HEMATIDROSIS: “Exceeding Sorrowful Even Unto Death” – Matt. 26:38
Article #5 on the Passion of Jesus Christ
Men will never know the full extent of what Christ was beholden to when He was submerged underneath the floods of sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane. Suddenly, our Lord became spiritually aware of the wrath of God descending upon His sacred head, and therefore the Son of God became “exceeding sorrowful even unto death” (Matt. 26:38). At once, for the first time ever, the sweet communion of the Trinity was interrupted! This had never happened before.
“Our Lord Jesus, moreover, meant us to see that our sin changed everything about Him into sorrow–it turned His riches into poverty, His peace into travail, His glory into shame–and so the place of His peaceful retirement, where, in hallowed devotion He had been nearest Heaven in communion with God, our sin transformed into the focus of His sorrow, the center of His woe. Where He had enjoyed most, there He must be called to suffer most.” – C.H. Spurgeon, The Agony in Gethsemane
“But the soul-suffering of our Lord was more intense than all. This was inconceivable, indescribable. Listen to the cry in Gethsemane, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” The billows of God’s wrath began now to penetrate His nature, the storm to break in upon His soul. Oh, that was a terrible moment! It was only now that He began to succumb to the woe. Before this He had maintained a comparatively calm and uncomplaining demeanor.” – C.H. Spurgeon, Christ’s Finished Work
All throughout the earthly life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God was spiritually aware of everything the Father was doing. The marvelous details of this unique relationship leading up to the Garden of Gethsemane are explicitly stated in John 5:19-20. Therefore, an interruption of divine love from the Father – in the manifestation of divine wrath – would have been spiritually seen by the Son of God with infinite clarity.
“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.” - John 5:19-20
Every moment of the Humanity of the Messiah was drenched in divine blessing until Gethsemane (John 3:34-35; Gal. 3:13). Continuously, without intermission, Jesus Christ was standing directly under an endless downpour of divine love coming from the Father in Heaven, until the exact moment sin was imputed.
The Consciousness, Sinlessness, & Omniscience of the Sacrifice
If sin was indeed placed upon the Son of God in Gethsemane, and borne by Him from thereon out (“being made a curse for us” – Gal. 3:13), as Jesus courageously took it to the Cross, credit should be given to the Divine part of our Lord’s Humanity. In becoming a Human, the Son of God could not ever cease to be Divine. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the Messiah to carry the weight of sin to the Cross while spiritually suffering the wrath of God the Father as it was abiding upon Him (Jn. 3:36).
“For, first, He is perfectly adapted for the work of saving. The singular constitution of His Nature adapts Him to His office. He is God. It was necessary that He should be so. Who but God could sustain the enormous weight of human guilt? What but Divinity was equal to bear the awful load of wrath which was to be carried upon His shoulders? What knowledge but Omniscience could understand all the evil, and what power but Omnipotence could undo that evil? That Christ is God must ever be a theme for grateful admiration to His people.” – C.H. Spurgeon, Christ-Perfect Through Sufferings
In being God manifest in human flesh, Jesus Christ was uniquely capable of understanding what neither men nor angels can comprehend. It is the omniscient part of the Man that allowed for the boundless and incomprehensible torment of soul portrayed in Gethsemane. The sacrifice of animals for an Atonement is one thing. Theoretically speaking, the sacrifice of men for an Atonement is something categorically different than what animals are capable of experiencing in becoming a Substitutionary Sacrifice. Nevertheless, the sacrifice of the God-Man is something else altogether! The Divine part of the Man changes everything.
When the sins of Israel were confessed and ceremoniously imputed into the bulls and goats of the sacrifices in the Old Testament (Lev. 4:15, 16:21, 26:40), these amoral beasts had no consciousness of the reason for which they were about to die, and they were slain regardless of whether or not they accepted the guilt of the immoral man who was confessing sin over the animal. This is not the case with Jesus Christ! For an eternity before the incarnation, Jesus Christ knew exactly the reasons for which he would be born into the race of Mankind as the Only Begotten Son of the Father (“…that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” – Heb. 2:9; John 10:17-18, 12:27-33). Furthermore, in being God (manifest in human flesh), Jesus Christ would have had an omniscient understanding of what was happening to Him during the imputation process in the Garden of Gethsemane.
