Luke 22:43-44 (Christ's Agony at Gethsemane)

Luke 22:43 (KJV) And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 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.

Many modern versions mark these verses as doubtful, despite the overwhelming testimony of their authenticity by several church fathers, ancient versions, and Greek manuscripts--including the original hand of Codex Sinaiticus! (According to UBS-4, a corrector of this ms. later marked the verses to be omitted, but a second corrector restored them.) It is to be noticed that even the NAS and NIV do not bracket or remove these verses from the main text, although both include a note on them in the margin. The patristic testimony is abundant and impressive; for example:

Justin Martyr (d. 165 A.D.): Moreover, the statement, "All my bones are poured out and dispersed like water; my heart has become like wax, melting in the midst of my belly" [Ps. 22:14], was a prediction of that which happened to Him on that night when men came out against Him to the Mount of Olives to seize Him. For in the memoirs which I say were drawn up by His apostles and those who followed them, (it is recorded) that His sweat fell down like drops of blood while He was praying, and saying, "If it be possible, let this cup pass": His heart and also His bones trembling; His heart being like wax melting in His belly: in order that we may perceive that the Father wished His Son really to undergo such sufferings for our sakes, and may not say that He, being the Son of God, did not feel what was happening to Him and inflicted on Him. (--"Dialogue with Trypho," ch. 103.)
Chrysostom (d. 407 AD): And He prays with earnestness, in order that the thing might not seem to be acting. And sweats flow over him for the same cause again, even that the heretics might not say this, that He acts the agony. Therefore there is a sweat like drops of blood, and an angel appeared strengthening Him, and a thousand sure signs of fear, lest any one should affirm the words to be feigned. (--"Homily 83 on Matthew.")
Irenaeus, Theodoret, John of Damascus, Augustine, and numerous other fathers.

Burgon notes that "These two Verses [v. 43-44] were excised through mistaken piety by certain of the orthodox,--jealous for the honour of their LORD, and alarmed by the use which the impugners of His GODhead freely made of them." He also cites Ephraem, who "puts . . . into the mouth of Satan, addressing the host of Hell" a statement of rejoicing over the Lord's agony. (Dean John William Burgon, The Revision Revised, 1883, reprint by Dean Burgon Society Press, Collingswood, NJ; p. 82).

Indeed, Hilary of Poitiers (d. 367) remarks on the fact that, even by his time, "in many manuscripts, both Latin and Greek, nothing is said of the angel's coming or the Bloody Sweat," and though he says he intends therefore to "suspend judgment, whether this is an omission, where it is wanting, or an interpolation, where it is found," he feels obliged to defend it anyway:

. . . let not the heretics encourage themselves that herein lies a confirmation of His weakness, that He needed the help and comfort of an angel. Let them remember the Creator of the angels needs not the support of His creatures. (--"De Trinitate," Book 10, para. 41).

Hilary's discomfort as to the way the passage might be interpreted by "heretics" points clearly to the motivation spoken of by Burgon for its omission by some misguided faithful.

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