The more I ponder this aspect of our Lord’s agony on the Cross, the more I realize how ineffable our Subject really is! (“Ineffable” means, using Latin as its base, “not” plus “utterable!” Beyond words!)

But I sure am thankful that Matthew, under the Guidance of the Holy Spirit, tells us this much: Jesus’ Soul was “exceeding sorrowful” while at Gethsemane. Matthew 26:38 … “Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.”

The Greek expression “exceeding sorrowful” is the meaning of one single adjective. Spelled “perilupos,” it’s a blend of two different words. “Peri” means overflowing and “all around” you. “Lupos” is cognate to “lupe,” the noun for “pain, grief, affliction, mourning.”

Soul suffering … for He has not yet been nailed to the Cross or scourged by Pilate’s lictors … spiritual pain over some area of His upcoming Atoning Sacrifice for sin!

We might just have to say this … beyond his physical torture, and there was plenty of that … Jesus suffered mentally, emotionally, internally and yes SPIRITUALLY … to a greater degree than we will ever know. That is, until we get to Glory!

Then Mark adds this nugget: that Jesus was “sore amazed“ in the Garden of Gethsemane as well. (Mark 14:33) This is another “loaded” Greek expression. “Ekthambeo,” It means “astonished, stunned,” maybe even (according to some scholars) “rendered immoveable!”

Again I mention … before the Cross itself!

While I cannot understand it all … I can “stand amazed” in His Presence, as I behold and adore and worship Him by faith!

More than every I say … WHAT A SAVIOUR!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Thank Him for what He underwent, all because He loved the lost and came to save them.

That included me!

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