The Agony
Philosophers have measured mountains,
Fathomed the depths of seas, of states, and kings,
Walked with a staff to heav'n, and traced fountains:
But there are two vast, spacious things,
The which to measure it doth more behove:
Yet few there are that sound them; Sin and Love.
Who would know Sin, let him repair
Unto Mount Olivet; there shall he see
A man so wrung with pains, that all his hair,
His skin, his garments bloody be.
Sin is that press and vice, which forceth pain
To hunt his cruel food through ev'ry vein.
Who knows not Love, let him assay
And taste that juice, which on the cross a pike
Did set again abroach; then let him say
If ever he did taste the like.
Love is that liquor sweet and most divine,
Which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine.

-- Herbert, George (2004-10-07). The Complete English Poems (Penguin Classics) (pp. 33-34). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition

Questions for consideration in family worship:

1. What is the context of Christ's cry in verse 1?
2. Since Jesus knew all that was going to take place, why does he ask "Why?"?
3. How does Jesus' agony on the cross compare and contrast with that in the garden of Gethsemane?
4. What attribute of God does Jesus contemplate in verse 3? Describe that attribute.
5. Why would the jeers of the crowd be particularly cutting to Jesus?
6. What was taking place during the darkness?
7. What is atonement?
8. What does it mean for atonement to be substitutionary?
9. Why was the atonement so costly?
10. Was Christ's atonement effectual or potential? Explain.
11. Did the Father accept Christ's atonement? How do we know?