| The Garden
of Gethsemane |
|
| No one can
hope to identify fully with the anguish the Son of God
must have suffered as he pleaded with his Father to show
him an escape route from the cross of Calvary. The Gospel
writers give us a glimpse of some of the pain and turmoil
which caused Jesus to plead with the Father to deliver
him from the necessity of dying the death of a criminal.
Matthew records some of Jesus’ feelings |
| “Then
Jesus went with his disciples to a place called
Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I
go over there and pray.’ He took Peter and the two
sons of Zebedee [John and James] along with him, and he
began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them,
‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrw to the point of
death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’” (Matthew
26:36-38) |
| Matthew
goes on to reveal the struggle Jesus had to accept the
task which lay before him: that of bearing the burden of
our sin in his own body on the cross: |
| “Going
a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and
prayed, ‘My Father,if it is possible, may this cup
be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.
"‘Could you men not keep watch with me for one
hour?’" he asked Peter. ‘"Watch and
pray..."’ He went away a second time and
prayed, ‘"My Father, if it is not possible for
this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your
will be done.’”" (Matthew 26:39-42) |
| Luke
describes even more vividly the agony Jesus encountered
while he prayed: |
| “And
being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat
was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”
(Luke 22:4)
|