xxii. 43); when His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to

the ground” (Luke xxii. 44).

The words referred to were spoken when Peter had made an attempt at resistance, and smitten off the ear of the High Priest’s servant, who came with others to take Jesus, and when He had rebuked Peter, saying, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels? _But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled_ that _thus it must be_?” (Matt. xxvi. 51–54). “The Lord” had “sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Ps. cx. 4). And then to show that He needed not even the legions to rescue Him, but had still all power in His hands, when about to be “brought as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isa. liii. 7), as soon as He had said to the band of men and officers who came with Judas to take Him, “_I am He_” they went backwards and fell to the ground (John xviii. 3–7), signifying that they had no power to touch Him until again encouraged by Jesus. And so at each step of His trial, mocking, scourging, until by wicked hands He was crucified and slain (Acts ii. 23)—it was: “Thou couldst have no power against Me except it were given Thee from above” (John xix. 11). At each step it was His voluntary submission to ignominy and insult, and a cruel death, that He might redeem us from death, and from the power of the grave and of hell by His own blood.