<p>22:41 <i>And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw away, and knelt down and prayed</i>- &quot;A stone's throw&quot; is an allusion to David and Goliath near the brook.&nbsp;</p><p>Paul's description of himself on the Damascus road falling down and seeing a Heavenly vision, surrounded by men who did not understand, is framed in exactly the language of Gethsemane (Acts 22:7 = Mt. 26:39); as if right at his conversion, Paul was brought to realize the spirit of Gethsemane. His connection with the Gethsemane spirit continued. He describes himself as &quot;sorrowful&quot; (2 Cor. 6:10), just as Christ was then (Mt. 26:37). His description of how he prayed the same words three times without receiving an answer (2 Cor. 12:8) is clearly linked to Christ's experience in the garden (Mt. 26:44); and note that in that context he speaks of being &ldquo;buffeted&rdquo; by Satan&rsquo;s servants, using the very word used of the Lord being &ldquo;buffeted&rdquo; straight after Gethsemane (2 Cor. 12:7 = Mt. 26:67).</p><p>To fall on the face is used in the Old Testament to describe men like Abraham and Moses falling on their face in the visible presence of God, e.g. before an Angel (Gen. 17:3; Num. 16:4; 22:31). Yet there was no visible manifestation of God&rsquo;s presence at this time; so we are to assume that the Lord Jesus intensely perceived the Father&rsquo;s presence even though there was no visible sign of it. It could be that the Angel from Heaven strengthening the Lord had already appeared, but this appears to come&nbsp;<i>after</i>&nbsp;the Lord had fallen on His face.</p><p>The Lord had foreseen how He must be like the grain of the wheat (note the articles in the Greek) which must fall to the ground and die, and then arise in a glorious harvest (Jn. 12:24). But soon after saying that, the Lord fell to the ground (same Greek words) in prayer and asked the Father if the cup might pass from Him (Mk. 14:35). It seems to me that He fell to the ground in full reference to His earlier words, and asked desperately if this might be accepted as the falling to the earth of the grain of the wheat, i.e. Himself, which was vital for the harvest of the world. Don&rsquo;t under-estimate the amount of internal debate which the Lord would have had about these matters. The spirit of Christ in the prophets testified Messiah&rsquo;s sufferings &ldquo;unto Christ&quot; (1 Pet. 1:11 RVmg.), but He still had to figure it all out. And this enabled an element of doubt, even though in the end He knew &ldquo;all the things that were coming upon him&quot; (Jn. 18:4). To doubt is not to sin. Another Messianic Psalm had foretold: &ldquo;In the multitude of my doubts within me, thy comforts delight my soul&quot; (Ps. 94:19 RVmg.). This aspect heightens the agony of His final crisis, when He unexpectedly felt forsaken.</p>