In the Garden of Gethsemane

And so Jesus departs from the Upper Room . . . and begins the quiet march toward his arrest.  He returns again this night to the Mount of Olives, and stops in the garden that we hold so dear, the Garden of Gethsemane, where he prayed to his Father, about the agony that was soon to come upon him . . . Luke 22.39-46 - http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2022:39-46&version=NIV1984

Think for a moment about what it must have been like on that night . . . The disciples were with him, and had been forewarned about the urgency of that evening--they saw it, and knew Judas was somewhere putting his plot into motion. Jesus turned and looked at his men, and asked them to 'watch and pray--to wait for him', and then took himself a little way off, and entered into the most desperate prayer of his lifetime. Once again, he knew he was in this alone--how he loved the disciples, but they didn't get it . . . in fact, as Jesus looks over his shoulder, he sees that they are asleep.

Oh, the anguish our Lord must have felt . . . but we can't be too hard on the disciples; remember, they had just had the Passover meal, which included four cups of wine, and it had been a long day.

Jesus knelt down to pray, "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." It was not just the horror of the crucifixion that awaited Jesus, but the moment when God the Father would turn his back on him as all of our sins were upon him--it was the total separation from God. So, "being in agony, he was praying very fervently; and his sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground."¹

Luke, a physician, was the only gospel writer who wrote of this condition; the clinical term is “hematohidrosis.“  Around the sweat glands, there are multiple blood vessels in a net-like form. Under the pressure of great stress, the vessels constrict. Then as the anxiety passes, “the blood vessels dilate to the point of rupture. The blood goes into the sweat glands.” As the sweat glands are producing a lot of sweat, it pushes the blood to the surface - coming out as droplets of blood mixed with sweat. [Mel Gibson did a masterful job recreating this Garden scene, including the hematohidrosis Jesus experienced in "The Passion of the Christ,".]

The Garden is still there today.  Right next to the Church of All Nations is the Garden of Gethsemane, the place widely accepted as the spot where Jesus spent his last night in prayer and where he was arrested. There are a few olive trees within the fenced garden that date back more 2000 years, silent witnesses in a beautiful garden. Oh, if only those trees could speak!

What are we to take from that Garden, when our Lord prayed, crying out to the Father?  First, it occurs to me that every time the Old Testament noted that the people were 'crying out to God', he heard their prayer, and came and answered. Friends, when we cry out to God in prayer, he hears us too.

>Then, as Paul said, Jesus was a man, who suffered everything we have and everything we will, and yet was without sin. He sought the Father's will, and in humility, Jesus submitted to the Father's will.

>We know from the gospel narratives, that Jesus regularly retreated to pray, and be alone with his Father; so, on this the night of his greatest trial, it was natural that Jesus would pray.  I am wondering if it is just as natural for you . . . just as natural for me . . . hmmmm.

>Of course, you and I cannot go back in time and take the disciples' place that night, yet we often find ourselves certain that we could have stayed awake, and prayed for Jesus as he had asked, and for ourselves as well. We can do what he has asked us to do—we can be ready, and with his help, we can remain faithful.  “…Let us lay aside every weight, and sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…”² 

Get alone with your Father this week; take a break and retreat to a garden to pray.  Sit in his presence, thinking of the great love of God for you, evidenced so clearly in the events of the Passion Week.  Thank him.  And by the way, perhaps you are not usually a church goer, but I challenge you to seek out a church to attend either a Good Friday service or the Easter celebration of the Resurrection on Sunday. 

Christine

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