He goes forward and leaves off the discourse, allowing the understanding of what was said to the course of events, just as He once said, "Destroy this temple," and the disciples understood only afterward, after His resurrection (John 2:19–22). Some, however, say that by the word "enough" the Lord pointed out the incongruity of the words with the circumstances. The disciples said, "Look, here are two swords," and the Lord, they say, pointing out this incongruity, said: if there are two swords, then that is very much and enough for us against the crowd that will come against us.
Lk. 22:39. Going out, He went as was His custom to the Mount of Olives, and His disciples also followed Him.
After supper, the Lord does not give Himself over to idleness, pleasures, and sleep, but teaches and prays, giving us a model and example in this. Therefore, woe to those who after suppers turn to the shameful deeds of fornication. Having taught this to the disciples, the Lord ascends the Mount of Olives to pray. He loved to do this in private, and therefore withdraws even from the disciples. However, He takes disciples with Him, but not all—only those three who had seen His glory on the mountain (Luke 9:28).
Lk. 22:40. And when He came to the place, He said to them: Pray that you do not enter into temptation.
Lk. 22:41. And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and kneeling down, He prayed,
Lk. 22:42. saying: Father! oh, if Thou wouldst be pleased to carry this cup past Me! nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done.
Since He is in agony and prays, lest this appear to be a sign of cowardice, He takes with Him those who themselves saw His Divine glory and themselves heard the testimony from heaven, so that, seeing Him in agony, they would consider this an act of human nature. For to confirm that He was truly Man, He allowed this nature to act in its own way. As Man, He desires to live and prays for the cup to pass from Him, for man is a lover of life; and through this He overthrows the heresies according to which He became man only in appearance. For if even after such actions of human nature they found occasion to babble in this manner, what would they not have said if these actions had not taken place? Thus, the desire that the cup pass by belongs to human nature, while the words spoken shortly after — "nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done" — show that we too must have the same disposition and the same mindset, submitting to the will of God and not turning aside, even though our nature may pull us in the opposite direction. "Not My" human "will, but Yours be done," and this Yours is not separate from My Divine will. The one Christ, having two natures, undoubtedly also had the will or desires of each nature, Divine and human. Thus, human nature at first desired to live, for this is proper to it, but then, following the Divine will that all people be saved — a will common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — it resolved upon death, and in this way one desire emerged: salvific death.
Lk. 22:43. An Angel appeared to Him from heaven and strengthened Him.
Lk. 22:44. And being in an agony, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling upon the ground.
That the prayer was from the human nature, which by permission had the attachment to life common to all, and not from the Divinity, as the accursed Arians say, is evident from the fact that Jesus was in sweat and such agony that, as the saying goes, drops of blood fell from Him. For of those who labor greatly, it is customary to say that they sweat blood, just as of those who bitterly grieve, it is said that they weep blood. Wishing to show precisely this — that what flowed from Him was not some thin moisture appearing merely for show, but that large drops of sweat were falling — the Evangelist used drops of blood to depict the reality. From this it is clear that the nature which produced the sweat and was in agony was human, not divine. For human nature was permitted to experience such states, and it did experience them, on the one hand to show that He was not a man only in appearance, and on the other — a hidden purpose — to heal the timidity common to human nature, by exhausting it in Himself and subjecting it to the divine will.
Another may say that the sweat issuing from the body and falling to the ground signifies that, with the encouragement and strengthening of our nature in Christ, the fountains of fearfulness in us evaporate, turn into drops, and fall away from us. For if He had not had this in mind, that is, the desire to heal our human fearfulness, He would not have sweated so, even if He were very fearful and fainthearted. "And there appeared to Him an Angel from heaven, strengthening Him." This too is for our consolation, namely: that we might learn the strengthening power of prayer and, having learned it, turn to it in times of misfortune. At the same time, the prophecy of Moses spoken in the great song is also fulfilled: "and let all the sons of God be strengthened" (Deut. 32:43). Some, however, explained these words thus: that an Angel appeared to Him, glorified Him, and said: Thine, O Lord, is the strength! For Thou hast overcome death and hell and hast set free the human race. This is so.
