"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death!" Matthew 26:38
We ought often to sit down with our Lord in the garden of Gethsemane — and look upon Him while He suffers. We never can understand more than a very little of the anguish of that hour in the garden — yet we should often study it. Some hints of its meaning may be reverently mentioned.
Before our Lord, there lay the betrayal, the arrest, the trial with all its mockery and humiliation; and then death amid the ignominy of the cross. These physical sufferings alone made an anguish that was terrible to endure. Another element of our Lord's suffering was the falseness of the human hearts about Him. There were the traitorous kiss of Judas, the sad denial of Peter, the flight and desertion of the other disciples, the rejection and crucifixion by the people He had come to save. All of this, He foresaw from Gethsemane.
But that which made the very essence of the anguish of Gethsemane, was the fact that Jesus was bearing our sins. What that meant to Him — we never can know. We know only what is most dimly shadowed for us in the deep words of Holy Scripture, which speak of His vicarious sacrifice. They are such words as these: "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." "He bore our sins in his own body on the tree." "He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us."
We are sure, at least, that the death of Jesus — was not like the death of any other man, even though the other could endure all the physical suffering which attended our Lord's agony. In some way, though innocent and holy Himself, and without sin — He died for sinners. The mystery, we never can fathom — but the fact, we must remember as we watch with our Lord in Gethsemane.
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J.R. Miller (1840 - 1912)
Prolific author and pastor of Presbyterian churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois, Rev. James Russell Miller served the USCC as a field agent in the Army of the Potomac and Army of the Cumberland.J.R. Miller began contributing articles to religious papers while at Allegheny Seminary. This continued while he was at the First United, Bethany, and New Broadway churches. In 1875, Miller took over from Henry C. McCook, D.D. when the latter discontinued his weekly articles in The Presbyterian, which was published in Philadelphia. J.R. Miller D.D.'s lasting fame is through his over 50 books. Many are still in publication.
James Russell Miller (March 20, 1840 - July 2, 1912) was a popular Christian author, Editorial Superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, and pastor of several churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois.
In 1857, James entered Beaver Academy and in 1862 he progressed to Westminster College, Pennsylvania, which he graduated in June, 1862. Then in the autumn of that year he entered the theological seminary of the United Presbyterian Church at Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Mr. Miller resumed his interrupted studies at the Allegheny Theological Seminary in the fall of 1865 and completed them in the spring of 1867. That summer he accepted a call from the First United Presbyterian Church of New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. He was ordained and installed on September 11, 1867.
J.R. Miller began contributing articles to religious papers while at Allegheny Seminary. This continued while he was at the First United, Bethany, and New Broadway churches. In 1875, Miller took over from Henry C. McCook, D.D. when the latter discontinued his weekly articles in The Presbyterian, which was published in Philadelphia.
Five years later, in 1880, Dr. Miller became assistant to the Editorial Secretary at the The Presbyterian Board of Publication, also in Philadelphia.