It was not a dread of the physical suffering he was soon to endure that brought this agony upon the Son of God. He was enduring the penalty of man’s transgression, and shuddering beneath the Father’s frown. He must not call his divinity to his aid, but, as a man, he must bear the consequences of man’s sin and the Creator’s displeasure toward his disobedient subjects. As he felt his unity with the Father broken up, he feared that his human nature would be unable to endure the coming conflict with the prince of the power of darkness; and in that case the human race would be irrecoverably lost, Satan would be victor, and the earth would be his kingdom. The sins of the world weighed heavily upon the Saviour and bowed him to the earth; and the Father’s anger in consequence of that sin seemed crushing out his life. {3SP 95.3}

Det var ikke frygt for den legemlige lidelse, som Guds Søn snart skulle udholde, der bragte denne sjælekval over ham. Han led straffen for (96) menneskenes overtrædelser og skælvede under Faderens strenge blik. Han måtte ikke benytte sin guddommelige kraft til at undfly denne sjælekval, men som menneske måtte han bære menneskets synd og Skaberens mishag mod hans ulydige undersåtter. Idet han følte, at hans forbindelse med Faderen blev afbrudt, frygtede han for, at han i sin menneskelige natur ikke ville være i stand til at udholde den kamp med mørkets fyrste, som forestod, og da ville menneskeslægten være uigenkaldelig fortabt. Satan ville vinde sejr, og jorden ville blive hans rige. Verdens synd trykkede tungt på Frelseren og bøjede ham til jorden, og faderens vrede som en følge af denne synd syntes at ville bringe døden over ham.