“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” – Matt. 26:36-39
“And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.” - Mark 14:32-36
Even though it is impossible for us to grasp a day in the life of an omniscient God, nevertheless, with a worshipful posture, and a bowed heart, the Lord of Glory beckons your attention to Gethsemane that you might gaze upon the Passion of Jesus Christ with understanding. The passionate agony began the moment that the sins of the past, present, and future were placed upon the Lamb of God! At once, an internal conflict of deliberation ensued, which is why the Messiah began to ask the Father that “this cup” would pass from Him. Not even Peter, James, and John were allowed to peer into this intimate moment between the Son and the Father. Nevertheless, this prayer was never intended to be mysterious. What was in the cup? The wrath of God.
The internal conflict commenced in the Son of God when,
for the love of sinners the Lord Jesus Christ became sin.
For the love of God the Father, the Son deliberated within,
because for the first time ever their relationship was disrupted by sin.Nothing could compare to God the Father’s love for the Son,
and yet now the LORD burned in wrath against this very One.
In love for sinners God was pleased to satisfy justice & bid men come,
otherwise this painful transmission of sin would not have been done.“It [the cup] was a something inconceivably terrible and amazingly full of dread – which came from the Father’s hand. This removes all doubt as to what it was…” – C.H. Spurgeon, The Agony in Gethsemane
Jesus Christ was fully Man. Nevertheless, He could not ever cease to be God. Therefore, in being God as a Man, Jesus Christ was able to look upon the situation at hand with omniscient eyes. Through an omniscient comprehension of the past, Jesus Christ knew exactly what kinds of sins and how many of them were committed since the beginning of the world. Through the infinite power of divine foresight, Jesus Christ knew exactly what kinds of sins and how many of them would be committed in the future. Think about the horror of all that was easily perceivable with the eyes of omniscience in the fateful hours of agony spent in Gethsemane. The depravity! In its totality! The crushing sense of its enormity! It would have been enough to kill the Man.
“And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” - Luke 22:41-44
Every minute of the dark night in Gethsemane, second by second, was momentous from the personal vantage point of Jesus Christ; when moments earlier the sinless Son of God enjoyed the undimmed brightness of the Father’s happy countenance, ever looking down upon Him from above, and then in an instant the Face of God became angry, and the full force of divine wrath was being projected toward the Person of Jesus Christ from this point onward until death. What a dreadful sight was in the eye of the beholder! One mortal man’s sins alone are strong enough to drown him in sorrow and sink the soul into hell through divine wrath. Literally, what happened to the rebellious prophet Jonah (Jonah 2:1-10) did spiritually and emotionally happen to David (Ps. 18:4-6, 31:9-10, 40:12, 116:3), and many others (Ps. 88:1-18, 102:1-12). Therefore, what should we expect to see when the sins of all mankind are placed upon one Man?
Sins in Totality, Individually, Personally, Situationally, Historically, Timelessly, & Quantifiably
The quantifiable total of sins committed throughout all time would have been known in a literal number by the Son of God while in the throes of Gethsemane. The vast and unimaginable quantity would have been collectively perceived in a single numerical figure. Meanwhile, and simultaneously, there would have been an abiding sense of omniscience enabling the Son of God to have a present and timeless awareness of the acute horror of every sin committed individually all throughout time. This is an infinite power of divine knowledge that is so profound and clear, it is as if nothing at all that has ever been thought, said, or done by sinners is something that is removed from God, in the sense that it is a past tense event.
Nothing fades with time or becomes blurry in the memory of God. No relief is given to an omniscient God with the passing of time. The thoughts, feelings, and emotions in the words and acts of every sinner who has ever existed in every second, minute, and hour of every day of their mortal lives, is as real today as it was in the moment that these sins were committed in the past. The same could be said about the personal experience of God today concerning the sins that will be committed in the future. The weight and enormity of what took place at Gethsemane, and in the forthcoming events, climaxing in the Cross of Calvary, cannot be compared to the thoughtless amorality of a beast who is forcibly slain as an Atoning sacrifice. As the spiritual eyes of the Lamb of God looked backward, forward, and upward – in a unique moment of Humanity, when this Man peered into the things of infinity – the Messiah deliberated in the throes of sorrow and learned obedience by the things which He suffered (Heb. 5:8).