Lk. 22:45. Rising from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow.
Lk. 22:46. And He said to them: Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you fall into temptation.
And He, finding the disciples sleeping, rebukes them and at the same time urges them to pray in temptations, so as not to be overcome by them. For not to fall into temptation means not to be swallowed up by temptation, not to come under its power. Or He also simply commands us to pray that our lot may be safe and that we not be subjected to any trouble. For to cast oneself into temptations means to be reckless and proud. How then does James (Jas. 1:2) say: "Count it all joy when you fall into various temptations"? What is this, are we not contradicting ourselves? No, for James did not say: cast yourselves in, but when you are subjected to them, do not lose heart, but have all joy, and make what was once involuntary into something voluntary. For it is better if temptations had not come, but when they have come, why grieve foolishly? Show me a place in Scripture where it is literally commanded to pray to fall into temptations. But you cannot show one.
I know that there are two kinds of temptation, and that some understand the duty of praying not to fall into temptation as referring to the temptation that conquers the soul, for example, the temptation of fornication, the temptation of anger. But one should count it all joy when we undergo bodily afflictions and temptations. For to the degree that "the outward man perishes," to that degree "the inward man is renewed" (2 Cor. 4:16). Although I know this, I prefer that which is more true and which is closer to the present purpose.
Lk. 22:47. While He was still speaking this, a crowd appeared, and one of the twelve, called Judas, was walking ahead of them, and he approached Jesus to kiss Him. For he had given them such a sign: Whomever I kiss, He is the one.
Judas set a kiss as the sign for those going against Jesus, but so that they would not make a mistake because of the night, he pointed Him out not from afar. So that Jesus would not hide, for this reason they come with lanterns and torches. What then does the Lord do?
Lk. 22:48. Jesus said to him: Judas! Do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?
He admits him to Himself with this hostile kiss. And thunderbolts did not rain down upon the ungrateful and treacherous one! Thus the Savior teaches us meekness in such circumstances. He says only with reproach: "Judas! Do you betray with a kiss?" Will you not be ashamed of the very manner of the betrayal? Why do you mix betrayal, an act of enmity, with a friendly kiss? And whom do you betray? "The Son of Man," that is, the humble, the meek, the condescending One, Who became man for your sake, and moreover the true God. He says this because even to the very last He burned with love for him. Therefore He did not insult him, did not call him inhuman and utterly ungrateful, but called him by his own name: "Judas." And He would not have reproached him if even this did not serve for his improvement, should he so desire. For He did this and, it would seem, reproached him so that Judas would not think that He was hiding, but so that, at least now, recognizing Him as Master, as the All-Knowing One, he might fall before Him and repent. The Lord knew that Judas was incorrigible, yet He did what was His to do, just as His Father also did in the Old Testament: He knew that the Jews would not listen, yet He sent the prophets. And at the same time He teaches us this very thing, namely: that we should not take offense at the failure to reform of those who fall.
Lk. 22:49. And when they which were about Him saw what would follow, they said unto Him, Lord, shall we strike with the sword?
Lk. 22:50. And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.
The disciples are inflamed with zeal and draw out swords. Where did they have them from? It was natural for them to have them, since they had just before been slaying the lamb and had come out from the table. But the fervent Peter receives a rebuke, because he used his zeal contrary to the Lord's intention. Whereas the others ask, "shall we strike?" he does not wait for approval (as everywhere he was fervent for the Teacher!), but strikes "the servant of the high priest" and cuts off his "right ear." This happened not by chance, but as a sign that the high priests of that time had all become slaves and had lost their right hearing. For if they had listened to Moses, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (John 5:46).
Lk. 22:51. Then Jesus said: Let it be, enough. And, touching his ear, He healed him.
Jesus restores the ear; for it is fitting for the great power of the Word to heal the disobedient and give them an ear for hearing. Jesus performs the miracle so that by this visible miracle upon the ear He might show His lack of malice and, at the very least, by the miracle lead them to the thought of restraining themselves from their madness.
Lk. 22:52. And Jesus said to the chief priests and captains of the temple and the elders who had come out against Him: Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs, to take Me?