Have You Had Hematohidrosis?

June 8, 2012 “And being in an agony of mind, He prayed all the more earnestly and intently, and His sweat became like great clots of blood dropping down upon the ground.” (Luke 22:44) (Amp) In my studying I came across a new word to me, a medical term called, Hematohidrosis. Wikipedia describes hematohidrosis as “a very rare condition in which a human sweats blood. It may occur when a person is suffering extreme levels of stress, for example, facing his or her own death. Several historical references have been described; notably by Leonardo da Vinci: describing a soldier who sweated blood before battle, men unexpectedly given a death sentence, as well as descriptions in the Bible, that Jesus experienced hematohidrosis when he was praying in the garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:44).” Jesus is the only one recorded in the Bible to have possibly experienced hematohidrosis. Outward stress moves from the brain through the body causing the vessels to dilate and rupture, releasing blood into the sweat glands which release the blood onto the skin, mixed with sweat. So it is possible that Jesus experienced hematohidrosis in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His arrest. He was not in “agony” over facing physical torture and death but agonized over having to take upon His pure, holy personage (the One Who knew no sin), all the sins of the whole world – every person’s sins who ever lived and who would ever live. Although Jesus was in great stress we don’t think of Him as being “anxious” or “fearful.” Webster defines “anxious” as, “characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind or brooding fear – worry.” My definition of worry is, “unbelief that God is in control of our situation.” To be either anxious or fearful would be sin because God tells us in His Word “not to be anxious for anything” (Phil.4:6,7) and that “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, and of love and of self-control” (II Tim.1:7,8 - Amp.). Jesus agony was not over the fear of torture and death, but His agony was indescribable pain and anguish of spirit over the prospect of Him being the pure, Holy God becoming filthy, vile and desecrated with our sins. It is important to notice what He was doing when this condition happened – He was praying. He took His pain and agony to the Father in prayer, trusting Him for the outcome. As long as we live in this world stress of some kind will be a daily occurrence (consider that we bring a lot of our stress on ourselves by our own willfulness), but in John 16:33 Jesus said, “In this world you will have distress, but take courage, be confident and undaunted for I have overcome the world” (Amp.). II Cor. 4:8-10 says, ”We are troubled and oppressed in every way, but not crushed; we are unable to find a way out, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted and hard driven, but not deserted to stand alone; we are struck down to the ground, but never struck out and destroyed; always carrying about in the body exposure the same putting to death that the Lord Jesus suffered, so that the resurrection life of Jesus also may be shown by and in our bodies” (Amp.). David Jeremiah describes stress as “being a mirror – it reveals better than anything else what is inside.” The way we handle stress defines who we are. In times of fear is the time to trust. I wrote in my blog, “Let Faith Be Your Doorkeeper” - “When fear knocks at the door, let “faith” answer. “God did not give us a spirit of fear, anxiety and worry but of love, power and of a well-balanced mind” (II Tim.1:7, 8). So when fear, anxiety and worry try to dominate your mind go to the Lord in prayer. Remember the verse in Philippians 4:6 which says, “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything pray, with thanksgiving, and let your wants be made known to God. And God’s peace shall be yours, that tranquil state of soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God, that peace which transcends all understanding shall mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Amp.). When you intentionally trust your anxiety to God and walk in peace of mind, your character becomes stronger and more peaceful and filled with faith. We will never experience the kind of stress and agony that Jesus went through, but however great our agony of spirit if we focus on Jesus and His sufficiency to keep us, go with us and love us through it all, we can experience that wonderful peace that comes only from prayer, thanksgiving and trusting God. Wonderful Peace (W. D. Cornell) O Soul, are you here without comfort and rest, walking down the rough pathway of time? Make Jesus your friend ere the shadows grow dark, O accept this sweet peace so sublime! What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace buried deep in the heart of my soul, So secure that no power can mine it away while the years of eternity roll. I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace, resting sweetly in Jesus’ control, and I’m kept from all danger by night and by day, now His glory is flooding my soul. Peace! Peace! Wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray, in fathomless billows of love. , in fathomless billows of love.>