“He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” – Matt. 26:42
“Though he were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered; And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him;” – Heb. 5:8-9
In a flash the eternal fire of divine wrath was visibly ignited,
while the Son of God was looking up, He agonized to see it excited!
Then as hesitation turned into determination Jesus Christ became frightened,
lest the mortal body of the Man should fail before salvation was merited.
The human body of the Son of God simply could not endure the sorrow of it all. Literally, the Messiah began to suffer from a rare medical condition called, Hematidrosis, or bloody sweat. Credible medical documentation about this condition was available even in the 1800’s during Spurgeon’s time.
“The old physician, Galen, gives an instance in which, through extremity of horror, an individual poured forth a discolored sweat, so nearly crimson as, at any rate, to appear to have been blood. Other cases are given by medical authorities.” – C.H. Spurgeon, The Agony in Gethsemane
We don’t need to rely upon old physicians and ancient records in the medical field. The research of modern science confirms the same findings about Hematidrosis.
“Hematidrosis is a well-documented physical condition characterized by at least one occurrence of bloody-sweat excretion from intact skin. Hemoglobin concentration in the blood sweat is lower than that which would typically be found in blood, which indicates a dilution of blood through the contents of sweat (Wang (2021)). The bleeding is thought to originate from blood leakage from ruptured capillaries into sweat glands (Kluger (2018)). Bleeding from other causes, and clotting and blood platelet disorders are often ruled out in case study examinations, and is seen to occur from various locations including the face, forehead, eyes, ears, umbilicus, upper and lower limbs, abdomen, extremities, mouth, and tongue (Kluger (2018)). Intense fear, stress, and mental complications, such as that experienced through the breaking apart of families, the loss of a loved one, or within inmates on death-row, are said to be the significant causative factors according to an older study of 76 cases, as well as a systematic review of 25 known cases of hematidrosis occurring from 1996 to 2016 (Holoubek (1996), Kluger (2018)).”
As a deadly force of unimaginable sorrow was distressing the Man, the Son of God recognized what was happening to Him, and said, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Matt. 26:38). The Lord was honestly describing what was happening without exaggeration. “The travail was enough to kill Him…” (C.H. Spurgeon, The Suffering of Christ Satisfied). Therefore, literally, not figuratively, as Jesus agonized in prayer, “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Lk. 22:44).
“‘Tis midnight, and on Olive’s brow
the star is dimmed that lately shone.
‘Tis midnight; in the Garden now
the suff'ring Savior prays alone.‘Tis midnight, and from all removed,
Immanuel wrestles ’lone with fears.
E’en that disciple whom he loved
heeds not his Master’s grief and tears.‘Tis midnight, and for others’ guilt
the Man of Sorrows weeps in blood.
Yet he who hath in anguish knelt
is not forsaken by his God.”
– William B. Tappan
In suffering Hematidrosis, Jesus Christ was brought beyond the threshold of sorrow that a mortal Man could endure. Therefore, in realizing that He was about to die, the Messiah prayed to God for a supernatural strengthening of His mortal body, lest He fail to take the sins of the world to the Cross.
“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;” – Heb. 5:7
“And there appeared an angel unto Him from Heaven, strengthening Him.” – Lk. 22:43
“Scripture implies that our Lord was assailed by the fear that his strength would not be sufficient. He was heard in that he feared. How, then, was he heard? An angel was sent unto him strengthening him. His fear, then, was probably produced by a sense of weakness. " – C.H. Spurgeon, Gethsemane
The prayers recorded in Hebrews 5:7 are categorically different than the wrestle about the cup. The requests being made in Hebrews 5:7 are not the same requests as the three times Christ asked about the possibility of not drinking the cup. There was a moment in Gethsemane when the Son of God came into full subjection to drink the cup (Matt. 26:42, Jn. 18:11-12), and thus the internal conflict within our Lord was over. It was then that the earnest prayers of Hebrews 5:7 were offered for fear of dying from sorrow prematurely, before making it to the Cross.
