His Agony and Our Fellowship

"We can never fathom the agony in Gethsemane, but at least we need not misunderstand it. It is the agony of God and Man in one, face to face with sin" -- Oswald.

Son of God -- As God, our Savior is eternal. He was there at the beginning of time when the world was created. He has no end. He is perfect, sinless. More, he finds sin abhorrent, detestable. Throughout his life on earth, he was in unhindered communion with God the Father and able to represent his mind, heart and will without error. More, he, the Father and the Spirit were/are One. As God, he knew what was ahead of him in the last days of his life. He knew of Judas' betrayal. He knew his disciples would scatter. He knew Peter would deny him. He knew what kind of death awaited him, and he knew the sins of every man ever to live -- past, present or future -- would be placed on him. Murder, rape, child molestation, envy, hatred of God, conceit, idolatry, betrayal -- he, who not only knew no sin but could not abide it, became identified with the worst we have to offer.

Son of Man -- As man, our Savior was mortal, able to die. He was subject to the frailty of the human body and felt exhaustion, pain, thirst, hunger, tears of sadness, and agony of the soul. He was subject to temptation but did not succumb. As man, he experienced the human condition -- knew every emotion and desire common to man -- and, hence, was/is able to serve as a mediator between us and God the Father.

Matthew 26:38 (in Gethsemane): "Then he said to them, 'My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.'"

In Gethsemane, Jesus does battle with Satan and the powers of darkness. We can be certain that Satan brought everything he had to bear against Christ in that hour. For his part, Jesus, the warrior, prayed. And Matthew Henry's commentary on this passage helped me to see that God the Father answered his prayer:

"But what answer had he to this prayer? Certainly it was not made in vain; he that heard him always, did not deny him now. It is true, the cup did not pass from him, but he had an answer to his prayer; for He was strengthened with strength in his soul; and that was a real answer, Luke 22: 43. In answer to his prayer, God provided that he should not fail or be discouraged."