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Luke 22:44 talks about Jesus Christ's experience while he was in the Garden of Gethsemane. During a time when an angel visits him to strengthen him he begins to sweat blood. I would like to understand better the significance of this verse:

44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: 
   and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
  • Did he literally bleed through his pores as could be interpreted from this verse?
  • What would cause him to sweat blood during a prayer to his Father?
  • What is the spiritual meaning behind this sweat of blood that came from his body in the Garden of Gethsemane?
  • Was he feeling pain that required an angel to strengthen him in order to bear what he was feeling?
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Did he literally bleed through his pores as could be interpreted from this verse?

Yes. This condition is called Hematidrosis.

What would cause him to sweat blood during a prayer to his Father?

Hematidrosis may occur when a person is suffering extreme levels of stress; for example, facing his or her own death.

What is the spiritual meaning behind this sweat of blood that came from his body in the Garden of Gethsemane?

  • The drops of blood that Jesus sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane surely fulfilled "the anguish of His soul" that Isaiah spoke of; that is, Jesus's passion was not merely physical but also spiritual.
  • His anguish clearly demonstrated he was human and that his sufferings were real. Two early heresies, Docetism and Sabellianism, denied both.

Was he feeling pain that required an angel to strengthen him in order to bear what he was feeling?

I would not call it pain, I would say intense spiritual agony. Being the Son of God, he knew in detail everything that was about to happen to him. He knew that he was facing physically one of the most horrible forms of capital punishment in history. Since his body was human, he would feel everything at least as intensely as we would.

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    Great answer. I would just add that it was likely not just the future physical pain that concerned Him, but also the fact that he would "become sin" and that he would experience some sort of separation from the Father ("Why have you forsaken me?").
    – Steven Doggart
    Mar 24, 2014 at 13:47
  • To me I would understand the word agony to be synonymous with pain. Therefore it would have been spiritual pain he was feeling.
    – BrightIntelDusk
    Mar 24, 2014 at 16:56
  • @StevenDoggart: Just a word of caution. Jesus' fourth "word" from the cross does not necessarily mean Jesus experienced "some sort of separation from the Father." "I and the Father are one," Jesus said on another occasion. This oneness could not possibly be severed. Then too, feeling forsaken is not the same as BEING forsaken. The plaintive cries of the psalmist in Psalm 22, which Jesus quoted on the cross, give way to expressions of hope and the realization that God had NOT forsaken the psalmist (nor our Savior), even in the darkest of hours.
    – rhetorician
    Nov 2, 2015 at 0:23
  • The preternatural darkness which covered the land from noon to three bore mute but eloquent testimony to Jesus' becoming sin for you and me. Don
    – rhetorician
    Nov 2, 2015 at 0:25
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I think Christ feared seperation from the father for a season, "father why have you forsaken me" the thought of being seperated from the father caused emotional stress and hematidrosis. "He who knew no sin, became sin for us" sin was about to seperate him from the father. The father "loves a sinner but hates sin"....and Christ sin for US

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    Welcome, and thanks for your answer. The point you made about Jesus' anguish on the cross is certainly related to the Q, for Jesus no doubt knew in the garden of Gethsemane that alienation from the Father lay ahead of him. If you could elaborate on hematidrosis, for the sake of non-medical people here, that would be helpful. Feel free to enlarge your answer!
    – Anne
    Mar 16, 2019 at 18:12
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Could it be that Jesus is on his way To die there in the garden and prays to the father to save him there and then from that moment so he can go To the cross and die for the humanity. Like the utter most test from the father: are the son willing To die there and go To the father without saving the humanity if that is the fathers will. Obidience is better than sacrifice. Are he ready To put the father before the creation just as Abraham put God before Isak and the father was ready To give his son for the humanity. And then the father sees that Jesus is perfekted To save us all. This harmonice With hebr 5:7-9 were it says that Jesus was saved from death as his prayers were answered but he was newer saved from the death on the cross and the three night and days in grave. So what he prays for in the garden To be spare from could not be the death on the cross but that he is on his way To die there in the garden. And Jesus knows that if he dies there in the garden he can not save us. He has longed To save us in all eternity and prays the father To save him in the garden so he can save us on the cross. But is ready To obey his father even if it means not To save us. This was the ultimate test for the son in flesh in order To see if the son is puts the father before us. And this is the model for us, that we also has To come To the place were we are tests if we are ready To put the father before our lives, ministry, family and even our own calling that God has given us. Nothing is more imported for God then we putting him and his will before everything in our life just as the Son did in the gethsemane garden

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    Welcome to Christianity.SE! If you have not done so already, please take our tour and visit our help center to learn more about us. Your answer would be improved with better formatting and support from scripture. The site is dedicated to the study of Christianity - its many traditions and denominations. As such, personal opinion should be supported with scripture and references to church writings. Thanks!
    – JBH
    Jun 25, 2018 at 20:12

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