“As the mighty mass of their guilt came rolling upon Him, His Father saw that the Human soul and the Human body both needed to be upheld, otherwise they would have been utterly crushed before the Atoning work had been accomplished.” – C.H. Spurgeon, The Weakened Christ Strengthened
Thus did God send an angel to miraculously uphold the failing body of Jesus Christ as the weight of the whole world was put upon His shoulders. If Jesus would not have prayed to be saved from an untimely death in Gethsemane, He would have died right then and there! The brave and perfect soul of our Redeemer feared this outcome and by the grace of God it was prevented. Conclusively, the Son of God was not praying to be saved from the Cross; rather, He was praying to be saved from death in Gethsemane so that He could take the sin of the world to the Cross for the accomplishment of an Atonement.
Internal Conflicts in the Godhead
While peering into Gethsemane, Spurgeon described what he saw by saying that Christ was wrestling in a contest of terrible combat. Do you agree? At the same time, Spurgeon asked an important question: “With whom did He wrestle?”. Spurgeon very boldly answered the question, saying, “I believe it was with Himself.”. This is an internal conflict.
“He did not die in the Garden, but He suffered as much as if He had died. He endured death intensively, though not extensively. It did not extend to the making His body a corpse, but it went as far in pain as if it had been so. His pangs and anguish went up to the mortal agony and only paused on the verge of death. Luke, to crown all, tells us in our text, that our Lord was in an agony. The expression, “agony,” signifies a conflict, a contest, a wrestling. With whom was the agony? With whom did He wrestle? I believe it was with Himself. The contest here intended was not with His God – no – “not as I will but as You will,” does not look like wrestling with God. It was not a contest with Satan, for, as we have already seen, He would not have been so sorely amazed had that been the conflict. It was a terrible combat within Himself, an agony within His own soul.” C.H. Spurgeon, The Agony in Gethsemane
“Nothing causes a man more torture than to be dragged here and there with contending emotions. As civil war is the worst and most cruel kind of war, so a war within a man’s soul, when two great passions in him struggle for the mastery, and both noble passions, too, causes a trouble and distress which none but he that feels it can understand.” – C.H. Spurgeon, The Agony in Gethsemane
Any sensible reader of Gethsemane will immediately realize that Jesus Christ was struggling with some kind of internal conflict in the Garden. However, this thought can be troublesome to some believers because they have no concept of this ever happening to God in the Bible. This oversight then forces the hand of interpreters to provide an explanation without focusing on the Divinity of Christ in this awful moment of struggle. Theologians then oversimplify the issue by focusing solely on the Manhood of Christ. However, clearly, the internal conflict of Jesus Christ originated from Divinity, while being brought to the brink of death (as a consequence of the Passion) originated from Humanity.
Internal conflicts in the Godhead happen when there is a tension between two contrary righteous desires in the holy heart of God. Some people deny that this is even possible, even though it happened all throughout biblical history. On one such occasion, the LORD said: “Mine heart is turned within Me, My repentings are kindled together.” (Hos. 11:8-9). This turning of the divine heart, or kindling of repentances, reveals a holy indecisiveness in the heart of God.
“How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.” – Hos. 11:8-9
In this case, God was wavering between two contrary desires: wrath & love. The wrath was motivated by justice. The love was motivated by mercy. Firstly, the LORD desired to totally annihilate Israel in a consumption, making her like the cities of Admah and Zeboim; these were neighboring cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that were annihilated by fire. Secondarily, the LORD desired to have mercy upon Israel for the greater good of the Name of God.
