he knew that his Father was " able to save him from death:" he therefore repeatedly besovight him to remove the bitter cup, and urged his petitions " with strong cries and floods of tears ;" not that he repented of the work he had undertaken ; but only desired such a mitigation of his sufferings as might consist with his Father's glory, and the salvation of men''.]
Nor did he desist from prayer till he had obtained his request —
[Him the Father always heard, nor was an answer now denied him : he was delivered from that which he chiefly de- precated*'. Though the cup was not removed, he was not suffered to faint in drinking it : he was strengthened by an angel in answer to his prayer °, and clearly shewed what an answer he had received, by the dignified composure with which he immediately resigned himself into the hands of his enemies^.]
His sufferings indeed could not be dispensed with; but they were amply recompensed by,
II. The benefit he derived from them —
The benefits accruing to our Lord from his own sufferings were,
1. Personal —
[It was necessary for him as our High-priest to experi- ence every thing which his people are called to endure in their conflicts with sin and Satan'. Now the difficulty of abiding faithful to God in arduous circumstances is exceeding great : this is a trial which all his people are called to sustain, and under it they more particularly need his almighty succour; this therefore he submitted to learn. Though as the Son of God he knew all things in a speculative manner, yet he could not know this experimentally , but by being reduced to a suffering condition ; this therefore was one benefit which he derived from his sufferings. He learned by them more tenderly to sympathize with his afflicted people, and more speedily to succour them when imploring his help with strong crying and tears ^.]
e John xii. 27, 28. As a man, he could not but feel, and as a (jood man, he could not but deprecate, the wrath of God : but he desired nothing that was inconsistent with the Divine will, Matt. xxvi. 39.
f The learned differ about the sense of citto r»7c evXujieiu^ ; some translate it pro reverentid, others ex metu. See Beza on Heb. v. 7.
s Luke xxii. 43. ^ John xviii. 4 — 8, 11.
i Heb. ii. 17. ^ Heb. ii. 18.