The Agony of Christ, Part 4

I come now in the,

1. Fourth place, to show what may be supposed to be the special ends of God’s giving Christ these terrible views of his last sufferings and giving such a foretaste of them beforehand, or why it was needful that he should have two turns of a more full and extraordinary view of the cup that he was to drink a little before he drank it, than ever he had before. And why it was needful that he should have such an extraordinary a foresight and foretaste of the wrath of God to be endured on the cross before the time came, that he was to actually to suffer on the cross? Ans. It was needful that he should have such a full view and such a foretaste of the bitterness of the cross beforehand, of the bitterness of the cup that he was to drink, that when he took the cup to drink, he might take the cup and drink as knowing what he did. Unless the human nature of Christ had had an extraordinary view given him before hand of what he was to suffer, he could not as man fully what he was going to suffer, and therefore could not as man know what he did when to he took the cup to drink it, because he would not fully have known what the cup was, it being a cup that he never drank before. If Christ had plunged himself into those dreadful sufferings without being fully sensible of the bitterness and dreadfulness of those sufferings beforehand he knew not what as man, he would have plunged himself into sufferings that he was ignorant of, and so would as it were, have acted blindfolded, and so his taking upon himself these sufferings could not have been so much his own act. Christ as God perfectly Knew what those sufferings were, but it was needful also that he should know as man, for he was to suffer as man and the act of Christ in taking that cup was the act of Christ as God and man. But now it must be considered that the man Christ Jesus never had experience of any such sufferings as he was to suffer on the cross, they were unexperienced sufferings and therefore he could not fully know what they were beforehand but by having an extraordinary view of them set before him, or an extraordinary sense of ’em impressed on his mind.

    

   We have heard of tortures that others have undergone, but we don’t fully know what they were because we never experienced ’em, and tis impossible that we should fully know what they were but in one of these two ways: either by experiencing of ’em or having an extraordinary view given of ’em or a sense of ’em impressed in an extraordinary way. Such a sense was impressed on the mind of the man Christ Jesus of his last sufferings in his agony in the garden, and that caused his agony when he had a full sight given him what that wrath of God was that he was to suffer; the sight was overwhelming to him, it made his soul exceeding sorrowful even unto death. Christ was going to be thrown into a dreadful furnace of wrath, and it was not proper that he should plunge himself into it blindfolded or not knowing how dreadful the furnace was; and therefore, that he might not do so, God first brought him and set him at the mouth of the furnace that he might look in and stand and view the fierce and raging flames of it, and might see where he was going and might voluntarily leap into it and bear it for sinners as knowing what it was. And this view Christ had in his agony. Then God brought the cup that he was to drink and as it were set it down before him that he might have a full view of it and see what it was before he took it and drank it.

   If Christ had not fully know what his suffering the bitterness of the cup was before he drank it, the dreadfulness of those sufferings was before he plunged himself into ’em and took ’em upon him his taking them upon him, [it] could not have been fully his own act as man, he could not have excused himself. There could have been no explicit act of his will about that which he was ignorant of, there could have been no proper trial whether he would be willing to undergo such dreadful sufferings or no, unless he had knowledge beforehand how dreadful they were. But when he had seen what they were by having an extraordinary view given of them and then undertook to endure them afterwards, then he acted as knowing what he did; then it was his taking that cup and drinking, bearing such dreadful sufferings, was properly his own act by an explicit choice and so his love in that choice of his was the more wonderful, as also his loving obedience to God in it. And it was needful that this extraordinary view that Christ had of the cup he was to drink should be given at that time just before he was apprehended; that was the most proper season for it, just before he took the cup, and while he yet had opportunity to refuse the cup, and before he was apprehended by the company lead by Judas he had opportunity to make his escape at his pleasure. For the place where he was without the city, where he was not at all confined, and it was in the season of the night; he was in a lonesome, solitary place and it was the season of the night so that he might have gone from that place where he would, and his enemies not have known where to have found him; so that this view that he had of the bitter cup was given him while he was yet fully at liberty before he was taken and had given into the hands of his enemies. Christ delivering himself up into the hands of his enemies as he did when Judas came, was properly that which was just after his agony was properly his act in taking of taking the cup in order to drink it, for Christ knew that that should be the issue of what would be his crucifixion the next day. These things may show us the necessity there was of Christ’s agony, or that part of it that consisted in suffering and the necessity there was of such an agony before his last sufferings.