The same thing can be observed in Exodus 32:1-34:35. Firstly, the LORD desired to totally annihilate Israel in a consumption (Ex. 32:10); with great restraint the LORD refused to come into “the midst” of the people for fear that He would “consume” them in a moment (Ex. 33:3, 5). Secondarily, the LORD desired to have mercy and revive the Mosaic Covenant for the greater good of the Name of God (Ex. 32:11-14); this revival will be signified by the remaking of what was broken, which of course is the Tables of the Covenant (Ex. 32:15-20, 34:1-2, 27). Explicitly, this situation was described by God to be a period of divine indecisiveness, in the word delivered to Israel:
“For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.” – Ex. 33:5
Literally, the repentings of God were kindled together, and therefore the LORD was turning or wavering amidst two strong contrary righteous desires. As the LORD thought and said one thing (Ex. 32:10), and then turned again in repentance (Ex. 32:12, 14), though not fully to the restoration of the Mosaic Covenant (Ex. 33:1-6), Moses was determined to intercede: to stand before the wrath of God and settle the internal conflict of the LORD. Amazingly, as a type of Christ, Moses ascended the holy Mount and tried to offer himself as an atoning sacrifice (Ex. 32:30-35)!
“And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” – Ex. 32:30-32
In respect to Christology, this is the most important moment of the whole ordeal recorded in Exodus 32:1-34:35. Why? The man, Moses, was willing to sacrifice himself! But of course, his request was denied by the Father. This will prove to be an important divine message as it directly precedes the events which follow; not the least of which is the very first divine declaration of sovereign mercy, in the words, “I…will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” (Ex. 33:19); the same statement that the apostle Paul quoted in Romans 9:15. Suffice it to say, this whole episode was orchestrated by God to shed light on the desire of all ages: Jesus Christ the Righteous (1 Jn. 2:1-2; Jer. 23:6). The storyline of these events bears witness to the coming of one greater than Moses (Deut. 18:15-19).
Sinai and Gethsemane present to us two scenes that are in striking contrast. Lo, and behold, Moses was willing and Jesus Christ was momentarily unwilling! Can you believe it? Furthermore, the Father denied the former and encouraged the latter. There must be something vastly different in the two scenarios. Right? Make no mistake about it! Moses’s request was not courageous; it was ignorant. Even the most saintly men sometimes speak amiss on holy mountains (Lk. 9:32-36). Nevertheless, we can be sure that Moses’ reckless request was motivated by love (Rom. 9:1-3), even though he didn’t know what he was asking for.
How could he have known that he was unfit for the task? Moses supposed that even animals could make an Atonement for men. Therefore, logically speaking, seeing that he was much more valuable than a beast, Moses thought he could make an Atonement on behalf of others. Of course, he didn’t even know that none of the animal sacrifices of history were meritoriously successful in making an Atonement. Nevertheless, a heartbroken God made Moses desperate enough to push the limits of what was conceivably possible. A staggering account of intercession follows.
Moses’ ascension up Mount Sinai was far too low an altitude for the job (Heb. 8:1-5, 9:23-28), and his life as an intercessor was far too short (Heb. 7:25). Nevertheless, the clumsy and ignorant Prophet proceeded to ascend Mount Sinai yet again (Matt. 11:11), after being denied at the first, and this time he saw God (Ex. 33:18-23). Then Moses continued there in intercession for 40 days & 40 nights without food or water before the burning heat of the divine wrath (Ex. 34:28; Deut. 9:18-19, 25, 10:10; Ps. 106:23)! Only then was the internal conflict of God settled. How can it be?
“And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also.” – Deut. 9:18-19
“Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.” – Psalm 106:23
Credit should be given to Jesus Christ for this ancient exploit of intercession. Jehovah would not have countenanced Moses at all without the coming of Jesus Christ! This being the case, how do you think Moses felt during these 40 days & nights of intercession before the fury of divine wrath? Earlier, Moses felt well able to face the wrath of God in the sacrifice of himself for an Atonement (Ex. 32:30-32), and so it stands to reason that the man felt okay. The situation was mild in comparison to what was happening to Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Apparently, no intercessory experience that Moses had leading up to this point would have made him believe he couldn’t face the wrath of God; otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked for it. The man couldn’t even fathom what he was asking.
Moses had not ever endured even 1 second of divine wrath on behalf of anyone. Literally the experience was personally unimaginable to the man. Intercession is the act of standing in between the wrath of God and the endangered targets, so as to turn it away, or pacify it; and Moses along with all the saints of the Old Testament were saved and subsequently used by God solely on the basis of faith in Christ (presented to them in typological shadows). Therefore, neither Moses, nor any other intercessor throughout history, could endure even one second of the divine wrath that Jesus Christ suffered.
