Now, Christ went not into this garden to hide, or shelter him- self from his enemies. No, that was not his end ; for if so, it had been the most improper place he could have chosen, it being the accustomed place where he was wont to pray, and a place well known to Judas, who was now coming to seek him, as you may see, John xviii. 2. " And Judas, which betrayed him, knew the " place, for Jesus oft times resorted thither with his disciples." So that he repairs thither, not to shun, but to meet the enemy ; to offer himself as a prey to the wolves, which there found him, and laid hold upon him. He also resorted thither for an hour or two of privacy before they came, that he might there freely pour out his soul to God. So much for the circumstances of place where he prayed.
Secondly, We shall consider the time when he entered into this garden to pray * : and it was in the shutting in of the evening : for it was after the passover and the supper were ended. Then (as Matthew hath it, chap. xxvi. 36.) Jesus went over the brook into the garden, betwixt the hours of nine and ten in the evening, as it is conjectured ; and so he had betwixt two and three hours time to pour out his soul to God. For it was about midnight that Judas and the soldiers came and apprehended him there. So that it being immediately before his apprehension, it shews us in what frame and posture Christ desired to be found : and by it he left us an ex- cellent pattern, what we ought to do, when imminent dangers are near us, even at the door. It becomes a soldier to die fighting, " and a minister to die preaching -J-," and a Christian to die pray- ing. If they come, they will find Christ upon his knees, wrest- ling mightily with God by prayer. He never spent one moment of the time of his life idly ; but these were the last moments he had to live in the world, and here you may see how they were filled up and employed.
Thirdly, Next let us consider the matter of his prayer, or the things about which he poured out his soul to God in the garden, that evening. And verse 42. informs us what that was : he pray- ed, saying, " Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me ; " nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." These words
* At that time, viz. at the approach of the evening, after the celebration of the Pass- over and Eucharist, having given thanks, they sang a hymn. Par. in locum, f Oporlet theologum cmcionantem mori.
274 THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. SEIiM. XXIL
are involved in many difficulties, as Christ himself was when he littered them. By the ci/p, understand that portion of sorrows then to be distributed to him by his Father. Great afflictions and bitter trials are frequently expressed, in scripture, under the me- taphor of a cup. So, that dreadful storm of wrath upon the wicked, in Psal. xi. 6. " Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, " fire, and brimstone, and a horrible tempest ; this shall be the " portion of their cup," i. e. the punishment allotted to them by God for their wickedness. And an exceeding great misery, by a large or deep cup. So Ezek. xxiii. 32, 33. " Thou shalt drink " of thy sister s cup deep and large : thou shalt be laughed to " scorn, and had in derision ; it containeth much. Thou shalt " be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonish- " ment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.11 And when an affliction is compounded of many bitter ingredients, sting- ing and aggravating considerations and circumstances, then it is said to be mixed. " In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and
* the wine is red, (noting a bloody trial) it is full of mixture, and
* he poureth out the same, but the dregs thereof all the wicked " of the earth shall wring them out and drink them :* i. e, they shall have the worst part of the judgment for their share. Thus, afflictions and calamities are expressed by the metaphor of a cup ; great calamities by a deep and large cup ; afflictions compounded of many aggravating circumstances, by a mixed cup. And from the effect it hath on those that must drink it, is called a cup of trembling, Isa. lvii. IT. " Thou hast drunken at the hand of the « Lord, die cup of his fury, the dregs of the cup of trembling.11 Such a cup now was Christ's cup ; a cup of wrath ; a large and deep cup, that contained more wrath than ever was drunk by any creature, even the wrath of an infinite God. A mixed cup, mixed with God's wrath and man's in the extremity. And all the bitter aggravating circumstances that ever could be imagined ; great consternation and amazement ; this was the portion of his cup.
By the passing of the cup from him, understand his exemption from suffering that dreadful and horrid wrath of God, which he foresaw to be now at hand. For as the coming of the cup to a man, doth, in scripture-phrase, note his bearing and suffering of evil, as you find it, Lam. iv. 21. " Rejoice and be glad, O daugh- " ter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz ; the cup also " shall pass through unto thee ; thou shalt be drunken, and make " thyself naked ;" which is an ironical reproof of the Idumeans, the deadly enemies of the Jews, who wickedly insulted over them, when the cup was at their mouths : as if the Lord had said, you have laughed and jeered at my people, when my hand was on
SERM. XXII. TIIE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. 275
them ; you rejoiced to see their calamities : well, make yourselves merry still if you can, the cup shall pass through unto thee ; thy turn is coming, then laugh if thou canst. So, on the contrary, the passing away of the cup, notes freedom from, or our escaping of those miseries. And so Christ's meaning, in this conditional request, is, Father, if it be thy will, excuse me from this dread- ful wrath ; my soul is amazed at it. Is there no way to shun it ? Cannot I be excused? Or if it be possible, spare me. This is the meaning of it; But then here is the difficulty, how Christ, who knew God had from everlasting determined he should drink it, who had compacted and agreed with him in the covenant of redemption so to do, who came (as himself acknowledges) for that end into the world, John xviii. 37. who foresaw this hour all along, and professed when he spake of this bloody baptism with which he was to be baptized, that he was " straitened till it was " accomplished,1'' Luke xii. 50. How (I say) to reconcile all this with such a petition, that now when the cup was delivered to him, it might pass, or he excused from suffering ; this is the knot, this is the difficulty.