Luke 22:44
The context
The scene is the Mount of Olives, where Jesus has told the disciples to pray against temptation and then withdrawn about a stone's throw away. Luke alone describes an angel strengthening him and the intensity of his prayer. The arrest follows while the disciples are still sleeping.
What it establishes
It establishes that the prayer was not calm resignation but a struggle, and that Luke thought the physical toll worth recording. It also establishes that help was sent rather than the request granted.
What it does not establish
It does not yield a medical diagnosis. The description of sweat like drops of blood has been read as a known condition, but that is an inference from a simile, and Luke may be describing appearance rather than composition. Several manuscripts omit these verses, and the textual question is genuine.
Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.
Cited in these answers
Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.