doing, we shall lay up a good foundation against the time to come, and in sorrow and sickness be found armed.<\/p>\n Let us mark how little reason ministers have to be surprised, if the words that they preach in sermons are often unnoticed and unheeded. They only drink of the same cup with their Master. Even He said many things which were not noticed when first spoken. And yet we know that “never man spake like this man.” “The disciple is not greater than his Master, nor the servant than his Lord.” We have need of patience. Truths that seem neglected at first, often bear fruit after many days.<\/p>\n We see in the last place, in these verses, how much ignorant self-confidence may sometimes be found in the hearts of professing Christians. The apostle Peter could not think it possible that he could ever deny his Lord. “If I should die with thee,” he says, “I will not deny thee in any wise.” And he did not stand alone in his confidence. The other disciples were of the same opinion. “Likewise also said they all.” <\/p>\n Yet what did all this confident boasting come to? Twelve hours did not pass away before all the disciples forsook our Lord and fled. Their loud professions were all forgotten. The present danger swept all their promises of fidelity clean away. So little do we know how we shall act in any particular position until we are placed in it! So much do present circumstances alter our feelings!<\/p>\n Let us learn to pray for humility. “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Pro 16:18.) There is far more wickedness in all our hearts than we know. We never can tell how far we might fall, if once placed in temptation. There is no degree of sin into which the greatest saint may not run, if he is not held up by the grace of God, and if he does not watch and pray. The seeds of every wickedness lie hidden in our hearts. They only need the convenient season to spring forth into a mischievous vitality. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” “He that trusteth his own heart is a fool.” (1Co 10:12. Pro 28:26.) Let our daily prayer be, “Hold thou me up and I shall be safe.”<\/p>\n Mar 14:26-31. And they went out into the mount of Olives At the conclusion of the supper; Jesus and his disciples sung a proper psalm, or song of praise, together, as was customary at the close of the passover, and then he set out for the mount of Olives, choosing to retire thither, that he might prevent a riot in Jerusalem, and bring no trouble upon the master of the house where he celebrated the passover. Jesus said, All ye shall be offended this night See the notes on Mat 26:30-35. The Jews, in reckoning their days, began with the evening, according to the Mosaic computation, which denominated the evening and the morning the first day, Gen 1:5. And so, that which after sunset is here called this night, is, Mar 14:30, called this day, or, to-day, as should rather be translated. The expression there is peculiarly significant: Verily I say unto thee, that thou Thyself, confident as thou art; to-day Even within four and twenty hours; yea, this night Before the sun be risen; nay, before the cock crow twice Before three in the morning; wilt deny me thrice. Our Lord, doubtless, spake so determinately as knowing a cock would crow once before the usual time of cock-crowing. By Mar 13:35, it appears, that the third watch of the night, ending at three in the morning, was commonly styled the cock-crowing. Dr. Owen, in his Observations on the Four Gospels, p. 56, observes, that as the Jews, in the enumeration of the times of the night, took notice only of one cock- crowing, which comprehended the third watch, so Matthew, to give them a clear information that Peter would deny his Master before three in the morning, needed only to say, that he would do it before the cock crew; but the Romans, (for whom, and the other Gentiles, Mark wrote his gospel,) reckoning by a double crowing of the cock, the first of which was about midnight, and the second at three, stood in need of a more particular designation; and therefore Mark, to denote the same hour to them, was obliged to say, before the cock crew twice. Juvenal uses exactly the same phrase to specify the same hour. Sat. 1. ver. 107.<\/p>\n CXXIII. <\/p>\n GOING TO GETHSEMANE, AND AGONY THEREIN. <\/p>\n (A garden between the brook Kidron and the Mount of Olives. Late Thursday night.) <\/p>\n aMATT. XXVI. 30, 36-46; bMARK XIV. 26, 32-42; cLUKE XXII. 39-46; dJOHN XVIII. 1. <\/p>\n d1 When Jesus had spoken these words [the words contained in Joh_1-17:26], a30 And when they had sung a hymn [the shadow of the cross did not quench the spirit of praise in Christ], they went out c39 And he came out, and dhe went forth with his disciples cas his custom was, dover the brook Kidron, ainto {bunto} the mount of Olives. dwhere was a garden, into which he entered, himself and his disciples. {cand the disciples also followed him.