Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 22:43

"And there appeared unto him an angel from heaven, strengthening him." — Luke 22:43 (ASV)

Luke has already mentioned angels many times—in the Nativity narrative and elsewhere, e.g., 9:26; 12:8–9; 15:10; 16:22. So the appearance of an angel here in Gethsemane is not strange. Luke describes Jesus’ agony in physical terms, as we might expect a physician to do. The sweating was apparently so profuse that it looked like blood dripping from a wound.