Legally, spiritually, and meritoriously, their intercessory experiences were categorically different. Moses, the Seer, had never seen anything like what happened to Jesus Christ. Emmanuel is the one and only Intercessor ever to exist that absorbed the wrath of God! This is a categorially different kind of intercession through personally becoming a Substitutionary Sacrifice. Everyone else is just a sinner saved by grace. Even the most noble Prophets, like Moses, needed protection from the Glory of God just to survive it (“Behold, there is a place by Me…I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand while I pass by” – Ex. 33:21-22). However, Jesus Christ was the sinless Son of God, who alone was capable of legally and ceremoniously receiving into His body the imputation of sin; and hereby Jesus Christ embodied everything that God hated about sinful mankind and thus became an Atoning Sacrifice that received and satisfied divine wrath.
Harmoniously, nothing that any Prophet ever suffered was meritorious on behalf of anyone else. Not even Moses’ fasting and praying for 40 days & nights before the burning heat of divine wrath on Sinai! Why? Because only the merit of Jesus Christ can pacify the wrath of God. In other words, Moses’s prophetic intercession on Sinai was void of any legal merit before the throne of God. Therefore, Moses’ intercession for 40 days & nights without food & water was easy in comparison to the ≈15 to 17 hours of Jesus from Gethsemane to the Cross.
The Sinless Son of God Legally Became a Sinner
The mystery of the Passion is diffused when the situation is viewed as a legal arrangement in which justice dictates that sinners deserve wrath. The legal framework of justice governed every detail of the Atonement.
“Do you wonder that His infinite purity started back from that? Would He have been what He was if it had not been a very solemn thing for Him to stand before God in the position of a sinner? Yes, and as Luther would have said it, to be looked upon by God as if He were all the sinners in the world, and as if He had committed all the sin that ever had been committed by His people – for it was all laid on Him and on Him must the vengeance due for it all be poured. He must be the center of all the vengeance and bear away upon Himself what ought to have fallen upon the guilty sons of men. To stand in such a position, when once it was realized, must have been very terrible to the Redeemer’s holy soul.” – C.H. Spurgeon, The Agony in Gethsemane
However, some important questions may arise when people begin to think about the sinless Son of God legally becoming a sinner. We have all read about the imputation of sin that took place in the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament. People know it exists. However, things are radically different when thinking about how an immaculately born Savior legally became a sinner in our stead.
“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin…” – 2 Cor. 5:21
“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:” – Rom. 8:3
“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” – Heb. 10:10
“Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the Tree…” – 1 Pet. 2:24
The imputation of sin into Jesus Christ was a real event of human history that should be understood as something objective, dogmatic, and factual. It is not fantastical, hypothetical, theoretical, or philosophical. Therefore, the counsel of God in Scripture will act as a microscope to bring unseen things into focus. Legally becoming a sinner in this way should not be mistaken with the personal experience of sinners in the world. Understandably, things are different when the sinless Son of God was made “to be sin” through imputation (2 Cor. 5:21).
Did Jesus Christ legally become a sinner and suffer the wrath of God in a nominal way, just like everyone else who has sinned suffers the wrath of God? No.
Did Jesus Christ legally become a sinner in a unique way that is exclusively possible for the one and only sinlessly perfect Man? Yes.
The Apostle Paul put emphasis on the condemnation of sin “in the flesh” to provide clarity on this important issue (Rom. 8:3). The Apostle Peter made the same emphasis when describing how sin was borne by Jesus Christ “in His own body” (1 Pet. 2:24). Literally, this means that the imputation of sin went into the body of Jesus Christ, and in the process of transmission the soul of the Son of God remained untouched, untainted, and without pollution. The sin that was put upon the sacred body did not defile the soul. In legal terminology, we are talking about the “putting” or the placement of sin upon the body through imputation (Lev. 16:21).
