II. The grounds of his submission to them —
1. It was with a view to those very sufferings that he had come to that hour —
[These sufferings had been foreseen, when he first en- gaged to redeem a fallen world1 ; and he had then stipulated to bear them for our sakesm." It was with a view to them that he had assumed our nature, without which he would have been incapable of bearing themn. And throughout the whole of his ministry he had frequently adverted to them as what he should undergo, as soon as his hour was fully come0. Yea, he had reproved Peter with great severity for attempting to dis- suade him from his purpose ?: and had expressed his eager " desire to be baptized with that bloody baptism," being greatly " straitened till it should be accomplished q." And would he now recede ? would he shrink from the trial now it was come upon him ? would he rescind his own voluntary engagements, and abandon the work he had undertaken? No: difficult as it was to submit to these sufferings, he determined to endure them, since the purposes of his grace could in no other way be accomplished.]
2. They were necessary for the promoting of his
Father's glory —
[This is strongly intimated in the latter petition. The Father's justice could not have been so much glorified even in the destruction of the whole human race, as in the sufferings of his co-equal co-eternal Son : in these it appeared alto- gether inflexible. And how glorious would be the display of the Father's love, when it was seen that he had adopted such a method of restoring man to his favour ! Yea, how would every perfection shine forth in this stupendous mystery ! Would Jesus then sacrifice the Father's glory to his present feelings? When the Father had already glorified him by repeated attestations from heaven, and by so many miracles, would Jesus now draw back, and rob the Father of all the
1 Isai. liii. 10. latter part. m Ps. xl. 7, 8.
n Heb. ii. 9, 14, 15. ° Luke xviii. 32, 33.
p Matt. xvi. 21 — 23 <i Luke xii. 50.