The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 2 — Section 203

he h11.ve been selected· ns the Rock-m11.n, wl10 wae BO often rash, 11.nd who BO weakly denied his Master? Through o.11 there was etill the faith. He had quicker insight into the secrets of hie Master's power and presence thim any of his fellows; he had a higher and fuller perception of o.nd trust in him. Were this to fail, all would fail. And the fruit of the intercession was evidenced in the springinit back of his faith- nay, in its riBing to a still higher measure of knowledge on the ruins of the old Belf- confidence; there was created the new heart that by-and-by was ready to go to prison and death. III. 'I'm: EXHORTATION. Simon will turn again. When the Lord turns, in the day of the trial, and loolis on the apostate disciple, there is born a godly sorrow which works repentance not to be repented of. Out of this repentance there comes the earnest, "Lord, thou lmowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." And the charge is, "Do thou, when once thou hast turned ago.in, stablish thy brethren" (ver. 32, Revised Version). The most helpful man is he who has himself been tempted, who h&e passed, not without scars, through the fight of faith. It is the sympathy of the soul that has come through great tribulation that has the delicate touch, the magnetic force, the faculty of establishing the brethren. All discovery of the Lord is to be utilized in the way of strengthening, cheering, building up human souls in the kingdom of God. What we receive we hold in trust for others, and, in giving as we receive, what we have gained becomes doubly ours. "Hee.ven does with ue as we wilh torches do, Not light them for themselves." Experience of God and his love is the best teacher. What we learn, even through falls and failures, turns most to the profit of poor human nature. Simon, after the sifting, through the turning again, was the confirmer of the brethren. Vera. 39-46.~Gethsemane. It is now dark. On the way to the Mount of Olive,, the customnry retreat of Jesus (ver. 39), at the point where the upward slope bEgins, there is a shady place, belonging, perhaps, to one of those who believed in him, whither "Jesus had often resorted" (John xvi ii. 2). The site of the garden of Gethsemane may, with sufficient accuracy, be identified. It may not have been the exact spot, over- shadowed by the eight venerable trees, which immemorial tradition bas distinguished as the scene of the lonely vigil, but it must have been close to that spot. It was a place where there were many olives, and, as the name suggests, an oil-press; a piece of per- fect quiet and seclusion, where, beyond the voices of rude men, there was the peace of heaven. To this place he who had uttered the high-priestly prayer brought the high- priestly sacrifice; and there he began the walk through the valley of the shadow of clea.th. The tale of the sore amazement and exceeding heaviness is told, with more fulness of detail, by the Evangelists Matthew and Mark (see homiletics in lac.). Here, without enlarging on the meaning and scope of the features of the narrative, note- I. 'l'HE AGONY. (Ver. 44.) It has always been felt that in this there is immeasur- ably more than o. mere revolt from imminent pain and death. The anguish is marked by an intensity for which this revolt cannot account. A brave man, however sensitive, can face, with unflinching fortitude, a hig;h enterprise, even though its fatal consequence is evident. "The sweat becoming as it were great drops of blood," speaks of a con- flict in the soul for which the impending physical dissolution cannot account. Some references supply us with suggestions. 1. 'l'be announcement made at the Supper-table (John xiv. 30), of the coming of the prince of the world, speaks to us of a temptation, intensified by the circumstances of the hour, in the line of the wilderness-temptation, to grasp the power of the Messiah otherwise than through the suffering of the cross (eee, in this connection, Matt. xxvi. 53). 2. The sorrow which cast its shade over his countenance when the betrayal was mentioned (John xiii. 21); the horror with which be regarded the perfidy (ver. 22; Matt. xxvi. 24); the utterance by which he awoke the disciples, marking out the betrayal as the bitterness of the hour at hand (Matt. xxvi. 45); the appeal to Judas (ver. 48) ;-these things indicate the amazeme-nt and pain caused by the action of the son of perdition. 3. 'l'he word of the Sou to the ~'uLher Ill! to tbo cup ao full of woe that he humbly besought its removal, remiuds u1 212 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO S'l'. LUKE. [011. um. 1-71.