The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-09-13
THE PULPIT,
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. EARL E. CLEELANC.
Subject: Christ in Gethscmane.

e. Brooklyn, N. y.-Sunday morning,
in the Classon Avenue Presbyterian
Church, the assistant pastor. .ev.
Earl E. Cleeland, preached on.
ss"Christ in Gethsemane. Among
other things he said:
The text to which ask your atten-
tion is found in the twenty-sixth
chapter of Matthew, at the thirty
ninth verse: My Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass away from
Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but
as Thou wilt which are the words,
Z as Matthew has recorded them, of
the thrice repeated prayer of our
Lord in the place called Gethsemane.
You recall the account Of the Last
Supper Of the Lord with His dlscl-
pies, and the dark ccene in Geth-
semane which Immediately followed.
Telling the disciples to '"sit ye here
wLile 1 go yon6er and pray Jesus
> ,'tcok with him Peter and the two
sons Of Zebedee" (James and john,
"and began to be sorrowful and sore
troubled. Then saith He unto item,
My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death; abide We here and watch
with Me- And He went forward a
little and fell on His face and prayed,
saying: MY Father, if it be possible
let this cup pass away from Me;
nevertheless, not as I will, but as
Thou wilt.'' The gospel according
to Luke goes on to tell us that then
there appeared unto Him an angel
from heaven, Strengthening Him, and
;being in an agony He prayed more
earnestly, and His sweat became as
it were great drops of blood falling
down upon the ground"
I choose this text to-day as the
result of a conversation some ten
days ago, with one of the members Of
this church, and at the outset want
to acknowledge my Indebtedness to
him for the suggestion OF this SER:
mon.
Many, passages, in Scripture, are
variousiy interpreted anG differently
understood. by Christian people, and
students Of the Bible especially, and
often one W. find that the great
commentators themselves are almost
diam strically opposed to each other
Gih the interpretations which they
make. I finG that our text to-day is
zone Of those disputed passages. Sew
eral Sor the authorities which q have
.:c6nshlted In the study OF this prayer
sof Christ in Gethsemane took the
view that. Jesus feared land recoiled
at the thought of His approaching
death on the cross, and thus prayed
to God, His Father, trying, If it
were possible, to bend His will, and
:haye the END accomplished by some
sother way than-the cross Only one
fcommentator, as I: recall now, took
etke view that our Lords :agonized
sprayer was "instigated by the over.
S4sS1saiilfEg Thought that feared
EEis lfa would be. crushed out under,
meath the strain of mental suffering
He was, undergoing, before He
reached the cross, and thus He
prayed that this cup pass away from
Him.
The majority. of Christian nzpeeple,.
I believe, andE as find, more of the
commentators do, attribute Chrnt's
suffering in Gethsemane to the weak
mess of. His flesh. or. humanity, to
face the death that, was. before Him,
and they interpret our text in this
light.
: I am inclined, however, to cast my
lot with the minority, and interpret
sbChrist's prayer as a plea to- God Tor
strength, that His life would not be
crushed out underneath His terrible
agony. 81 before the time appointed
Through all the. ages of prophecy be-
fore Him-that of His atonement on
the cross for the sins of men. And
in treating this passage let it be un-
derstood that anything I may say
has doubtless been said hundreds Of
times before. only wish to try to
show, from Scripture, my position,
and therefore make no claims.
see no necessity of exercising our
imaginations in endeavoring to show
mysterious causes for our Lords
state of mind in this prayer, when
the reason for His agitation is plainly
given in the Scriptural account itself.
But now about this prayer Of our
Lord in the garden Of Gethsemane.
1t seems incredible almost to think
that Christian people will attribute
less courage to the Son Of God than
they have seen in hundreds Of exam
pies Of fearlessness through all the
centuries past. Think Of the. thou
sands of people who have unfiinch-
ingly faced death and died 8-martyr's
death with scarcely a culver. And
it would be almost irreverent in US
at such time as this to think OF the
numerous cases OF criminals who
walk with unfaltering steps to the
electric chair or ascend the galloWs
with all appearance Of calmness.
: Some commentators, as has al
ready been said, interpret this prayer
las a revolving or halting of Christ
at the thought of the approaching
acrucifxion, and the horrors which
preceded it, and attendant to 1T; the
betrayal of Judas; Peters denial, and
sthe desertion of His disciples and all
His followers; the humiliating trial,
and insults of the rabble, and the
lingering death on the cross. That
atswas because the shoErorss of all
sthese things that Christ. here meant
to ask God if there WIS not some
other way OF atoning for the sins OF
-s.x~ L. &s~1<Y I'D -