Death came into the world because of man’s fall. This death, which is a spiritual death, a death which separates man from God, came through sin. From the time of the fall until now, there has been no change—death always comes through sin. Romans 5:12 says that “through one man sin entered into the world. ” Adam sinned and sin entered into the world. “And through sin, death”; this shows that the unalterable result of sin is death. “And thus death passed on to all men. ” For what reason? “Because all have sinned. ” Not only has death “passed on to all men, ” but according to the literal translation of this phrase, death “passed through all men. ” All of man’s spirit, soul, and body have been permeated by death. Death is present in every part of man. Therefore, man has no alternative but to receive God’s life. The way of salvation is not dependent upon man’s improvement, because “death” cannot be improved. Sin must first be judged, and then there can be the freedom from death which comes through sin. This is the salvation of Jesus Christ.
No one can actually comprehend how His soul suffered on the cross. Often we only consider the suffering in His body and neglect the feeling of His soul. The week before the Passover, He said, “Now is My soul troubled” (John 12:27). This speaks of the cross. When He was at Gethsemane He said, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death” (Matt. 26:38). Without these words we could hardly imagine the agonies in His soul. Isaiah 53:10 through 12 says three times that He gave up His soul and poured out His soul unto death. Because He bore the curse and the shame of the cross, all who believe in Him no longer need to bear the curse and the shame.
After warning the disciples of their stumbling, the Lord Jesus went with them to a place named Gethsemane ( v. 32 ). Gethsemane means “the place of the oil press. ” The Lord was pressed there to flow out the oil, the Spirit.
Taking with Him Peter, James, and John, He “began to be awestruck and deeply distressed” ( v. 33 ). Regarding awestruck, C. E. B. Cranfield says that the Lord was “in the grip of a shuddering horror in the face of the dreadful prospect before Him. ”
The Lord said to Peter, James, and John, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch. ” And going forward a little, “He fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour would pass from Him” ( vv. 34-35 ). The Slave-Savior’s sorrow and His prayer in verse 35 are the same as in John 12:27 . There He said that He had come for this hour; that is, He knew that the Father’s will was that He should die on the cross for the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan.
I believe the real cause of Christ's agony in the garden was the anticipation of being separated from the Triune God as "he who knew no sin, became sin for us".
Psalm 22 shows He trusted in God as a baby on His mother's breast. Even though He was and is the Second person of the Trinity, His relationship with the Father, even as a sinless man had to grow into full maturity. He learned the scriptures and He spent nights in prayer with God His Father.
Contrast the delights of the fullness of His fellowship with His Father, who also delighted in His Son who will now be "cut off". He will experience both spiritual and physical death just as sinners will... deserted by friends and forsaken of God.
The victory of the cross and the resurrection was won by the Savior on His knees in spiritual battle, so intense an Angel came to support Him. Halleluiah, what a Savior!
He was as much man as He was God. He took on flesh to be able to help our flesh. He faced every obstacle, fear being one of them, so He could take them to the cross. Read chapter 5 of Hebrews and pay attention to verse 7. He did not fear death, it was the pain and suffering He was going to endure for us that His flesh side feared. He took that fear to the cross so that we would not have to fear.
When we sang this hymn when I was a child, the congregation pronounced "ether" as "either." I was in my late teens when I realized what "ether plains" meant. Not many hymns begin on the third beat of four four time signature.
Lots of wonderful thoughts here. However, the Lord Jesus did not wrestle with fears. When his disciples were afraid, he said, "Where is your faith?"
He never wained or wavered in faith. His soul was deeply troubled, but he was never afraid. He always trusted entirely in His Father, and because of His faith (He overcame the world), He could say to His disciples, "Fear not, for I have overcome the world."
4. 'Tis midnight, and the prayer is through;
Now sure this cup won't pass Him by,
The Father's will He'll gladly do:
Go, bear the sinners' sins, and die.