} a36 Then cometh Jesus with them b32 And they come unto a place which was named {acalled} Gethsemane [The name Gethsemane means a place of oil-presses, and hence it accords well with the name of the mountain at whose base it was situated. But the place was now a garden. It was about half a mile from the city, and from what Luke says here and elsewhere ( Luk 21:37), it seems that Jesus often resorted to it while in Jerusalem at the festivals. Compare also Joh 18:2], c40 And when he was at the place, he said {asaith} unto his disciples, Sit ye here, while I pray. cPray that ye enter not into temptation. [As the hour of trial and temptation came upon Jesus he fortified himself against it by prayer. And he bade his disciples do likewise, for his arrest would involve them also in temptations which he [685] foresaw that they would not be able to withstand.] a37 And he took {btaketh} with him Peter aand the two sons of Zebedee, bJames and John, and began to be greatly amazed, asorrowful and sore troubled. [While seeking heavenly aid in this hour of extremity, our Lord also manifested his desire for human sympathy. All the eleven apostles were with him in the garden, and the three most capable of sympathizing with him were stationed nearer to him than the rest.] c41 And he was parted from them about a stone’s cast [one hundred fifty to two hundred feet]; b34 And a38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: babide ye here, and watch. awith me. [The sequel shows that the phrase “even unto death” was no figure of rhetoric. The nervous prostration of Jesus was such as to endanger his life, and the watching of the apostles may have been doubly needful. Not only did he require their sympathy, but he may also have looked to them to render him assistance in the case of a physical collapse.] 39 And he went forward a little, cand he kneeled down band fell on the face, aand fell on his face, and prayed, bthat, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him. [This posture was expressive of the most intense supplication.] 36 And he said, {asaying,} bAbba, aMy Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from me: ball things are possible unto thee; cif thou be willing, remove this cup from me: bhowbeit anevertheless, not as {bwhat} I will, abut as {bwhat} thou wilt. cnot my will, but thine, be done. [Much of mystery is found in all life, so it is small wonder if the dual nature of Jesus presents insoluble problems. It perplexes many to find that the divine in Jesus did not sustain him better during his trial in the garden. But we must remember that it was appointed unto Jesus to die, and that the divine in him was not to interfere with this appointment, or the approaches to it. For want, therefore, of a better expression, we may say that from the time Jesus entered the garden until he expired on the cross, the human in him was in the [686] ascendant; and “being found in fashion as a man,” he endured these trials is if wholly human. His prayer, therefore, is the cry of his humanity for deliverance. The words “if it is possible” with which it opens breathe the same spirit of submissive obedience which is found in the closing words. Reminding the Father of the limitless range of his power, he petitions him to change his counsel as to the crucifixion of the Son, if his gracious purposes can be in any other way carried out. Jesus uses the words “cup” and “hour” interchangeably. They are both words of broad compass, intended to include all that he would undergo from that time until his resurrection. They embrace all his mental, moral, physical, and spiritual suffering which we can discover, together with an infinite volume of a propitiatory and vicarious nature which lies beyond the reach of our understanding. The submission of Jesus was no new fruitage of his character; the prayer of the garden had been the inner purpose of his entire life– Joh 5:30, Joh 6:38.] 43 And there appeared unto him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became as it were great drops of blood falling down upon the ground. [Commentators give instances of bloody sweat under abnormal pathological conditions.] 45 And when he rose up from his prayer, he came {acometh} unto the disciples, and findeth {cfound} them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. [The admonition which had at first been addressed to all the eleven is now spoken to the chosen three] aand saith unto Peter, bSimon, sleepest thou? couldest thou not watch one hour? aWhat, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. [Peter, having boasted of his loyalty, has his weakness pointed out and is further warned to be on his guard, since the weakness of his nature will not stand the coming strain. The slumber of the disciples was not through indifference; but was [687] caused by the prostration of grief. When we remember the excitement which they had endured that night, the tender words spoken by Jesus, the sadness of which was intensified by the atmosphere of mystery which pervaded them, the beautiful and touching prayer, and lastly this agony in the garden, it is not to be wondered at that the apostles, spurred by no sense of danger, should succumb to the long-borne tension and fall asleep. Had they comprehended how much the Lord needed their wakeful sympathy as he came again and again seeking for it, they would probably have kept awake.] b39 And again aa second time he went away, and prayed, bsaying the same words. asaying, My Father, if this cannot pass away, except I drink it, thy will be done. [Jesus here speaks of draining the cup. The “cup” was a common Hebrew figure used to denote one’s divinely appointed lot or fortune– Psa 23:5, Psa 75:8, Isa 51:17, Isa 51:22, Eze 23:31-33.] 