The Answer to Christ's Prayer

“Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared” — Heb. v. 7.

“Was heard in that He feared;” was it so? I had always thought that His was an unanswered prayer. Did the bitter cup pass from His lips when, in the solitude of the Gethsemane shadows, He cried unto His Father? did there come to Him that respite from death which seemed to be the object of His prayer? Nay, for that was not the object of His prayer; that desire was only expressed conditionally, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” But there was a desire in the depths of His heart which was expressed unconditionally; it was the prayer that His human will might be one with the Divine will. “He was heard in that He feared” says the sacred writer; His fear was the beautiful thing which caused His prayer to be accepted. Fear is not generally beautiful, it is not commonly a virtue at all. What was there about this fear of Jesus which made it so precious in the Fathers sight? It was this — His was not the fear of death, but the dread of human frailty. He was afraid lest the weakness of the flesh should make Him choose a path different from the path His Father had chosen for Him. He was afraid lest even in desire He should follow a road less dolorous than that which His Father had prepared, and the strong crying of His spirit came forth in the earnest supplication, “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” That was the prayer which His Father answered, and in the answer to that prayer the cause of His fear vanished. The answer came not in the rolling back of death but in the strengthening of His spirit for death, not in the passing of the cup, but in the passing of the bitterness from the cup; the garden of Gethsemane was conquered when the angels appeared to strengthen Him.

Son of Man, let me be a sharer in Thy Divine strength. T, too, have my Gethsemanes, where there are shadows without and fears within and solitudes around. At these times my soul is troubled, and I know not what I shall ask. The dark hour which has come to me may have been the hour for which I was made, arid I dare not say unconditionally, “Father, save me from this hour.” But in Thy strength, 0 Son of Man, I shall have all I need and more. If the Spirit that fortified Thee shall become my spirit, I shall be strong with Thy Divine strength. Unite my will to Thy will, that Thy experience may become mine own. Help me to learn of Thee, that the yoke of life may be eased without being diminished, that the burden of life may be lightened without being lessened. Help me to experience that new power of the eye which shall make it unnecessary to roll away the clouds of night, that new strength of the arm which shall cause it to be unneeded that the outward weight should be removed. Let me learn of Thee that there is an answer to prayer which eye sees not, which ear hears not, which history records not, which is received and

recorded only in the silent depths of the soul.