Parallel passages are underlined. Square brackets [] indicate parallels found in another sequence in the Gospels.

1. Question of Lucan Authorship

   The two verses of Luke are a famous problem: are they from Luke or rather an addition by a copyist of the 2nd or 3rd century. The oldest reference comes from Justin (mid 2nd century) in his Dialogue (103:8), without telling us whether these verses were in their present place. Family 13 of minuscules manuscripts (which are mostly lectionaries) places them after Matthew 26:39. Some modern Bibles have kept them as they are, others have relegated them to footnotes.

   1. Textual and Stylistic Evidence
      1. These verses are omitted in the following manuscripts: P⁶⁹, P⁷⁵, Codex Vaticanus and Alexandrinus, the first correction of the Sinaiticus, Syr^Sin, Sahidic Coptic. Moreover, it seems to be absent from the text of Luke used by Marcion, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and Origen.

      2. On the other hand, they are found in the original of the Sinaiticus and the second correction, in the Codex Bezae, Coridethi, family 1 of minuscules, the Vulgate, Syr^Cur, Peshitta and several copies of the bohairic. Justin, Tatian, Irenaeus and Hippolytus knew it. In short, the Alexandrian text family tends to omit them, while the Western, Caesarean and Byzantine text family tends to include them. In terms of textual criticism alone, the strength of the evidence is more on the side of omission.

      3. In terms of style, a number of things must be recognized:
         • The first four words, ōphthē de autō angelos (but an angel appeared to him), are identical to Luke 1:11.
         • The verb enischyō (to strengthen) is found only in Acts 9:19.
         • The words agōnia (agony), thrombos (drop) and ektenesteron (more intense) are only found here in the New Testament, which is reflected in the large number of single words in Luke's Gospel. Note that agōnizomai (to compete) is only used by Luke in the Gospels.
         • Genomenos (arrived, entered [in agony]) is a frequent expression in Luke.
         • Luke is the one who uses the words proseuchomai (to pray) and katabainō (to fall) the most.

         In conclusion, it must be acknowledged that the style and vocabulary of this passage is closer to Luke than to any other New Testament author.

   2. Evidence from Structure and Thought Pattern
      1. Some biblical scholars have developed the idea that by removing vv. 43-44, we would have a continuous chiasm-like narrative: a) invitation to pray to avoid trial, b) Jesus goes away to pray, c) he kneels down, d) Jesus prays, c¹) Jesus gets up, b¹) returns to his disciples, a¹) invites them again to pray to avoid trial. This idea does not hold water, because on the one hand, any simple story can always be seen as a chiasm, and on the other hand, other biblical scholars have perceived a chiasm by including vv. 43-44.

         It is a typical Lukean procedure to insist on Jesus' prayer. We can understand his difficulty in following Mark's Jesus who receives no answer to his prayer, and we can therefore imagine that he used another tradition to fill this void. In doing so, he shortens the scenes of Jesus' coming and going to his disciples. His account of the transfiguration, in which Jesus' prayer is answered by the appearance of Moses and Elijah, confirms this process.

   3. Hypotheses about Scribal Logic
      1. According to these hypotheses, it can only be an addition, as the passage is too long for an omission. And only theological reasons could justify an addition, because there can be no attempt at harmonization in this case. But what theological reasons? Some have raised the idea that a scribe would have wanted to associate this passage with the accounts of Christian martyrs of the second century. But the opposite is also valid: the anguish of Jesus is a counter-example for a Christian martyr who must die in serenity, joy and a certain imperviousness to sorrow.

      2. Others have proposed that a scribe would have added this passage to fight against Gnosticism and Doceticism of the 2nd century, thus insisting on the humanity of Jesus. In fact, Justin (Dialogue, 103.8) and Irenaeus (Adversus Haereses, 3.22.2) use this passage as an argument against the Docetians. But such an addition leads to a real paradox: the angel, by supporting Jesus, becomes a being superior to Christ, whereas many New Testament passages insist on the superiority of Christ (e.g. Colossians 1:18; 2:15,18). It is therefore its omission which is more plausible, since this passage could provide arguments to those who deny the divinity of Jesus (as in the case of Celsus, which Origen attacks). Moreover, this is what Epiphanes says (Ancoratus, 31.4-5) explaining its omission by the proponents of Orthodoxy to avoid giving ammunition to opponents.

   4. Problem of the Bloody Sweat
      1. The question is not whether it is a supernatural event, but whether Luke could have written this passage, and therefore would have considered such an event plausible. The answer is: yes, if we accept ancient authors like Aristotle who actually speak of bloody sweat (Historia animalium 3:19; #10). And modern medicine refers to hematidrosis, the slow flow of a pinkish-tinged sweat in times of extreme anxiety.