43 And he came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were bvery heavy; and they knew not what to answer him. [They were ashamed of the stupor which had come upon them and knew not what apology to make for it.] a44 And he left them again, and went away, and prayed a third time, saying again the same words. b41 And a45 Then cometh he to the disciples, bthe third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and that your rest: it is enough; abehold, the hour is at hand, {bthe hour is come;} aand bbehold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Arise, let us be going: behold, he that betrayeth me is at hand. [Our Lord’s words are paradoxical. In our judgment the saying is best understood by regarding the first part of it as spoken from the Lord’s viewpoint, while the latter part is spoken from the disciple’s viewpoint. It is as if he said, “So far as I am concerned, you may sleep on and take your rest, for the time to be of comfort or assistance to me has wholly passed. But so far as you yourselves are concerned, you must arise and be going, because Judas with his band of temple police is upon us.”] [688]<\/p>\n [FFG 685-693]<\/p>\n GETHSEMANE<\/p>\n Mat 26:30-46; Mar 14:26-42; Luk 22:39-46;Joh 18:1. Jesus speaking these things, went out with His disciples beyond the brook Kidron, where was a garden, into which He and His disciples went. This is the Garden of Gethsemane, which means oil- press, as evidently it had some celebrity for the manufacture of olive-oil, corroborative of which the olive-trees there still abound. They look very venerable. Since the olive-tree ordinarily lives five hundred to a thousand years, there is a degree of plausibility in the tradition that the identical trees under which Jesus and His disciples frequently sat still survive, as several trunks from the same root are still green and flourishing, some looking old and others young, favoring the conclusion that as the old die, others grow up, thus perpetuating the tree from the same root. Garden, in the Old World, is: frequently synonymous with park in this country; e. g., the Garden of Eden.<\/p>\n Mat 26:30; Mat 26:36-37. And having sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus comes with them into a place called Gethsemane, and says to His disciples, Sit here, until, having gone, I shall pray yonder. And taking Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to give way to sorrow and dejection. You see how He compliments Peter, James, and John by taking them with Him to the exclusion of the rest. He did the same on the Mount of Transfiguration, and also at the resurrection of Jairuss daughter evidencing a deeper insight into spiritual things on the part of the apostolic trio. The unfallen humanity of Jesus, never callused by sin, is intensely emotional, feeling infinitely more acutely than we are likely to apprehend.<\/p>\n Luk 22:41-44. And He departed from them about a stones cast, and putting down His knees, continued to pray, saying, Father, if this cup wishes to pass from Me. This was spoken proleptically, implying a desire on the part of His humanity to retreat from the terrible ordeals of blood, insult, treason, abuse, and death which His Divinity saw in diabolical panorama moving before His eyes. Moreover, not My will, but Thine be done. Here you see He prefers the Divine will to his own human will, giving us an exceedingly profitable example. The human will of Jesus recoiled from the horrific tragedy coming to meet Him. So will ours under all circumstances. Hence we are to sink away into the Divine will, always keeping the human meekly acquiescent.