Gethsemane

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night, for it is written:

'I will strike the Shepherd,

And the sheep will be scattered.'

"But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter said to him, "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be." Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." But he spoke more vehemently, "If I have to die with you, I will not deny you!" And they all said likewise.

Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." And he took Peter, James and John with him, and he began to be troubled and deeply distressed. Then he said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch." He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me, nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will." Then he came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again he went away and prayed, and spoke the same words. And when he returned, he found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer him. Then he came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough! The hour has come; behold the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand."

- Mark 14:26-42

In the lectionary cycle, we covered the passages between yesterday's reading and today's before Easter. That section and commentary may be read here: The Last Supper.

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. My study bible notes that a hymn means a psalm from a group of psalms (Ps. 115-118) traditionally sung after the Passover meal.

Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' " This quotation is from Zechariah 13:7. "But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee." When we read, the day before Easter, the reading of The Empty Tomb, we noted that the angel will say to the women at the tomb, the Holy Myrrhbearers, "But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."

Peter said to him, "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be." Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." But he spoke more vehemently, "If I have to die with you, I will not deny you!" And they all said likewise. Of course, we know what will happen. This passage, we recall, comes just after the Last Supper passage, in which Jesus announces to his disciples that one of them will betray him. My study bible notes that "Peter still does not understand the need for divine help to remain faithful. Peter's desire is right, but his source of strength--himself--is wrong." Peter's vehement insistence is characteristic of him and his nature, as displayed through the gospels. His emotional stubbornness and vehemence will be transformed by the Spirit, as he will truly grow to be the "Rock" that he has been named by Jesus. I think it's important to recall to ourselves that Peter's story is one of repentance, redemption and forgiveness for betrayal; the angel's words to the women reflect specifically the inclusion of Peter as a disciple after the betrayal Jesus has just predicted. It is often speculated that one great, striking difference between Peter and Judas is that Peter returns for forgiveness, and Judas does not.

Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." Gethsemane means "oil press." It is an orchard of olive trees at the foot of the Mount of Olives where oil was extracted from the olives. When olive oil is mentioned or suggested, we turn to its many significant associations; among them, olive oil is considered balm, healing for wounds - it was the base for all healing balm in the ancient world. In Greek, we recall, the word for mercy, "eleos," is the same in sound as the word for "olive oil." Tonight, in this place of olives and the oil press, Jesus will need the healing balm and soothing of the Father, and the comfort of his friends, prefigured in the act of the woman in yesterday's commentary, who anointed him with aromatic oil.

And he took Peter, James and John with him, and he began to be troubled and deeply distressed. Then he said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch." He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me, nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will." My study bible notes, "Abba in Aramaic is the familiar form for Father, equivalent to "Daddy" or "Papa," indicating Christ's intimacy with God the Father. Jesus prays to be spared this cup, his death by crucifixion, but obediently entrusts himself to the will of God. It is not as God that he asks that the hour might pass, but as man. His divinity cannot suffer; his humanity can and does." Then he came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again, a helpful note here in my study bible: "To watch and pray is the way to avoid entering into temptation--at any time, anywhere. The spirit of the disciples, their inner selves, is ready to die with Jesus [note Peter's words, above], but their flesh, their physical bodies, is weak and given to sleep." Again he went away and prayed, and spoke the same words. And when he returned, he found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer him. Jesus is at his time of agony; we get a glimpse of his distress and agitation in this passage. He is "sorrowful, even unto death." He repeatedly prays to have the cup passed from him of his death and crucifixion, but is willing to follow, nevertheless, the Father. And his disciples are not there for him. He is alone in his struggle.

Then he came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough! The hour has come; behold the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand." Just as Jesus has predicted that Peter will deny him three times, so three times Jesus has found his closest disciples -- those who were with him on the Mount at the Transfiguration -- have failed him. Unlike the vivid experience on "the high mountain," they have failed to remain awake this night, to "watch and pray" with him as he has asked, and have fallen instead into sleep. By the time of his betrayal, Jesus' prayer has prepared him, and he meets his fate with strength and characteristic courage. The time of waiting is over, It is enough! It is, finally, his time, the hour has come.

Through the gospels, Jesus repeatedly evades capture despite the many times the authorities attempt to have him arrested. We noted how he said, "My hour is not yet come." But now is the time, the hour has come. Do we not all go through times of trial and agony? Though Christ has repeatedly said, and the gospels tell us, that the hour is chosen by him, known by him, through the will of the Father, nevertheless he does not escape the agony of the time. He goes through all that we go through in his evident anxiety, and "exceeding sorrow, even unto death." Jesus will play his role as man and God, and bear every anxiety of the depth of darkness and foreboding. But over and over again, he sets us our example. He is alone, even his disciples fail him -- they fail to keep watch and pray with him, as he has asked. And he knows they will be scattered in the days to come. When the good news of the Resurrection comes, it is they who will be weeping and mourning, and the women and others who act and bear the good news. It is a time of profound darkness, in the sense that truly faith is a matter for each of them to take up, and Jesus does not have control over what they will choose when they are scattered.

Do you face trials, anxieties, and your own possibility of despair? We must understand that the God that we worship has also experienced this depth. He prays for himself, he prays to have the cup passed from him. He prays for God the Father's will. But in that depth, he is alone, and this prayer is what sustains him. To pray and to watch, my study bible noted, is our way through temptation. And we could say that, in a sense, Jesus' great temptation here must include the temptation to despair. Conceivably, he could run away - as he has eluded the authorities before on numerous occasions. But it is now his time, his hour, and it is enough! When we are in the times of our own anxieties and uncertainty, let us take his example, and watch and pray to avoid the temptation of despair and panicked flight. It is very important, to my mind, that we know that Jesus was alone in this time, because so very often, we face the same scenes of our own dark times, alone. We must have a God who answers this place in ourselves with his own experience and understanding -- and in Jesus, we do have that. To my mind, this depth of experience of the incarnate Jesus in darkness and the effects of evil was absolutely necessary for salvation. Are you alone? Do you feel there is no one to help, to advise, to watch and pray with you? Remember the Comforter. We can call on the Spirit of the risen Christ, who has been there before us so that he can be there with us now. Our religion is about relationship, it is practiced in community, and yet it also reaches down into our moments of darkest time, when we are even alone, abandoned by those we call our companions in life, perhaps forgotten, and have no one to turn to. Its emphasis cannot be overdone, that we also worship the One who has gone through his agony alone, betrayed, abandoned, forgotten, that He is the One who is there for us, and who prays with us. Our religion is not just one of communal worship, but also of our most isolated, intimate, private moments of darkness, when we have no one but Him to turn to. In that darkness, we are not isolated, but can also take solace and direction if we "watch and pray" with Him. He is there, he has been there, and shares this time with us when all else fails. Have faith.