Oh to see my name written in His wounds

“And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:43-44)

What must it have been like for the angel? Here is your God who you have seen in glory. You know His glory, you know who He is and what the flesh is. You are ministering to Him in His time of agony. God is not supposed to experience agony. God is not supposed to take on the sins of man. God is not supposed to be in the form of man. But God has chosen to do this and you have been sent by the Father to minister to the Son. (They must “understand” the Trinity, right?)
The paradox is of the creature strengthening its Creator; giving strength to the One who has chosen to give it life.

And yet, Jesus was still in agony.

Would that have affected the angel? Was the angel sorrowful about this – that He could do nothing to relieve his God? Does it matter? Eh, probably not. Perhaps it helps my mind with the correct mind of worship. The angels (do they love?) worship. The angels glorify Him always. The angels long to look into salvation. The angels must think we are ridiculous and yet they would not because of the position given to us by the Father.

Jesus was still in agony. What was His response to His agony? Continued prayer. More EARNEST prayer. What is the point of prayer? To bring our requests before God, but to change our will to His. Is that why Jesus prayed more earnestly? Was He pressing to have His will conform to the Father? “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42) Do I earnestly pray in order to have my will conformed to His? I don’t think Jesus was earnestly praying for the Father to change His (the Father's) mind. He could have been earnestly praying for strength, but the angel was there to do that. Was He in agony over the earthly pain? Probably not agony. Discomfort, but (as I am repeating from teachers) the pain of sin and separation from God was the agony. He – the God of all the universe, the Word, the Alpha and the Omega – knows the depths and depravity of sin. He knew what He was about to undertake. He knew the Father’s will. Taking the cup away would have prevented Him from needing to experience the agony. But He pursued the will of the Father. I am going to conjecture that He was earnestly praying for His will to be conformed to the Father’s.

Have I ever done that?

What would I have wanted to do? Thinking about all the walking and the scourging and the carrying…I would have wanted to sleep. How tired Jesus must have been from the previous weeks, days, activities, debates, sorrow, teaching, rebuking, but He does not have an earthly focus. He does not look to sleep (as do His disciples) for rest or comfort. He looks to the Father. He prays more earnestly, He chooses to give up sleep to make sure that He is clinging to the Father. He is not even comforted by the angel. He is strengthened by the angel. What does that mean? “Strengethened” as opposed to “comforted”? (I do not have a dictionary close by…oh wait! There is one near.)

Then look at His words and actions after praying. He is in control of Himself and brings glory to the Father. We never hear of Him being in agony again – not even when He is hanging on the cross. Perhaps on the cross He is the most in control of His words and actions; knowing this is the fulfillment of His Father’s will.

I have never pondered these things before. Where did His strength come from? I have always “subconsciously” assumed it didn’t come – He is God. This is why He came to earth, so He was just continuing on. But that can’t be fully so when you look at the picture in the garden. The angel came to strengthen Him, but He was still in agony. Did the angel give Him the strength He needed? Was the angel not there to help with the agony? That strength was from God. That strength was Jesus choosing to be conformed and allowing Himself to be conformed to God’s will – to be obedient to death even death on the cross. What amazing self-control and purpose He had. Would sleep have given Him that? No. His will was conformed to the will of His Father. He was humbly obedient. He was submissive.