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Only now and again do we observe the Savior's regard turned inwardly upon himself, upon his own feelings and anticipations. Usually his thoughts and his speech concerned others. But in this passage of his ministry he gives us an insight into his inmost heart.

I. THE CRISIS OF THIS CONFLICT. The approach of the Greeks marks "the beginning of the end." Now the Son of man began to feel by anticipation the burden of the cross. Opposition and persecution were at hand. He was about to tread the winepress alone. Pain, humiliation, sorrow, death, were close upon him. The "hour" which he had long foreseen was now nearly marked upon the dial of his life; it was the hour of his enemies' power and of the prince of darkness.

II. THE CHARACTER OF THIS CONFLICT.

1. On the one side was personal feeling, which expressed itself in the cry, so human, so touching, so sincere, "Father, save me from this hour!" This was the voice of human weakness, to be repeated afterwards in the form, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me!" This shrinking from all that was involved in the sacrifice was real. Our Lord's human nature was reluctant to endure the anguish of Gethsemane, the agony of Golgotha.

2. On the other side was the perception that all the past experience of his humanity led up to just this distressful burden, the pressure of which he was now beginning to feel. He had consented to live in order that he might consent to die. The baptism of sorrow must overwhelm him, the bitter cup must be drained to the dregs, in order that his ministry might be complete. The Incarnation itself contemplated, and virtually included, the sacrifice. The past would prove to have been endured in vain, if the future should be evaded; and the life of the Savior, with the cross left out, if such a conception be possible, would be all but powerless in the spiritual history of humanity.

3. Hence the distraction of mind evinced in the exclamation, "What shall I say?" The two wishes were inconsistent with each other. With which of them should the deliberate and decisive resolve identify itself?

III. THE DECISIVE CRY OF THE CONFLICT. The issue of the struggle within the Savior's Spirit was apparent when he uttered the exclamation, the prayer, "Father, glorify thy Name!" For this revealed the fact that Jesus was turning away from himself and from his own feelings, and was turning to his Father. He was sinking the consideration of himself and his sufferings in a filial regard to his Father's honor, to the Divine purposes which underlay the whole of his mission. God was exalted in the completion of the Mediator's work. Jesus learned obedience, and displayed obedience, in the things which he suffered. Our salvation was assured when the decision was reached, when the cry was uttered, when the Father's glory, by its dazzling brightness, its burning radiance, consumed all beside.

IV. THE CLOSE OF THE CONFLICT. The solemnity and grandeur of the crisis is shown by the audible interposition with which the Father responded to the cry of his beloved, chosen Son.

1. The voice from heaven was a reminder. How the Father had glorified his Son we know from the record of what took place at the baptism and at the Transfiguration. But to the spiritually enlightened and discerning there had been apparent, all through our Savior's ministry, a moral glory which was hidden from the thoughtless world.

2. The voice from heaven was a promise. The further glory of the Father in his Son was to be manifested in all the events to follow the perfect obedience unto the death of the cross. Especially in the resurrection of Christ did God "give him glory." The Ascension, the marvels of Pentecost, the signs accompanying the preaching of the gospel, were evidences that the Divine purposes were in course of fulfillment. The whole dispensation of grace is "rather" - i.e. in a superior measure and degree - "rather glorious." The establishment of the kingdom of God among men, the introduction of a new and higher life into our humanity, the salvation of untold myriads of sinners, the peopling of heaven with the redeemed from every nation, - these are signs that the Lord has seen of the travail of his soul and is satisfied, that the purposes of the Father are accomplished, that the glory of the Father is secured. - T.

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KJV: Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

WEB: "Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? 'Father, save me from this time?' But for this cause I came to this time.