Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-09-13
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: SUNDAY SERMON 8
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y A Scholarly Discourse by +
q Rev Earl E. Cloeland. 3
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Earl E. Cleeland, preached on
Christ in Gethsemane." Among
other things he said:
The text to which l ask your atten-
ton is found In the twenty-siXth
chapter of Matthew, at the thirty
ninth verse: my Father. II it be
possible, let this cup pass away from
Me; nevertheless. not as l will, but
as Thou wilt" which are the words,
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 disci-
pies, and the dark ccene in Geth-
semane which Immediately followed.
Telling the disciples to sit We here
while I 60 yonder and pray, Jesus
took with him Peter and the two
sons of Zebedee" (James and John),
land began to be sorrowful and sore
troubled. Then saith He unto them,
MY soul is exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death; abide we here and watch
with Me- And He went forward
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 / 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.
| choose this text to-day as the
result of 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 tho suggestion of this SER
mon.
Many passages. in Scripture. are
variously interpreted ana differently
understood by Christian people, and
students of the Bible especially, and
often one W: find that the great
commentators themselves are almost
diam etrically opposed to each other
in the interpretations which they
make | find that our text to-day Is
one of those disputed passages Sew
eral of the authorities which l have
consulted in the study Of this prayer
of Christ in Gethsemane took the
view that Jesus feared and recOiled
at the thought of His approaching
death on the cross, and thus prayed
20 God, His Father. trying. il it
were possible. to bend His will, and
have the end accomplished by some
other way than the cross. Only one
commentator, as | recall now. took
the view that our Lords agonized
prayer was instigated by the over
whelming thought that He feared
His life 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 people,
I believe, and as find. more of the
commentators do, attribute Christ's
suffering in Gethsemane to the weak
ness 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
Christ's prayer as a plea to God for
strength, that His life would not be
crushed out underneath His terrible
agony before the time appointed
through all the ages of prophecy be-
fore llim-that of His atonement on
the cross for the sins of men. And
In treating this passage let it be un-
derstood that anything | 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 endeavorng 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.
It seems incredible almost to think
thar Christian people will attribute
less courage to the Son of Cod than
they have seen in hundreds of exam
piles of fearlessness through all the
centuries past. Think OF the thou
sands OF people who have unfiinch-
iugly faced death and died Il martyrs
death with scarcely a culver And
it would be almost irreyerent 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
as a revolving or hating of Christ
at the thought of the approaching
Crucifiyion, and the horrors which
preceded il, and attendant to it; the
betrayal OF Judas; Peters denial. and
the deserlion of His disciples and all
His followers. the humlliating trial,
and insults Of the rabble, and the
lingering death on the cross. That
it was because OF the horrors of all
these things that Christ here meant
TO ask God If there WIS not some
other way Of atoning for the sins Of
men, and that Christ only Yielded to
the cross to fulfill His Fathers will.
Those VINO advocate this view would
thus make it out that our Lord for
got for the moment. by reason of His
suffering, the prophecies, and the
plan Of God in His redemption of
the world, throughout the history of
Israel; or If Christ did not forget
that He tried to bend His Fathers
VII to an atonement by some other
way, and that Christ finally, after
three unsuccessful attempts 10 bend
Gods will, Welded to the cross.
Why Christian people try to ex-
plain away this prayer in any such
weak way is difficult to understand
What does Christianity want with
weak Christ who feared a martyrs
death? Our Lord was "a man of sor-
rows and acquainted with grief" and
had been for three years preparing
for the cross, and had on several &C.
casions before this told His disciples
of the manner Of His death, and they