Night, With Ebon Pinion
1. Could we explain the night in which Jesus was in the Garden praying as a night where wings
of darkness hovered over the valley (Night, with ebon pinion, Brooded o’er the vale)? Yes.
• Remember that the Lord’s Supper was instituted at night prior to the prayer in the
Garden (I Corinthians 11:23; cf. Matthew 26:26ff.).
• By way of implication, it was a late night (Matthew 26:31; 34; 40-41; 43; 45).
• Figuratively, it was the night in which our Lord was betrayed, thus one could say
darkness hovered that night in a spiritual sense (Luke 22:46-53). Darkness was
spreading this night.
2. Could we say that the night in which Jesus was praying was silent with exception to the
normal noises of that night’s wind? Yes.
• By way of implication there would not have been much activity at a sleeping hour.
• Jesus also liked to pray in solitude, thus one could say the implication of being alone
would leave only the noise of a night wind (Matthew 14:23 and Luke 6:12; cf.
Matthew 6:6).
3. Could Christ be explained as a Man of Sorrows in tears and sweat as blood on this night? Yes
(Matthew 26:37, Mark 14:32-34, and Luke 22:44).
4. Was Jesus prostrate in the garden this night raising His voice to His Father? Yes, Jesus was
on the ground, stretched out, in submission to the Father (Mark 14:35).
5. Was Jesus smitten for offenses which were not His own? Yes, (Isaiah 53:5, Romans 5:1521, Hebrews 4:14-15, and Hebrews 7:22-28).
6. Was Christ meek, lowly, humbly bowed in prayer, and alone on this night in the garden
because of our transgressions? Yes, (Matthew 11:28-30, Luke 22:41-42, and I Corinthians
15:3).
7. Did He pray “Abba, Father, Father” asking for this cup of anguish to pass from Him? Yes,
(Mark 14:36). Abba means “Father” and He did approach Him three times.
8. Did Christ, as God’s only begotten Son, accept the will of the Father in dying for our
transgressions? Yes, (John 10:17-18 and Hebrews 5:8-9).
9. Do you have any scriptural objections to singing this song in worship to God? No. *It should
be noted that the third verse of this song has quotation marks around it. While the
statements in that verse are true, this verse is not a direct quote of any passage in the New
Testament.
© 2007 This study was prepared for the midweek studies of the Sunrise Acres church of Christ in El Paso, TX by Brian A. Yeager.
© 2007 This study was prepared for the midweek studies of the Sunrise Acres church of Christ in El Paso, TX by Brian A. Yeager.