      2. But a more important question remains: Did Luke really mean to describe an event exactly, or rather to propose a metaphor? If we consider the phrase hōsei (as if, similar to) when he says: "as if (hōsei) drops of blood", we must interpret the phrase as Jesus sweats profusely, as if he were bleeding; it is a metaphorical meaning. Luke uses this process several times, as at Pentecost: "And they saw tongues appear which were as if they had been said (hōsei) were made of fire" (Acts 2:3).

      It must therefore be concluded that it is highly probable that Luke is the author of this passage.

2. Import of the Passage
   1. The Angel
      1. When Luke tells of the trial the devil puts Jesus through at the beginning of his ministry (4:2-13), he does not introduce an angel at the end of the trial to serve him as in Mark and Matthew: he simply says that the devil goes away to come back at the right time. Now this moment has arrived in Gethsemane. But this time he will introduce the angel by referring to Deuteronomy 32:43 (LXX: "Let all the sons of God bow down (proskyneō) before him. Rejoice, O nations, with his people, and let all the angels of God be strengthened (enischyō) in him", the same Deuteronomy (8:3; 6:13,16) that Jesus used to reject the devil's proposals earlier.

      2. Luke may have been trained to make this choice because of a tradition that associates an angelic response to Jesus' prayer about the cup or the hour. Of course, in Mark Jesus does not receive an explicit answer to his prayer, which he still interprets as an implicit answer and leads him to face the hour resolutely. Matthew follows Mark on this point, but later he tells us that Jesus did not insist on an answer, because if he had insisted, the Father would have sent him twelve legions of angels (about 72,000) (see 26:53). In John, when Jesus asks, "Father, glorify your Name," he receives an immediate and explicit vocal response, which people understand as coming from an angel (12:28-29). Thus, Luke's account preserves the silence of God as in Mark, but goes much further than him, and even further than Matthew, with the explicit intervention of an angel. This clear support avoids the ambiguity that we have in Matthew and John.

      3. To understand the role of the angels who tend to multiply in this period of Judaism, we must refer to the martyrology which is launched with the Maccabees, persecuted by Antiochus IV, king of Syria. The word agōnia appears with 2 Maccabees 3, 14.16: "There was not a little anguish in the city (agōnia)"; "for his physiognomy and the change in his complexion showed the anguish (agōnia) of his soul". In 4 Maccabees we are told of the martyr Eleazar that "blood was flowing on all sides" (6:6). At about the same time Daniel also suffered martyrdom when he was thrown into the burning furnace, but "the angel of the Lord came down at the same time to those who were in the furnace with Azariah, and shook the flame out of the furnace" (Daniel 3:49). Luke will use Stephen's martyrdom as the paradigm of the Christian dead and write: "All who sat in the Sanhedrin had their eyes fixed on him, and his face appeared to them as the face of an angel" (Acts 6:15). The martyrs are no longer really men, but angels, as we see in the Martyrdom of Polycarp (middle of the 2nd century), and are therefore able to see things from heaven.

      4. The sequence of events in vv. 43-44 also poses a problem: it is surprising that in v. 43 Jesus is comforted by an angel only to fall into even deeper anguish (v. 44). Yet we have the example of St. Paul who, after being "energized" (energeō) by God, enters into agony (agōnizomai) or struggle (Colossians 1:9). For, after being comforted by an angel, Jesus is able to face the trial (peirasmos) and to fight against the anguish that surrounds him; sweat is the sign of this inner struggle.

   2. Jesus' Agony
      1. The Greek word agōnia refers to what the athlete experiences just before the event: for example, the runner is tense, sweats a lot, has maximum concentration. In Luke's text, the angel plays the role of the coach, Jesus' prayer is the last minute preparation.
      2. The Bible gives us a number of examples. For instance, in the 4th book of the Maccabees, the martyr of Eleazar is compared to an athlete who wins the prize of virtue (9, 8) after multiple sufferings, because torture is seen as a fight (agōn) in an arena (gymnasia) of suffering (11, 20). Paul will compare the Christian ministry to that of a stadium athlete training to win the imperishable crown (1 Corinthians 9:25) and in 1 Timothy 4:7 we read: "Fight the good fight of faith (agōnizou ton kalon agōna)".
      3. Thus, the agony of Jesus in Luke is different from the sadness of Mark 14:34. It expresses the anguished tension of the athlete before the trial. The Father cannot spare him this trial, but with the support of the angel, he rises from prayer ready for the fight against the power of darkness. The sweat that flows, as if it were blood, is the visible sign that he is tense, ready to drink the cup and face the martyr.