<\/p>\n And an angel appeared unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him. While there was no retreat from the appalling and horrific maelstrom which opened its in hellish malice, yet the loving Father sends awful crisis. Hence you see the pertinency of prayer amid all of our temptations and trials; not that we will always be delivered from them, but that our Heavenly Father will send an angel to strengthen us, giving us the needed patience, resignation, forbearance, and perseverance adequate to the conflict. And being in agony, He continued to pray the more fervently. And His perspiration was like drops of blood falling down upon the ground. All efforts to explain this agony of His human soul are utterly vain. Millions of martyrs have gone singing to the burning stake, and shouted triumphantly amid the wreathing flames. Then why did Jesus agonize so intensely in contemplation of His martyrdom? You must remember that all comparison is really impertinent and utterly out of place as to any attempted exegesis, from the simple fact that none of the martyrs atoned for the sins of the world. The Divinity could neither suffer nor die, but only served as the altar on which the humanity was immolated to atone for the sins of a guilty world. Hence the innocent Man Jesus carried upon His spotless soul all the mountains of sin committed by the guilty; race in all ages, from Adam to the latest generation. Consequently, we are utterly incompetent to know or to realize the agony which He endured in the garden. There the battle was fought between the human and the Divine will, the latter triumphing. Gethsemane was the consecration and Calvary the sanctification. In the case of the latter, we see Him nailed to the cross, and pouring out His blood, and hear nothing of humanitys recoil from the appalling tragedy, the battle having been fought and the victory won in Gethsemane. Hence the soul seeking sanctification must first pass the Gethsemane of consecration, where the human utterly and eternally submits to the Divine will. Then you are prepared cheerfully to let the Holy Ghost nail Adam the First to the cross, and let him bleed and die. The followers of Jesus must all pass through Gethsemane on their way to Calvary. This bloody sweat is unparalleled in all the history of human suffering, illustrative of the fact that the world has never seen but the one Savior, who actually carried upon His spotless soul all of its guilt and crime.<\/p>\n Mar 14:38-39. And He comes and finds them sleeping, and says to Peter, Simon , do you sleep? Were you not able to watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest ye may enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. They had been constantly on foot and their attention engaged so long that drowsiness and nervous relaxation proved irresistible. And again having gone away; He prayed, speaking the same word. And returning, He found them again sleeping; for their eyes were heavy, and they knew not what they respond to Him.<\/p>\n It is about midnight. The apostles were stout, muscular men who, in case of nervous collapse, found drowsiness irresistible. He comes the third time, and says to them, Do you sleep on and take your rest. It is over: the hour has come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let us be going; behold; the one having betrayed Me draweth nigh. Jesus having seen all the maneuvers of His enemies, who, under the escort of Judas, have tracked them making inquiry of the people on the streets<\/p>\n from the upper room where they had taken the supper on Mount Zion, through the long way of the city to the east wall, and out across the Valley of Jehoshaphat and the brook Kidron to this garden, where Jesus had so often resorted with His disciples while Judas was with them, and who consequently kept His track, leading the mob, and also having seen all the hurry and bustle of His enemies, parading the temple guards and hiring the street rabble to accompany them, now, that they are coming right into the park, and knowing they are going to arrest Him, He commands the Eleven all to wake up, and goes to meet them.<\/p>\n Mar 14:26-31. On the Way to the Mount of Olives Jesus Foretells the Failure of the Disciples.Having concluded the feast by singing the second half of the Hallel (Psalms 115-118), Jesus and His disciples go out to the Mount of Olives. Jesus warns His disciples that they will desert and deny Him. The warning is associated with Zec 13:7perhaps due to later reflection.<\/p>\n Mar 14:30. The reference to the second cockcrow is peculiar to Mk. The detail has also been disputed on the ground that cocks were forbidden to be kept in Jerusalem. This is not a serious difficulty. Mk. may have misunderstood a simple reference to cockcrow, a term well-established in popular reckoning of time (cf. Mar 13:35). Also the prohibition may not have been effective.<\/p>\n Mar 14:31. The vigour of Peters protest is emphasized in Mk.<\/p>\n The hymn was probably the second part of the Hallel<\/span> (lit. praise, Psalms 115-118) that the Jews sang antiphonally at the end of the Passover. The other evangelists recorded more that Jesus said and did in the upper room (e.g., John 13-16). By the time they left, it was probably quite late at night.<\/p>\n "When Jesus arose to go to Gethsemane, Psalms 118 was upon his lips. It provided an appropriate description of how God would guide his Messiah through distress and suffering to glory." [Note: Lane, p. 509.] <\/span><\/p>\n CHAPTER 14:26-31 (Mar 14:26-31)<\/p>\n THE WARNING<\/p>\n “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered abroad. Howbeit, after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee. But Peter said unto Him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, that thou today, even this night, before the cock crow twice, shalt deny me thrice. But he spake exceeding vehemently, If I must die with Thee, I will not deny Thee. And in like manner also said they all.” Mar 14:26-31 (R.V.)