Ordinarily, sinners are spiritually blind haters of the LORD, and in suffering divine wrath they are alienated from God (Jn. 3:19-20; Rom. 8:7-8; Eph. 4:17-19). Not so with Christ! Once again, this is because Jesus Christ was sinless. Therefore, sin did not turn the heart of the Son against the Father, nor did it blind the eyes of Jesus Christ from spiritual things. Experientially, this is a night and day difference (Jn. 12:35)! Sinners hate God and suffer divine wrath without even knowing it! Whereas Christ loved God and suffered divine wrath while fully seeing, knowing, and embracing everything that was happening to Him. Howbeit, even He was made to stagger for a brief time before coming to this unwavering resolve.
The Eternal Spirit of the Son Made the Offering: Upon Legally Becoming a Sinner, Jesus Christ Courageously Faced the Wrath of God!
The Eternal Spirit of the Son deserves the credit for courageously facing the wrath of God on our behalf. So much is said about the Manhood of Christ in the Passion, but it was the Divinity of Christ that made everything possible.
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God?” – Heb. 9:14
The reasons for the internal conflict of the Son of God are evident. This situation in Gethsemane was totally unprecedented, even for the 2nd Person of the Trinity (Heb. 5:8-9), and this was just the beginning of the Passion. The suffering would continue until the Atonement was completed in death on the Cross.
The Internal Conflict of Jesus Christ: God had never become a Man before until the incarnation; and this Man had never legally become a sinner before until the imputation (2 Cor. 5:21). With an infinite hatred for sin, Jesus Christ didn’t want to legally become a sinner; with an infinite love for the Father, Jesus Christ didn’t want to come under divine wrath; contrastingly, in love for the Father, Jesus Christ wanted to follow through with the divine plan that they had agreed upon since before the foundation of the world; and, in love for sinners, Jesus Christ wanted to save them from divine wrath to the uttermost.
This conflict is apparent when viewing this scene with the legal arrangement of divine justice in mind. Justice dictates that sinners deserve wrath. This internal conflict came to an end when the Son of God submitted to the Father with unwavering resolve. The Eternal Spirit of the Son was lionlike in courage and fully capable of facing the wrath of God even when the human body of Jesus wasn’t cooperating because it was physically incapable of enduring the anguish. In other words, it was the Lionlike Spirit of the Son that prevailed in the throes of divine wrath by bringing the body and soul of Jesus Christ into subjection to the will of the Father. “Behold, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed…” (Rev. 5:5)! Neither men nor angels deserve any credit in this dreadful moment between the Son and the Father. Credit should be given to the Godhood of Jesus Christ for persevering even when the Manhood collapsed and was ready to die.
“He was enduring, at that time, what we ought to have endured – and He was draining the cup which Justice had mingled for us. Did He start back from it? Oh, no! When He first came to drink of that wormwood and gall in the Garden, He put it to His lips and the draught seemed, for an instant, to stagger even His Strong Spirit. His soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. He was like one demented, tossed to and fro with inward agony. “My Father,” He said, “if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.” Three times did He utter that prayer, while every portion of His Manhood was the battlefield of legions of griefs! His soul rushed out at every pore to find a vent for its swelling woes! His whole body became covered with gory sweat.
After that tremendous struggle, the strength of Love mastered the weakness of Manhood – He put that cup to His lips and never shrank – He drank right on till not a drop was left! And now the cup of wrath is empty – no trace of the terrible wine of the wrath of God can be found within it! At one tremendous draught of love the Lord drank destruction dry, forever, for all His people. “Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yes, rather, that has risen again.” And “there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” – C.H. Spurgeon, The Crown of Thorns
The intimate moments of divine anguish in Gethsemane are breathtaking. The Son of God did not run away from the Father in distress; rather, while knowing that the fiery sword of divine justice had been unsheathed by the Father, the Man went directly to the Father; even though the mighty sword was visibly reared for the slaughter, the Son of God acquiesced to the stroke of justice, only that the sword might be buried in His bosom and forever quenched! Neither did the Father turn away from the Son. For, it was written,
“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 abroad.” – Matt. 26:31 (Mk. 14:27, Jn. 8:28-29, 16:32; Zech. 13:7)
“Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” - John 16:32
“Yet is pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief:” - Isa. 53:10
“The sheep were all scattered and the Shepherd was left alone, thus fulfilling the ancient prophecy, ‘Smite the Shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered.’ And that other word, ‘I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me.’ – C.H. Spurgeon, Jesus in Gethsemane
As you can see, the Father turned toward the Son: the furious eyes of divine justice were focused upon the Son in the pouring out of divine wrath in full force! However, even it, being poured out in full, and exhausted, could not stop the Son of God! The Man emerged victorious, and proceeded forth out of Gethsemane, and the face of divine justice smiled to see the Champion of Mankind absorb it all until it was finished at the Cross (Jn. 19:30).
