Jesus Prays On The Mount Of Olives
JESUS PRAYS ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES
LUKE 22:39-53
Jesus knew what no one else did, that in this strange and frightening way, God’s plan for saving men and women was being worked out.
Verses 39-46. A remnant of the Garden of Gethsemane still lies across the Kedron on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives. Two or three trees of immense age stand there, their short but enormous trunks gnarled, twisted and eroded with the passing of centuries. The hill was bared of all growth and greenery in the two great rebellions, but olives are the most tenacious of all trees. They will spring again from their ancient roots when all visible portions of the tree are burned and shattered. The roots of the trees visible today could have been those which gripped the stony ground when the Lord knelt in prayer, and put for ever into all prayer the words which every true follower of his must observe: “Nevertheless, not my will, but thine …”
That Jesus, knowing what was to be, should yet shrink in horrified humanity from the fearsome reality of shame and agony, is not strange. In him deity and humanity were perfectly blended. Here we see the Perfect Man, perfectly understanding, and in the grip of suffering unimaginable to duller, imperfect minds (Hebrews 5:7-9). The haematidrosis, the rupturing of tiny blood vessels into the sweatglands, is a known medical phenomenon, and indicates the fearful stress of the mind’s agony.
22:47-53. Only John reveals that it was Peter who turned to violence. When John wrote, almost forty years later, it was safe to reveal the name. Peter was long since dead. John also, acquainted as he was with the high priest’s house, knew the name of the injured servant. It was like Peter to turn to action in a moment of bewilderment or distress. This trait more than once appears in the Gospels. And so they led him away, and Judas’ name became a name of treachery and base betrayal. For what will our names be remembered?
Notes Who heard and reported the prayer? The three intimates (see Matthew and Mark) probably heard much of it; and Mark, if he were the mysterious young man of his own account, may have heard it all (Matthew 26:37-38; Mark 14:51-52). 22:42: see Matthew 20:22; Psalm 75:8. 22:47: the kiss was a customary way for a disciple to greet his rabbi.