<\/p>\n SOME uncertainty attaches to the position of Christ’s warning to the Eleven in the narrative of the last evening. Was it given at the supper, or on Mount Olivet; or were there perhaps premonitory admonitions on His part, met by vows of faithfulness on theirs, which at last led Him to speak out so plainly, and elicited such vainglorious protestations, when they sat together in the night air?<\/p>\n What concerns us more is the revelation of a calm and beautiful nature, at every point in the narrative. Jesus knows and has declared that His life is now closing, and His blood already “being shed for many.” But that does not prevent Him from joining with them in singing a hymn. It is the only time when we are told that our Savior sang, evidently because no other occasion needed mention; a warning to those who draw confident inferences from such facts as that “none ever said he smiled,” or that there is no record of His having been sick. It would surprise such theorists to observe the number of biographies much longer than any of the Gospels, which also mention nothing of the kind.<\/p>\n The Psalms usually sung at the close of the feast are Psa 115:1-18 and the three following. The first tells how the dead praise not the Lord, but we will praise Him from this time forth forever. The second proclaims that the Lord hath delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. The third bids all the nations praise the Lord, for His merciful kindness is great and His truth endureth forever. And the fourth rejoices because, although all nations compassed me about, yet I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord; and because the stone which the builders rejected is become the head stone of the corner. Memories of infinite sadness were awakened by the words which had so lately rung around His path: “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.;” but His voice was strong to sing, “Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar;” and it rose to the exultant close, “Thou art my God, and I will praise Thee: Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee. O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever.”<\/p>\n This hymn, from the lips of the Perfect One, could be no “dying swan-song.” It uplifted that more than heroic heart to the wonderful tranquillity which presently said, “When I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.” It is full of victory. And now they go unto the Mount of Olives.<\/p>\n Is it enough considered how much of the life of Jesus was passed in the open air? He preached on the hillside; He desired that a boat should be at His command upon the lake; He prayed upon the mountain; He was transfigured beside the snows of Hermon; He oft-times resorted to a garden which had not yet grown awful; He met His disciples on a Galilean mountain; and He finally ascended from the Mount of Olives. His unartificial normal life, a pattern to us, not as students but as men — was spent by preference neither in the study nor the street.<\/p>\n In this crisis, most solemn and yet most calm, He leaves the crowded city into which all the tribes had gathered, and chooses for His last intercourse with His disciples, the slopes of the opposite hillside, while overhead is glowing, in all the still splendor of an Eastern sky, the full moon of Passover. Here then is the place for one more emphatic warning. Think how He loved them. As His mind reverts to the impending blow, and apprehends it in its most awful form, the very buffet of God Who Himself will smite the Shepherd, He remembers to warn His disciples of their weakness. We feel it to be gracious that He should think of them at such a time. But if we drew a little nearer, we should almost hear the beating of the most loving heart that ever broke. They were all He had. In them He had confided utterly. Even as the Father had loved Him He also had loved them, the firstfruits of the travail of His soul. He had ceased to call them servants and had called them friends. To them He had spoken those affecting words, “Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations.” How intensely He clung to their sympathy, imperfect though it was, is best seen by His repeated appeals to it in the Agony. And He knew that they loved Him, that the spirit was willing, that they would weep and lament for Him, sorrowing with a sorrow which He hastened to add that He would turn into joy.