An
angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.
Luke 22:43-44
Luke 22 [41.] He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and he knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
Luke 22 [43.] An angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.
Luke 22 [45.] When he rose up from his prayer, he came to the disciples, and found them sleeping because of grief, and said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
Meaning:
After the Last Supper Jesus went “as his custom was, to the Mount of Olives” (Luke 22:39). Kneeling a stone’s throw from his disciples, he prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” These two verses, recorded only by Luke the physician, describe what followed. Matthew and Mark tell the same night from their side (Matthew 26:36-39; Mark 14:35-36).
- “An angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him”
God did not remove the cup, but he sent help to drink it. At the start of his ministry, after the temptation in the wilderness, “angels came and served him” (Matthew 4:11; Mark 1:13). Now at the end, in his final testing, an angel strengthens him again. The Son of God, fully human, received help from his Father in his weakness. The answer to his prayer was not escape but strength.
- “Being in agony he prayed more earnestly”
The word “agony” describes a struggle, like that of an athlete straining in a contest. The angel’s help did not end the battle; it enabled Jesus to pray “more earnestly.” Hebrews remembers this: “in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death” (Hebrews 5:7). Isaiah had foretold a servant who would be “a man of suffering” (Isaiah 53:3).
- “His sweat became like great drops of blood”
Luke uses the word “like.” The sweat fell as heavily as drops of blood, though physicians have also described a rare condition in which extreme stress causes blood to mix with sweat. Either way, Luke shows the intensity of Jesus’ anguish. It was not fear of pain alone. He was about to bear the sin of the world and the judgment it deserved.
- A note on the text
Some ancient manuscripts of Luke do not contain these two verses, while many others do, and early Christian writers quoted them. The World English Bible includes them. Their picture of Jesus’ suffering fits with the rest of Scripture.
The Significance of Luke 22:43-44
- Strength in weakness
God may not take away our trial, but he gives grace to endure it. Jesus’ experience assures us that asking for help is not a lack of faith.
- Prayer in the struggle
Jesus prayed harder when the struggle increased. Believers are called to “Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Luke 22:46).
- For the joy set before him
Jesus endured Gethsemane and the cross for our salvation. We look “to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2).
Cross-References:
Matthew 26:39: "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me." Matthew’s account of the prayer.
Hebrews 5:7: "prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears." Jesus’ anguish remembered.
Matthew 4:11: "angels came and served him." Angels strengthen Jesus after the temptation.
Conclusion: Luke 22:43-44 tells how, as Jesus prayed on the Mount of Olives, an angel from heaven strengthened him, and in agony he prayed more earnestly, his sweat falling like great drops of blood. The verses show the depth of his suffering, the help God gave him and his determination to do the Father’s will.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible