33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.
33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;
33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.
33 He took Peter, James, and John with him. He plunged into a sinkhole of dreadful agony.
33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.
33 He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed.
44 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.
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
44 He prayed on all the harder. Sweat, wrung from him like drops of blood, poured off his face.
44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.
(Read Luke 22:39-46)
Every description which the evangelists give of the state of mind in which our Lord entered upon this conflict, proves the tremendous nature of the assault, and the perfect foreknowledge of its terrors possessed by the meek and lowly Jesus. Here are three things not in the other evangelists. 1. When Christ was in his agony, there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. It was a part of his humiliation that he was thus strengthened by a ministering spirit. 2. Being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. Prayer, though never out of season, is in a special manner seasonable when we are in an agony. 3. In this agony his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down. This showed the travail of his soul. We should pray also to be enabled to resist unto the shedding of our blood, striving against sin, if ever called to it. When next you dwell in imagination upon the delights of some favourite sin, think of its effects as you behold them here! See its fearful effects in the garden of Gethsemane, and desire, by the help of God, deeply to hate and to forsake that enemy, to ransom sinners from whom the Redeemer prayed, agonized, and bled.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Mark 14:33
Commentary on Mark 14:32-42
(Read Mark 14:32-42)
Christ's sufferings began with the sorest of all, those in his soul. He began to be sorely amazed; words not used in St. Matthew, but very full of meaning. The terrors of God set themselves in array against him, and he allowed him to contemplate them. Never was sorrow like unto his at this time. Now he was made a curse for us; the curses of the law were laid upon him as our Surety. He now tasted death, in all the bitterness of it. This was that fear of which the apostle speaks, the natural fear of pain and death, at which human nature startles. Can we ever entertain favourable, or even slight thoughts of sin, when we see the painful sufferings which sin, though but reckoned to him, brought on the Lord Jesus? Shall that sit light upon our souls, which sat so heavy upon his? Was Christ in such agony for our sins, and shall we never be in agony about them? How should we look upon Him whom we have pierced, and mourn! It becomes us to be exceedingly sorrowful for sin, because He was so, and never to mock at it. Christ, as Man, pleaded, that, if it were possible, his sufferings might pass from him. As Mediator, he submitted to the will of God, saying, Nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt; I bid it welcome. See how the sinful weakness of Christ's disciples returns, and overpowers them. What heavy clogs these bodies of ours are to our souls! But when we see trouble at the door, we should get ready for it. Alas, even believers often look at the Redeemer's sufferings in a drowsy manner, and instead of being ready to die with Christ, they are not even prepared to watch with him one hour.