<\/p>\n It is the preciousness of their fellowship which reminds Him how this, like all else, must fail Him. If there is blame in the words, “Ye shall be offended,” this passes at once into exquisite sadness when He adds that He, Who so lately said, “Them that Thou gavest Me, I have guarded,” should Himself be the cause of their offense, “All ye shall be caused to stumble because of Me.” And there is an unfathomable tenderness, a marvelous allowance for their frailty in what follows. They were His sheep, and therefore as helpless, as little to be relied upon, as sheep when the shepherd is stricken. How natural it was for sheep to be scattered.<\/p>\n The world has no parallel for such a warning to comrades who are about to leave their leader, so faithful and yet so tender, so far from estrangement or reproach.<\/p>\n If it stood alone it would prove the Founder of the Church to be not only a great teacher, but a genuine Son of man.<\/p>\n For Himself, He does not share their weakness, nor apply to Himself the lesson of distrustfulness which He teaches them; He is of another nature from these trembling sheep, the Shepherd of Zechariah, “Who is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts.” He does not shrink from applying to Himself this text, which awakens against Him the sword of God (Zec 13:7).<\/p>\n Looking now beyond the grave to the resurrection, and unestranged by their desertion, He resumes at once the old relation; for as the shepherd goeth before his sheep, and they follow him, so He will go before them into Galilee, to the familiar places far from the city where men hate Him.<\/p>\n This last touch of quiet human feeling completes an utterance too beautiful, too characteristic to be spurious, yet a prophecy, and one which attests the ancient predictions, and which involves an amazing claim.<\/p>\n At first sight it is surprising that the Eleven who were lately so conscious of weakness that each asked was he the traitor, should since have become too self-confident to profit by a solemn admonition. But a little examination shows the two statements to be quite consistent. They had wronged themselves by that suspicion, and never is self-reliance more boastful than when it is reassured after being shaken. The institution of the Sacrament had invested them with new privileges, and drawn them nearer than ever to their Master. Add to this the infinite tenderness of the last discourse in St. John, and the prayer which was for them and not for the world. How did their hearts burn within them as He said, “Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou hast given Me.” How incredible must it then have seemed to them, thrilling with real sympathy and loyal gratitude, that they should forsake such a Master.<\/p>\n Nor must we read in their words merely a loud and indignant self-assertion, all unworthy of the time and scene. They were meant to be a solemn vow. The love they professed was genuine and warm. Only they forgot their weakness; they did not observe the words which declared them to be helpless sheep entirely dependent on the Shepherd, whose support would speedily seem to fail.<\/p>\n Instead of harsh and unbecoming criticism, which repeats almost exactly their fault by implying that we should not yield to the same pressure, let us learn the lesson, that religious exaltation, a sense of special privilege, and the glow of generous emotions, have their own danger. Unless we continue to be as little children, receiving the Bread of Life, without any pretense to have deserved it, and conscious still that our only protection is the staff of our Shepherd, then the very notion that we are something, when we are nothing, will betray us to defeat and shame.<\/p>\n Peter is the loudest in his protestations; and there is a painful egoism in his boast, that even if the others fail, he will never deny Him. So in the storm, it is he who should be called across the waters. And so an early reading makes him propose that he alone should build the tabernacles for the wondrous Three.<\/p>\n Naturally enough, this egoism stimulates the rest. For them, Peter is among those who may fail, while each is confident that he himself cannot. Thus the pride of one excites the pride of many.<\/p>\n But Christ has a special humiliation to reveal for his special self-assertion. That day, and even before that brief night was over, before the second cockcrowing (“the cock-crow” of the rest, being that which announced the dawn) he shall deny his Master twice. Peter does not observe that his eager contradictions are already denying the Master’s profoundest claims. The others join in his renewed protestations, and their Lord answers them no more. Since they refuse to learn from Him, they must be left to the stern schooling of experience. Even before the betrayal, they had an opportunity to judge how little their good intentions might avail. For Jesus now enters Gethsemane.<\/p>\n And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. 26 31. The Flight of the Apostles foretold and the Denials of St Peter 26. when they had sung an hymn ] In all probability the concluding portion of the Hallel. See above, note on Mar 14:16. Fuente: The Cambridge … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 14:26”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"