At the close of his account of the Temptation, St. Luke tells us that then the devil left our Lord for a season. Doubt- less there was no time throughout His life — which indeed was one victory over evil — in which that great adversary left Him wholly unassailed; but the words lead us to look for some special manifestation of his malice, — some sequel to his first desperate attempt, — some last struggle with his Conqueror. Nor is the expectation vain. The Agony in the garden is in many respects the natural correlative to the Temptation. In this we see Christ's human will proved to be in perfect harmony with the righteous will of God, just as in that His sense and soul and spirit were found subjected to the higher laws of life and devotion and providence. The points of similarity between them are numerous and striking. The Temptation occurred directly after the public recognition of our Lord's Messiahship at His Baptism : the Agony was separated only by a few days from His triumphal entry into the Holy City. The Temptation preceded the active work of our Lord's pro- phetic ministry : the Agony ushered in the final scenes of His priestly offering. The Temptation was endured in the savage wastes of the wilderness : the Agony in the silent shades of the night. Thrice under various pleas did Satan dare to approach the Saviour: thrice now does the Saviour approach His Father with a prayer of unutterable depth. When the Temptation was over, angels came and ministered to Him who had met Satan face to face: during the Agony an angel was Been strengthening Him who fought with death, knowing all
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412 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
its terrors. But there are also differences between the two events which give to each t^eir peculiar meaning and import- ance for us, though they are thus intimately connected. At the first our Lord was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted : at the last He retired into the garden to seek the presence of God. At the first He went alone to meet man's enemy : at the last He takes with Him three loved disciples to watch and pray while He approaches His Father. At the first Satan lures Him to gratify each element of His nature : at the last he endeavours to oppress Him by fear. At the first our Lord repels the Tempter with the language of invincible majesty: at the last He seems to sink under a burden — like the cross which He soon carried — too heavy for Him to bear.
The prayer contains : —
I. His Assurance of the Father's Ability. 11. His Petition.
III. His Acceptance of the Father's Will. It is introduced by the invocation, "Abba, Father"; and it leads to a consideration of Christ in Prayer.
The Invocation.
"Abba, Father."
1. The combination, " Abba, Father," occurs three times in the New Testament, with a meaning which is the same every time but is not fully understood until the three occasions are studied separately and then brought together. The three occa- sions are these : (1) By Jesus in Gethsemane. The words are : " And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee ; remove this cup from me : howbeit not what I will, but what thou wilt" (Mark xiv. 36). (2) By St. Paul, in writing to the Galatians. The words are : " But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them which were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. iv. 4-6). (3) By St. Paul, to the Eomans.
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The words are : " For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear ; but ye received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God : and if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him " (Eom. viii. 15-17).
Take the thoughts in order —
(1) Here are all the persons concerned in redemption : (a) the Father, to whom the cry is made ; (6) the Son, who makes the cry for Himself in Gethsemane ; (c) the Spirit of the Son, who makes it in the heart of the other sons ; (d) the sons themselves, who, under the power of the Spirit, cry, " Abba, Father."
(2) The cry is the cry of a son to a father. That in every case is the whole point and meaning of it. In one case it is the cry of the Only- begotten Son ; in the other cases it is the cry of the adopted sons. But it is always the cry of a son who has the heart of a son. An adopted son might not have the heart of a eon. But in each case here the Father says, " My beloved son " ; and the son responds, crying, " Abba, Father."