Yes — John omits the agony because his Gospel presents Christ's deity, while the Synoptic Gospels emphasize His humanity.
Les Feldick teaches that Matthew, Mark, and Luke deal primarily with Jesus' humanity, but John's Gospel deals with His deity. The garden agony belonged to Christ's human suffering, so John leaves it out. The same reasoning explains why John also omits the wilderness temptations.
Luke 22:44 — This is the verse that records the very agony and sweat like blood that John does not include; it anchors the question in the Gospel accounts.
John 14:10 — Les points to John 14 to show how John's Gospel presents Jesus speaking as one with the Father, rather than agonizing as a man.
Luke 22:44 describes Jesus in the garden: "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." The three Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—record the garden event in their accounts of Christ's suffering. John's Gospel contains no such passage. Instead, John records Jesus speaking from the position of His deity, as in John 14:10: "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works."
Les Feldick explains that Matthew, Mark, and Luke are the Synoptic Gospels and "they deal primarily with His humanity side of everything," while "John's Gospel deals with His deity." That is why John leaves out both the temptations and the agony of Gethsemane: they belong to His human side and His suffering. Les also points out that in the Synoptics, Jesus prays to the Father, but in John's Gospel, because Jesus is God, He simply speaks to the Father; the King James translators' use of "prayed" does not reflect the Greek. He teaches that the four Gospels give different portraits: Matthew depicts Christ as King from David's royal family, Mark as Servant, Luke as Son of Man, and John as Son of God. Throughout this teaching, Les emphasizes that Jesus was totally human and totally God, and He never let His deity interfere with His humanity. When He was tired or hungry, He lived as a man—He rested, slept, and was genuinely hungry after fasting—even though He could have used His divine power.
Les Feldick says the Synoptic Gospels "deal primarily with His humanity side of everything," and John's Gospel "deals with His deity." He notes that in the Synoptic Gospels the language is correct that He prays to the Father, but in John, even in the King James, the translators use "prayed" when the Greek shows He simply spoke to Him as God. John's perspective is to present Christ as the Son of God and never let the reader lose sight of that.
Les notes that the temptations are recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke and are not recorded in John. In the same way that the Gethsemane agony was part of His humanity, the temptations dealt primarily with His humanity. From His human side, Jesus was truly hungry after fasting forty days and forty nights, and Satan attacked at that point. Since John is looking only at Christ as God, he never mentions these human experiences.
Les says Jesus on one hand was totally man, but on the other hand He was totally God, and by virtue of that fact He never let the two interfere. At no time when He was operating in the human did He let His deity interfere with His humanity. He could have let the deity part of Him rejuvenate Him when He was tired, but instead He rested, slept, and played the role of the human. From His human side He was hungry; from His deity side He was God. This is why the garden agony belongs to His humanity and can be omitted by John.
Les teaches that Matthew depicts Christ as the King from the royal line of David, Mark depicts Him as the servant, Luke pictures Him as the Son of Man, and John's Gospel depicts Him as the Son of God, His deity. Even in these roles, Les says, all the Scripture is depicting Christ from these same viewpoints, and the Gethsemane omission fits John's unique purpose.
The Last Adam as Life-Giving Spirit
Les identifies the second Adam as "the man Christ Jesus, the God-man," which establishes the two natures behind why John can omit human agonies.
Synoptic Gospels vs. John
Les directly says the Synoptic Gospels deal with Christ's humanity while John deals with His deity, and that John omits the temptations and the garden agony.
Why John Omits Temptation and Gethsemane
Les explains that the Synoptics record Jesus' temptation and His sweat like drops of blood, but John does not, because John is looking only at the fact that He is God.
Jesus Speaks, Not Prays, in John
Les teaches that in the Synoptics Jesus prays to the Father, but in John's Gospel, as God, He simply speaks to the Father.
Four Gospel Portraits of Christ
Les contrasts Matthew's King, Mark's servant, Luke's Son of Man, and John's Son of God, showing John's unique deity-focused purpose.
Jesus Never Let His Deity Interfere With Humanity
Les explains that Jesus was totally man and totally God, and He never let the two interfere—He rested and slept as a man instead of using His deity.
Jesus' Real Human Hunger
Les shows that Jesus was genuinely hungry from His human side after fasting forty days, illustrating why His temptations were part of His humanity.
Why Jesus Forbade Mary to Touch Him: The High Priest & His Blood
Now you want to remember, what did he go through before he even went to the cross? He went through the scourgings, which literally made a man's back like hamburger. He had the crown of thorns pushed on his head, he had his beard ripped out, and you don't pull a beard out without taking flesh with it.
Luke 22:44: And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
This is the Gospel record of the very agony that John omits, tying it to Christ's human suffering.
John 14:10: Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Les refers to John 14 to show how John's Gospel presents Jesus speaking from His deity as one with the Father.
1 Corinthians 15:45: And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
Les uses this verse to identify the second Adam as the man Christ Jesus, the God-man, in his teaching on Christ's two natures.
Ephesians 2:1: And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Les uses this verse to explain the meaning of quickening as life-giving, connecting it to the last Adam as a life-giving spirit.
Yes. Les says the agony is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but not in John. He explains that this was part of Christ's humanity and suffering, which is not John's focus.
Les says the same reason applies: the temptations were dealing primarily with His humanity as the Son of God. John, looking only at Christ as God, never mentions them.
Les teaches that Jesus was totally human and totally God at the same time, and He never let the two interfere. When He was tired or hungry, He lived as a man rather than using His deity to escape it.
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