2. That he should support him under it —
[As man, our Lord needed the supports of Divine grace: and these he was to obtain, like ourselves, by fervent prayer. Nor was his application for them made to his Father in vain. Under his most accumulated distresses, both of body and soul, he was kept unspotted with the slightest stain of sin or error b.]
3. That he should bring him out of it —
[Had there been no interposition of the Deity to rescue him from his disgrace, his enemies would have had reason to triumph ; but God delivered him from the grave, and exalted him to glory, and made those very precautions, that were used to ascertain and expose his imposture, the means of establish- ing the truth which they were intended to subvert.]
4. That he should render it effectual to the salva- tion of men —
[Without this, all our Lord's sufferings would have been in vain. But while he yet hanged on the cross, the saving efficacy of his death was shewn ; and speedily after his ascen- sion, multitudes flocked to him, as doves to their windows.]
These things being necessary to the glorifying of himself, Jesus taught them with becoming earnest- ness— II. The pleas with which he enforced it —
Our own necessity and God's glory are among the most powerful pleas which can be urged. Such were those with which our Lord enforced his petition ;
1. His own necessity, " The hour is come" — [The hour alluded to was the season of his sufferings and
death. This had been fixed from eternity in the Divine counsels, and had been foretold and typified from the begin- ning of the world. Till its arrival, none of his enemies could lay hands on him ; but now men and devils, yea, and God himself, were to concur in afflicting him. What a weight// reason was this for his petition ! He had been ordained by the Father himself to those sufferings. The weight which he was to sustain was inconceivably great. The smallest failure on his part would defeat the end of his mission : nor could any thing less than the most miraculous testimonies counterbalance the offence of the cross. Under such circumstances, the Father could not but answer this seasonable request.]
2. His Father's glory —
>> John xiii. 31.
1708.1 Christ's power to give eternal life. 113
[The Father's glory was deeply interested in the event of that hour. His justice was to be honoured, and a way was to be opened for the free exercise of his mercy. To effect this, was the great object of our Lord's desire, both in life and in death ; and it was this, which, above all, stimulated him to present the petition before usc. And could there possibly be a more weighty and prevailing argument? The Father could not but desire the advancement of his own glory: he could not but wish his own eternal counsels fulfilled : he could not but approve the means which he himself had appointed to that end : he could not but delight to glorify his Son, who was, in such an humiliating way, endeavouring to glorify him.]
Let this subject lead us to view Jesus,
1. As our Saviour —
[For us did he agree that that dreadful hour should come; and to us he looks, that we may join with the Father in glorifying him. And shall we not glorify him, by trusting in his blood and righteousness? Shall we not proclaim to the whole world, that he is our only hope and refuge? O let him see of the travail of his soul ! let him save us from the wrath to come !]
2. As our example —
[He knew, and could fully estimate the weight of, his impending sufferings. Nor could it fail but that his human nature should shrink back from them ; yet he submitted to them, that his Father might be glorified*1.]