Sweat Like Drops of Blood

On a few rare occasions I work hard enough to sweat. Those times are mostly limited to the gym during this cushy life of retirement. But during my lifetime I really have done some heavy-duty sweating. When we lived in the country near my parents our yard was one huge slope. We had a push mower and we mowed the acre by hand. I remember mowing that yard when I was 9+ months pregnant; two days before our son Brady was born.

I used to help load hay and straw and stack it into the hay loft; the heat of July/August and the hard work always made me sweat from head to toe. Mowing the yard is still up there as one of my top sweat-producing activities. Hoeing the garden, painting the house, even picking up limbs in the timber would make me sweat, especially after a summer wind storm when the humidity was around 90%.

"Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground," (Luke 22:39-44 NIV).

The only sweat that even minimally resembles Jesus' might be the sweat of childbirth. But, that sweat usually produces a beautiful, healthy baby.

Chapel of the Holy Cross - Sedona, AZ

Jesus was faced with an agony that we will never understand. Only Jesus, God's Only Son, the Son of Man, King of Kings and Lord of Lords had to die for our sins. Only Jesus' blood could wipe away our dirty transgressions. Jesus is The Way. The Truth. The Life. The Lamb of God. The Word. The Bread of Life. Man of Sorrows. Savior. The Perfect One.

On Thursday of Holy Week, Jesus observed the Passover Feast with His disciples in the Upper Room. Jesus established Communion, a memorial meal of broken bread representing Christ's broken body hung upon the cross, and the cup of wine representing the blood of the covenant which was poured out for our sins.

How can we not bow in prayer this week, full of gratitude for the life Jesus gave up to be placed on a cross. If we imagine ourselves in the Garden of Gethsemane, near the Mount of Olives, we can remain alert with Jesus as His sweat falls like drops of blood. There is so much to be thankful for.

"Lest I forget Gethsemane; Lest I forget Thine agony; Lest I forget Thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary." ("King of My Life, I Crown Thee Now" hymn by William J. Kirkpatrick and Jennie E. Hussey 1921).