Note 3 at Lk. 22:44: Jesus had told His disciples that they should always pray and not faint (Lk. 18:1). Here, Jesus applies His own teaching to Himself. When He was in agony and no doubt tempted with fainting (Heb. 4:15), He prayed more earnestly. We should do the same.

Note 4 at Lk. 22:44: It is interesting to note that Luke is the only one of the gospel writers to mention that Jesus' sweat was as great drops of blood. This is probably due to the fact that Luke had been a physician (Col. 4:14), and therefore, this had special significance to him.

There have been documented cases of people actually sweating drops of blood under extreme emotional pressure. This might explain why Luke is the only writer to mention the angel strengthening Jesus (v. 43). Just as when Jesus encountered Satan during His forty days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness and had to have the angels minister unto Him (Mk. 1:13), so here, He had to have supernatural strength to endure His sufferings.

The use of the words "as it were" might also mean that the sweat of Jesus was only comparable to blood in consistency or size, but at any rate, it is certainly underscoring the effect that Jesus' agony had on His physical body.

Note 5 at Lk. 22:44: The fact that Jesus' sweat was falling down to the ground shows that this was not just a little perspiration on His forehead, but that sweat was pouring off of Him to the ground.