“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?” – Isa. 53:1
“And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him; and His righteousness, it sustained Him.” – Isa. 59:16
Credit should be given where it is due. No one else, neither men nor angels, could face the wrath of the Father and absorb it! Literally, it is impossible. Only the Son of God could do it! Therefore, in Gethsemane, Jesus Christ came into subjection to the Father by Himself, alone, without anyone else helping Him (Jn. 10:17-18). Like an immovable granite mountain, the righteous, eternal, and uncreated soul of the Son of God sustained the Man, Jesus Christ, in the decisive moment of subjection to the Father in Gethsemane, and from thereon out for the next ≈15 to 17 hours until it was finished on the Cross (Heb. 9:14).
Without controversy, neither men nor angels even understood what Jesus Christ was personally reckoning with – face to face – in the Garden of Gethsemane. How could they (Jn. 1:18)? Furthermore, theoretically speaking, even if they could, no one else would ever face the wrath of God as a Lamb to the slaughter. Only the Son of God would do it! The myriads of angels in Heaven are in resounding agreement. Just one glimpse of what the Messiah was personally seeing and feeling would have been enough to annihilate anyone who would dare to face it. Therefore, not even an angel sent from Heaven could help strengthen the spiritual resolve of Jesus Christ. This would be an affront to the Gospel.
“And there appeared an angel unto Him from Heaven, strengthening Him.” – Lk. 22:43
“This was the Father’s reply to the cry of His fainting Son who was enduring an infinity of sorrow because of His people’s sin and who must, therefore, be Divinely upheld as to His Manhood, lest He should be utterly crushed beneath the terrible weight that was pressing upon His holy soul.” – C.H. Spurgeon, The Weakened Christ Strengthened
The fine details of what really happened here reinforces the message of the Gospel, rather than undermining it. Jesus Christ was in dire need of physical strength. A physical problem was manifesting because of the spiritual storm of divine wrath that was descending upon the Man in Gethsemane. However, Jesus had not yet suffered any physical wounds or bodily ailments at the hands of sinners. Nevertheless, His body was already failing! The Messiah was sorely suffering under divine wrath, and it was already pummeling Him to the ground. “And He went forward a little, and fell on the ground…” (Mk. 14:35)! Therefore, an angel flew swiftly to meet the physical need that was besetting the weakened Man of omnipotence. The mortal body of Jesus Christ was not cooperating because it could not endure the spiritual force of crushing wrath amidst the throes of unspeakable sorrow.
“And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear His cross.” – Matt. 27:32
Neither the actions of this angel nor that of Simon the Cyrenian are an affront to the Gospel. Even though this is an unworthy comparison, as we can be sure that the angel helped Jesus Christ much more than Simon of Cyrene; nevertheless, they both offered physical aid to the body of our Lord in a time of need. However, when the angel miraculously strengthened the failing body of Jesus Christ, while rendering no aid or benefit to the Man spiritually, this expanded the physical possibilities of what the Son of God could endure in a human body, further revealing the deadly force of what was being spiritually experienced at the time. The scope of human suffering was hereby physically enlarged to absorb what no other man could endure.
From Gethsemane to Calvary, the Son of God proceeded to wade through a fatal force of divine wrath, while physically being debilitated in the sorrow of it, until He expired in it on the Cross. Literally, what almost killed the Son of God in the beginning, at Gethsemane, is what finally killed Him in the end, at Calvary. This speaks volumes about the signature death of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of the Evangelists in Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John. This near-death-experience happened at the very beginning, so that we would be in no doubt about what happened in the end. This is how Jesus Christ died for sinners.
