Garden of Gethsemane: Was Jesus Stressed?

Regarding the Lord Jesus when he was on this earth, something that bothers me is when I hear someone say that he was "stressed" in the Garden of Gethsemane and that caused him to sweat great drops of blood.    Could the Lord Jesus be stressed?  I do not believe so.  But what does the bible say? 

The Lord Jesus sweat great drops of blood as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot and arrested. Jesus knew that his hour had come and that he would be soon crucified, shedding his precious blood as atonement for sin, and taking upon himself the penalty for sin, being the Saviour of all those who believe on Jesus and trust him as their own Saviour.  Nothing that would happen was a surprise to Jesus, rather it was foreordained.



The account of Jesus sweating great drops of blood are in Matthew 26, Mark 14 (where the word "sorrowful" is used, and Luke 22 where "agony" is used.

Matt 26:37 - "And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy."

Matt 26:38
"Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me"

Mark 14:34
"And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch"




Luke 22:44
"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."

Here are the dictionary definitions of "sorrowful" and "agony" as well as the definition of "stressed"

SORROWFUL

1. Sad; grieving for the loss of some good, or on account of some expected evil.

The above is certainly true of Jesus as he prayed in the garden.  His ministry of preaching, teaching and healing was coming to its end and he knew what lay ahead of him.

AGONY

2. Extreme pain of body or mind; anguish; appropriately, the pangs of death, and the sufferings of our Savior in the garden of Gethsemane. Luke 22:44.

As with "sorrowful",  the anguish Jesus was going through caused his sweat to be as great drops of blood.

Here is the definition of Stressed

 a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.

synonyms:    strain, pressure, tension, nervous tension, worry, anxiety, nervousness; trouble, difficulty, distress, trauma, suffering, pain

Upon first reading of the definition of stress, one could say that Jesus was under mental strain in the garden, but look at the synonyms:  nervous tension, worry, anxiety, nervousness, trauma.    As stated before,  Jesus is God, and can God be worried? or anxious? or nervous? or traumatized?  these are very human things.  Colossians chapter 1 speaks plainly about this:

Col 1:15
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

 Col 1:16
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

 Col 1:17
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Why am I writing this post?  Because the Word of God, the Lord Jesus, was made in the likeness of man but he has always been, and will always be God.  And God cannot be worried, anxious, nervous or traumatized.

It may be a small thing to some to even bother trying to explain this, but it is very important to me.
_________________________________________
vcg