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The Garden of Gethsemane
“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane” (Matthew 26:36)
Jesus and his disciples had just finished celebrating the passover meal together. The evening had been fraught with tension and discomfort.
There was the moment when Jesus acted the part of a servant and washed his disciples’ feet. The act of humility contrasted sharply with the discontented murmurings of pride and jealousy that had rippled among them just moments before Jesus had commenced his menial task.
Then there was the moment during dinner when Jesus informed them that one of them would betray him. The announcement had landed like a thunderbolt out of a clear blue sky. Amid the outcry of shock and disbelief they had all looked at each other and then at Jesus. Who was it? They asked. Jesus identified Judas who had immediately left the gathering. The entire episode had left them all unsettled and confused.
What did Jesus mean by it? How would Judas betray him? Why would Judas betray him?
And then Jesus had spoken again of his death. Something that none of them could accept let alone come to terms with. How could he die? He was the son of God. They had seen him raise Lazarus from the grave after four days of decomposition had set in. How then could Jesus possibly succumb to death?
The final bombshell came by way of another announcement. Jesus said that they would all desert him that night. It was a strange and ominous pronouncement. Made even worse by the fact that Peter, ever ready to shoot off at the mouth, had declared that though everyone else would desert Jesus, he would never stoop so low.
Jesus had told him that before the cock crowed twice Peter would deny him three times. Peter had recoiled in horror at such a pronouncement. The rest of them were not sure what to make of it. There was a tinge of smug satisfaction that Peter had been so efficiently shut up. A feat that was by no means easy to achieve. But then the heavy emotions of the night piled into their minds like unwelcome guests at a party.
Now they were standing at the garden of Gethsemane and a cloud of dread seemed to hang over Jesus. Turning to the group Jesus summoned Peter, James and John, his familiar inner circle and motioned for them to follow him into the small olive grove.
The rest of them sank down on to the soft, dew-damp earth, wrapped their cloaks around themselves and settled in for a long wait. They knew the drill. Jesus often spent long nights in prayer and they sensed that tonight would be no different.
When Jesus entered the garden he seemed to stagger and the three disciples who were with him started forward in alarm. Looking at them Jesus said “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me”
They could see that he was in terrible distress. His face was strained and beads of sweat were forming on is his face. Wordlessly they nodded and watched as staggered away from them and then fell on his face to the earth.
Unsure of what to do and weighed down by the strange events of the night, Peter, James and John sat down to wait. They dozed, occasionally awakened by the anguished cries of Jesus and yet they just couldn’t seem to rouse themselves enough to go to him or at the very least keep a vigil of prayer beside him.
Jesus’ soul was being torn apart by the enormous weight of sin that seemed to press down on him. A suffocating cloud of darkness seemed to swallow him whole, wrenching him out of the Father’s presence and shutting out His face altogether.
Of everything Jesus had to suffer on his journey to the cross what caused him the greatest suffering was being separated from his father because of your sins and mine. That is the true price he paid. Something that we will never fully understand because no human mind can comprehend the level of intimacy and oneness between the father and Jesus.
As the terrible weight of sin pressed on his soul Jesus cried out “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will but as You will”
Jesus didn’t want to face the soul shattering anguish of carrying the sins of the entire world on his shoulders. He didn’t want to taste the second death. And yet, even in the midst of a trial that seemed too great for him to bear, he submitted himself to the will of His Father.
Of all the things we can learn from the life of Jesus this one lesson is the most powerful. It takes a special kind of faith to submit to the will of our father in heaven when we are faced with a trial that will require not only our blood but also our hope and our future.
Even though Jesus knew he would be resurrected, at this moment he struggled to see beyond the weight of sin pressing upon his soul to the hope of that resurrection. Sin was severing his connection with heaven and the break seemed irrevocable. How could God resurrect him when such blackness seemed to taint every pore of his being?
Jesus struggled on the knife edge of despair. The fate of the entire world hung in the balance, suspended like a fragile thread. If Jesus had chosen to walk away from the road ahead of Him, that silver chord would have snapped and none of us would have had any hope.
Three times Jesus pleaded with God. Three times he came to check on his disciples hoping for some word of comfort or help. Three times he found them sleeping. Oblivious to his pain. Oblivious to the great struggle for their souls that was taking place around them.
And yet, despite the despair and darkness that tore through him, despite the discouragement that weighed him down, Jesus faith did not fail. And because His faith did not fail you and I have hope.
Jesus prayer in Gethsemane morphed from a desperate desire to escape his circumstances into a prayer of resolute submission. “O My Father” he prayed “if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done”
His face was streaked with blood and grime, evidence of the internal struggle that had torn through his body but when he stood up and walked over to his disciples there was peace in his soul. He had wrestled with the darkness and he had come out victorious once more. He had surrendered his will to the will of God, and He knew that the grace of God would carry Him through the ordeal ahead.
Coming to his sleeping disciples he said “Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand." It was time for them all to face what lay ahead.
What matters most in the life of a Christian is our willingness to submit ourselves to God’s will, even in those moments when doing so seems too much to bear. That is the crucible that our faith is tested in. It’s easy to submit to God’s will when everything is flowing in the direction we want it to go. It’s harder to submit when life throws us curveballs we don’t know how to handle.
But there is hope in every trial.
Jesus suffered in Gethsemane. His submission to God’s will led him to calvary and a Roman cross. All that was hard. But all that lasted only three days. At the end of the most intense 72 hours of his life, Jesus conquered death and single-handedly saved the entire universe from the scourge of sin.
The darkness didn’t press him down forever. There was light at the end of the tunnel.
While the price Jesus paid for your salvation and mine was steep I think we can all agree that it was worth it. Where would we be if Jesus hadn’t chosen to walk the path he did over those nightmarish 72 hours? I am so glad he made the choice He did and the Bible tells us that He is too. Hebrews 12:2 says for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, despised its shame, and is now set down at the right hand of God. The joy of seeing me eternally free from sin was enough to power him through that final and painful leg to the cross and beyond. He did it for me. And I am grateful. How about you?
