Mat 26:38-39, 27:60 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 38. My soul is exceeding sorrowful . His human nature-his soul- -was much and deeply affected and pressed down. Even unto death . This denotes extreme sorrow and agony. The sufferings of death are the greatest of which we have any knowledge; they are the most feared and dreaded by man; and those sufferings are, therefore, put for extreme and indescribable anguish. The meaning may be thus expressed: My sorrows are so great, that under their burden I am ready to die; such is the anxiety of mind, that I seem to bear the pains of death! Tarry ye here, and watch with me . The word rendered watch, means, literally, to abstain from sleep; then to be vigilant--to guard against danger. Here it seems to mean, to sympathize with him; to unite with him in seeking Divine support; and to prepare themselves for approaching dangers. (h) "My soul"

Matthew 26:38-39

Verse 38. My soul is exceeding sorrowful. His human nature-his soul- -was much and deeply affected and pressed down.

Even unto death. This denotes extreme sorrow and agony. The sufferings of death are the greatest of which we have any knowledge; they are the most feared and dreaded by man; and those sufferings are, therefore, put for extreme and indescribable anguish. The meaning may be thus expressed: My sorrows are so great, that under their burden I am ready to die; such is the anxiety of mind, that I seem to bear the pains of death!

Tarry ye here, and watch with me. The word rendered watch, means, literally, to abstain from sleep; then to be vigilant--to guard against danger. Here it seems to mean, to sympathize with him; to unite with him in seeking Divine support; and to prepare themselves for approaching dangers.

(h) "My soul" Ps 116:3, Is 53:3,10, Jn 12:27 Verse 39. And he went a little farther. That is, at the distance that a man could conveniently cast a stone, (Luke.)

Fell on his face. Luke says, he "kneeled doom." He did both. He first kneeled, and then in the fervency of his prayer, and the depth of his sorrow, he fell with his face on the ground, denoting the deepest anguish, and the most earnest entreaty. This was the usual posture of prayer in times of great earnestness. See Nu 16:22, 2Chr 20:18, Neh 8:6.

If it be possible. That is, if the world can be redeemed; if it be consistent with justice, and with maintaining the government of the universe, that men should be saved without this extremity of sorrow, let it be done. There is no doubt that if it had been possible, it would have been done; and the fact that these sufferings were not removed, that the Saviour went forward and bore them without mitigation, shows that it was not consistent with the justice of God, and with the welfare of the universe, that men should be saved without the awful sufferings of such an atonement.

Let this cup. These bitter sufferings. These approaching trials. The word cup is often used in this sense, denoting sufferings. Mt 20:22.

Not as I will, but as thou wilt. As Jesus was man, as well as God, there is nothing inconsistent in supposing that, like a man, he was deeply affected in view of these sorrows. When he speaks of his will, he expresses what human nature, in view of such great sufferings, would desire. It naturally shrunk from them, and sought deliverance. Yet he sought to do the will of God. He chose rather that the high purpose of God should be done, than that that purpose should be abandoned, and regard be shown to the fears of his human nature. In this he has left a model of prayer in all times of affliction. It is right, in times of calamity, to seek deliverance. Like the Saviour also, in such seasons, we should, we must submit cheerfully to the will of God, confident that, in all these trials, he is wise, and merciful, and good.

(i) "and prayed" Heb 5:7 (k) "let this cup" Mt 20:22 (l) "nevertheless" Jn 5:30, 6:38, Rom 15:3, Php 2:8

Matthew 27:60

Verse 60. In his own new tomb. John says, (Jn 19:41), that this was in a garden that was in or near the place where he was crucified. This tomb Joseph had prepared for himself, as was not uncommon among the Jews. In this tomb Luke and John inform us that no man had been laid. This was so ordered in the providence of God, doubtless, that there might be no suspicion about his identity when he rose; that it might not be alleged that another person had risen; or that he was raised by touching the bones of some prophet, as happened to the corpse that touched the bones of Elisha, 2Kgs 13:21. Farther, by being buried here, an important prophecy was remarkably fulfilled, (Isa 53:9) "he made his grave--with the rich in his death." The fulfillment of this is the more remarkable, because during his life he associated with the poor, and was himself poor.

Which he had hewn out in the rock. This was a common way of constructing tombs in Judea. Mt 8:28. Being cut out of a rock, there was no way by which the disciples could have access to it but by the entrance, at which the guard was placed, and consequently it was impossible for them to steal him away. The sepulchre, thus secure, was rendered more so by rolling a great stone at its entrance; all possible precautions thus being used, in the providence of God, against imposition and deceit.

(x) "and laid" Isa 53:9