Quotes & Notes
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John Wesley Notes:
And going a little farther-About a stone's cast, Lu 22:41-So
that the apostles could both see and hear him still.
If it be possible, let this cup pass from me-And it did pass from him
quickly. When he cried unto God with strong cries and tears, he was
heard in that which he feared.
God did take away the terror and severity of that inward conflict.
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:
* and fell. Ge 17:3; Nu 14:5; 16:22; 1Ch 21:16; Eze 1:28; Lu 17:16; Ac
10:25 Re 19:10
* and prayed. Mr 14:35,36; Lu 22:41,42; Heb 5:7
* O my Father. Mt 26:42; Joh 11:41; 12:27
* if. Mt 24:24; Mr 13:22
* let. Mt 20:22; Joh 18:11
* not. 2Sa 15:26; Joh 5:30; 6:38; 12:28; 14:31; Ro 15:1-3; Php 2:8
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Spurgeon Commentary on Matthew:
Was he heard? Yes, verily, and. especially in that which was the very
pith and marrow of his prayer: "Not as I will, but as thou wilt." This
was the vital part of his petition, its true essence; for
much as his human nature shrank
from the "cup", still more did he shrink from any thought of acting
contrary to his Father's will. Christ's sense of sonship was
clear and undimmed even in that dark hour, for he began his prayer with
the filial utterance, "O my father."
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Robertson's Word Pictures:
He went forward a little (proelthôn mikron). As if he could not fight the
battle in their immediate presence. He was on his face, not on his knees
(McNeile). This cup (to potêrion touto). The figure can mean only the
approaching death. Jesus had used it of his coming death when James and
John came to him with their ambitious request, "the cup which I am about
to drink" (Mt 20:22). But now
the Master is about to taste the bitter dregs in the cup of death for
the sin of the world. He was not afraid that he would die before
the Cross, though he instinctively shrank from the cup, but instantly
surrendered his will to the Father's will and drank it to the full.
Evidently Satan tempted Christ now to draw back from the Cross. Here
Jesus won the power to go on to Calvary.
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People's New Testament Commentary:
And he went a little farther. "About a stone's cast" (Lu 22:41).
If it be possible. If it were possible to save men, and carry out the
divine work of redeeming them.
Let this cup pass from me. This cup is the betrayal, the trial, the
mocking, the scourging, the cross, and all besides which our thoughts
cannot reach.
But as thou wilt. This is an example of perfect faith--the
faith by which alone answers to prayer can be obtained. He that
insists on his will, when it is contrary to the will of God, fails in
faith.
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Adam Clarke Commentary:
Fell on his face] See ACC for Lu 22:44. This was the ordinary
posture of the supplicant when the favour was great which was asked, and
deep humiliation required. The head was put between the knees, and the
forehead brought to touch the earth-this was not only a humiliating, but
a very painful posture also.
This cup] The word cup is frequently used in the Sacred Writings to
point out sorrow, anguish, terror, death. It seems to be an allusion to
a very ancient method of punishing criminals. A cup of poison was put
into their hands, and they were obliged to drink it. Socrates was killed
thus, being obliged by the magistrates of Athens to drink a cup of the
juice of hemlock. To death, by the poisoned cup, there seems an allusion
in Heb 2:9, Jesus Christ, by the
grace of God, TASTED death for every man. The whole world are
here represented as standing guilty and condemned before the tribunal of
God; into every man's hand the deadly cup is put, and he is required to
drink off the poison-Jesus enters, takes every man's cup out of his
hand, and drinks off the poison, and thus tastes or suffers the death
which every man otherwise must have undergone.
Pass from me] Perhaps there is an allusion here to several criminals
standing in a row, who are all to drink of the same cup; but, the judge
extending favour to a certain one, the cup passes by him to the next.
Instead of proelywn mikron, going a little forward, many eminent MSS.
have proselywn, coming a little forward-but the variation is of little
moment. At the close of this verse several MSS. add the clause in Lu
22:43.
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Albert Barnes Commentary:
And he went a little farther. That is, at the distance that a man could
conveniently cast a stone, (Luke.)
Fell on his face. Luke says, he "kneeled doom." He did both. He first
kneeled, and then in the fervency of his prayer, and the depth of his
sorrow, he fell with his face on the ground, denoting the deepest
anguish, and the most earnest entreaty. This was the usual posture of
prayer in times of great earnestness. See Nu 16:22; 2Ch 20:18; Ne 8:6.
If it be possible. That is, if the world can be redeemed; if it be
consistent with justice, and with maintaining the government of the
universe, that men should be saved without this extremity of sorrow, let
it be done. There is no doubt that if it had been possible, it would
have been done; and the fact that these sufferings were not removed,
that the Saviour went forward and bore them without mitigation, shows
that it was not consistent with the justice of God, and with the welfare
of the universe, that men should be saved without the awful sufferings
of such an atonement.
Let this cup. These bitter sufferings. These approaching trials. The
word cup is often used in this sense, denoting sufferings. See Barnes
for Mt 20:22.
Not as I will, but as thou wilt. As Jesus was man, as well as God, there
is nothing inconsistent in supposing that, like a man, he was deeply
affected in view of these sorrows. When he speaks of his will, he
expresses what human nature, in view of such great sufferings, would
desire. It naturally shrunk from them, and sought deliverance. Yet he
sought to do the will of God. He
chose rather that the high purpose of God should be done, than that that
purpose should be abandoned, and regard be shown to the fears of his
human nature. In this he has left a model of prayer in all times
of affliction. It is right, in times of calamity, to seek deliverance.
Like the Saviour also, in such seasons, we should, we must submit
cheerfully to the will of God, confident that, in all these trials, he
is wise, and merciful, and good.
{i} "and prayed" Heb 5:7
{k} "let this cup" Mt 20:22
{l} "nevertheless" Joh 5:30; 6:38; Ro 15:3; Php 2:8
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Geneva Bible Notes:
Let it pass me, and not touch me. That is,
which is at hand, and is offered
and prepared for me: an idiom which the Hebrews use for the wrath
of God, and the punishment he sends.
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