Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-05-18

CONDENSED from Lesson Helper Quarterly, by
permission of H. s Hoffman, Philadelphia, pub
| sher.l
Notes-V. So. Then cometh, that is after
the institution Of the supper. Gethsemane,
which signifies "olive press" a place across
| the brook kedron, on the lower slope of the
Mount of Olives. V. g. Very heavy means
| pressed down with great anguish, produced
| by foresight Of his great sufferings. V. 80.
Even unto death, the sense of death was felt;
our sins upon him was the cause of all his
agony. " 80. Fell on his face the usual
posture in times OF great earnestncss. Num-
bers XVI, %; III Chron. Xxx, Is; Neh. viii, 6.
| Ii possible, if the world can otherwise be re-
deemed. Cup often denotes suffering.
Matt. Xxx, ~. V. As. Sleep OIL now.
Most interpreters think this should be
| translated as a question, rather a COM
mand: "Do you sleep now and take your
| restF' Is this time, amid so much
danger and so many enemies, to seepi This
| construction is favored by Luke xxi, As,
where the expression, "Why sleep yea" refers
| to the same point of time-the hour is at
| haud-the time of betrayal and death is near.
| Sinners, Judas, Roman soldiers and Jews,
| " 49, Let us be going wheresoever my cap
tors shall lead mo There was no time now
| for escape; mono for repose.
| In the last lesson We saw the signs of
| coming sorrow for our Lord; in this lesson
| we behold him in agony the most intense.
The clouds that had long been gathering now
burst in fury upon him. He knew from the
| first what he would have to meet, He did
not bow to the inevitable He was no Pro
metheus fettered by necessity. His human
nature may have made him shrink back for
| n from, nc httt bn hi,rbo
tive of Gods glory and mans salvation made
| him welcome the agony of Gethsemane
| V. &C. After the institution of the Lords
Supper, perhaps near midnight, our Lord,
with his disciples, left Jerusalem, and on
their way to Gethsemane crossed tho per-
| turbed waters OF the Black brook, tinged and
| darkened by the blood of the temple sacri-
| fees, fit symbol of how his own sacriiicial
| blood should soon flow, making forever after
needless the offering of bloody sacrifices for
| sin. The name Gethsemane, meaning olive
| press, seems to he significant as emblcmatic
| of his own agony and distress. There"
| says Matthew Henry, ''our Lord Jesus trod
alone the wine press Of tho Fathers wrath"
| "ln this oil press like the olives were crushed
! and bruised, Christ was bruised for our sins
| that oil might flow from his wounds to heal
our souls. DIR, Wordsworth.
" 81. Peter, james and John seemed to
constitute holy Tiumvirate. On other
! occasions these three disciples had been
favored by our Lord to see his power and
glory as was not accorded the others They
alone beheld the brightness of his glory on
| the Mount, and now the depth of his agony
in Gethsemane, They alone were permitted
| TO see the first manifestations of his resurrec-
ton power. And yet, OF these three favor
ties, to John our Saviour was most attached.
| Jesus has sanctioned and sanctifed by his
| example individual friendships as not CON
flicting with the exercises Of universal love
We also learn that they who live nearest to
him and imhibe most Of his spirit are re-
| wardcd by views Of his power and glory such
rs other men never receive
V. Is. lie acquaints the disciples with his
condition 1t gives some comfort to un-
| bosom ones hearts sorrow to a friend The
seat of his sorrow was she soul showing us
that Christ possessed true human soul. His
| ,ufIcrings were not pred0ninatcly corporal,
but mental
| Y. ~. The center of heavens glory and the
object of the angels worship is now pros
trated upon the earth in earnest prayer.
| Thick as the cload was, he could still see
God as his father. In deep sorrow we should
each claim God as my father" Whittier
shall the child 20, but unto the fathcrf
He beEs Of the father that if man can be
redeemed and God glorified, if the divine
plans can be carried out, that he I've spared
tine further drinking of the cup of suffering.
His aversion to pain shows that he was truly
man. But though this human nature made
him shrink back an instant from the anguish
; yot beneath there lay, millions of fathoms
deep, unmoved and immovabe, the intense
desire that his Fathers wish and will should
Ike done.
This prayer Of Christ sanctions our going
to God when IN great oEiiction and asking
dcliverancc, but conditioned upon his will.
! The third petition in the Lords PRAYER and
our Lords words here, teach the same sub
mission to tie win of God. 1.-TWO wills ir
the universe break up its harmony; there
can be in harmonic universe but one will
and that is God. The cup that
God puts into our hands, bo it ever 50 bittor
though nature struggle, grace makes IL.
submit.
Y. 40 As if a deadly vapor from the bot
tomless pit had stepped their spirits, bott
groups of disciples were stupefed with sleep
And yet it was not want of interest in til,
: Saviour's passion that made them sleep
Luke, as a physician, tells US that from sor
row they slept.
Our Lord singled out Peter because he hat
been foremost in promising and boasting how
faithful he would be.
V. Al Jay says, prayer without watch
ing is hypocrisy, and watching without
prayer is presumption" Some watch with
out prayer and pray without watching. Tn,
two must go hand in hand
V. AZ His prayer is not now that the cuJ
may pass from him, but that he might b,
enabled to fulfill the divine will in sacrificing
himself. Tho continuance Of the trial he re
CARDS as Gods answer to his first prayer
2 When God does not deliver us from ouI
sulferings he will certainly give us greater
/ strength to bear them
r Y. 43. The craving for human sympathy
{ caused him again to go to his disciples I'm
potent as all human means arc we still in tn,
y hour of deep sorrow wish the sympathetic
touch and word of those near us. How dis
. appointing to our Lord in this respect wer,
, the disciples. Though they continued dul
+ and sleepy. he did not further rehuke then
I for it, 1t seems by the expression, "the
ewes were hcaVV. - that they made some Mt