Is Jesus Sweating Blood Original to the New Testament?
Luke 22:43-44 in the King James version reads
“And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 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.” (KJV)
Ang suffering ni Jesucristo sa Garden of Gethsemane ay isang napakaimportanteng event para sa mga Latter-day Saints dahil dito, the Savior bore all of our sins, sorrows, guilt, and sicknesses (D&C 19:16-19). Dahil dito, great drops of blood came from the pores of His skin. In some Bible versions however, ay wala ang Luke 22:43-44. Ang textual variant na kung saan ay nagsasabi na si Jesucristo ay nagpapawis ng dugo ay contained sa Textus Receptus, ang textual basis para sa King James Version, at sa Majority text.
Sa standard editions ng Greek New Testament, na ang Nestle-Aland 28 at sa UBS5, ang verse na ito ay nakabracket—meaning, ang verse na ito according sa editors ay doubtful to be original. Ang reading ng verse na ito sa Nestle-Aland 28 at sa UBS5 primarily bases sa Codex Sinaiticus, at Codex Vaticanus. It is however contained sa Codex Bezae, Codex Regius, et al. According sa isang Latter-day Saint New Testament scholar, Dr. Lincoln H. Blumell sa kanyang journal article “Luke 22:43-44: An Anti-Docetic Interpolation or Apologetic Omission” (TC: A Journal of Textual Criticism, 2014), ang verse na it is a matter of debate in the 4th century dahil it's concerns also ang nature ni Jesus Christ as God and man (i.e. Christological).
For the Christology of this verse, si Jesucristo ay very human according to this passage, dahil Siya ay nangangailangan ng tulong at comfort mula sa Isang angel. They say na it undermines ang pagka-Diyos ni Jesucristo. Some scholars (e.g. Bart D. Ehrman, et. al) argue na dinagdag lang daw ito sa New Testament para maiwasan ang Docetism, na kung saan ay ang paniniwala ang physical body is evil, therefore Christ did not have a physical body daw; but however, this argument ay hindi plausible.
Sinabi ni Dr. Blumell sa kanyang journal article na ang Luke 22:43-44 ay binura sa New Testament manuscripts due to apologetical purposes dahil ito ay Christologically challenging. Dr Blumell argues na ang manuscript evidence in favor sa Luke 22:43-44 (Codex Bezae, Codex Regius, et. al) represents a very early witness to this passage. Interestingly, if some have interpolated ang text ng New Testament dahil sa heresies, mayroon ding “orthodox” interpolations of Scripture, kagaya ng mayroon sa Luke 22:43-44. One early Christian father, Ephiphanus, reports on the omission of Luke 22:43-44:
“For not only did he accept our burdens the holy Logos came on our behalf, but also he became subject to plague and took flesh and was found a man and was arrested by the scribes and as he says, “I gave the back to the scourges, and my face I did not turn aside from the shame of spittings,” and also “he wept.” As appears in the Gospel of Luke in the uncorrected (unrevised) copies—and Saint Irenaeus has furnished a testimony in the writing Against Heresies against the heretics who say Christ appeared as a Phantom. But orthodox persons have omitted the passage out of fear, not understanding its purpose and great force. And so “being in agony he sweated, and his sweat became as drops of blood, and an angel appeared strengthening him.” (Epiphanius, circa 315-403 A.D, Ancoratus 31.3-5, emphasis added)
For Latter-day Saint Christology, Jesus needing strength and comfort from an angel ay hindi Christologically challenging dahil sa paniniwala na si Jesucristo ay kailangang maging fully human in order to become a full representative of humanity (cf. Jn. 1:14; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 2:7-9; 4:14-15). Jesus Christ have set aside His deity in order to undergo mortality and to atone for mankind. It will be problematic for those who accept that Jesus Christ in His mortal ministry, is both fully God and fully man, and this two natures exist in His person (i.e. ang Hypostatic Union). Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus Christ suffered, died and was resurrected: and His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane means very much, for He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows (cf. Isa. 53:4; Mosiah 14:4; Alma 7:10-13).
For further reading, see:
Lincoln H. Blumell, “Luke 22:43-44: An Anti-Docetic Interpolation or Apologetic Omission?”, in TC: A Journal of Textual Criticism, 19 (2014), 1-35.: https://jbtc.org/v19/TC-2014-Blumell.pdf
Michael Pope, “The Downward Motion of Jesus’ Sweat and the Authenticity of Luke 22:43–44,” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 79 (2017), 261–281.
