Gethsemane: Place of Prayer and Betrayal

“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, ‘Sit here while I go and pray over there.’ He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will but as You will…He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.’..Now his betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.’ “ –Matthew 26: 36, 39, 42, 48 (NKJV).

All four of the gospel writers give their accounts of Jesus going with eleven of his disciples to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. He took a little further in with him Peter, James and John who, like the other eight, went to sleep while Jesus prayed in such agony.

Gethsemane was a place to which Jesus withdrew to pray. It was a garden outside the city of Jerusalem, across the Brook Kidron, and up a short distance on the Mount of Olives. In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed the most impassioned prayer we have recorded from his lips. “Father, let this cup pass from me.” We see the humanness of Jesus in this prayer. He knew in advance what would befall him, the suffering, agony and shame.

Who among us does not dread physical suffering, especially that inflicted by others? Is there any soldier who faces the thick of battle without dread and fear of physical suffering?

Jesus was in a battle to overcome Satan and the powers of darkness. His death was immanent, predicted in prophecy, in place before the foundation of the world. In Gethsemane, Jesus showed the height of His emotional agony. “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” He prayed. “Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done.” In Gethsemane the sweat drops from Jesus’ brow were as drops of blood. In the garden He won in advance the victory in His death to come. He would suffer untold agony but His determination and God’s will would be fulfilled. In Gethsemane He did not suggest another way. We learn from Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane the important principle of voicing our human desires and fears, while at the same time seeking God’s perfect will, His way and His guidance.

Even though the hymn, “Go to Dark Gethsemane” is exceedingly somber, it is beautiful, deep and meaningful. The words penned by James Montgomery (1771-1854) recount well the suffering Jesus endured in the garden and the subsequent events. In some hymbooks, the signature verse following the title is: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38, NIV). I went to the hymnbook and read (and sang) the words of all four stanzas. Revisit in your meditations during this Holy Season Gethsemane, the Judgment Hall, Calvary and the empty tomb.

Go to dark Gethsemane
You who feel the tempter’s pow’r;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see,
Watch with Him one bitter hour;
Turn not from His griefs away;
Learn of Jesus Christ to pray. (“Go to Dark Gethsemane” by James Montgomery)

Then came the betrayer, Judas, with a crowd armed with swords and clubs to take Jesus. Judas had been paid a mere thirty pieces of silver by the chief priests to lead the arresting party to Him. Judas knew Jesus went to Gethsemane to pray. It was not hard to find Him on that dark night. A servant’s ear got cut off in the confusion. Immediately Jesus healed the man’s ear. Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, had done his terrible deed. He returned the money—blood money—to the Jewish leaders. Since it was blood money, they could not use it for regular treasury purposes. They bought a field and named it for Judas, making it a cemetery, place of the dead. In the Hinnom Valley outside Jerusalem, the potter’s field was used to bury people who died while visitors to the Holy City—even despised Gentiles.

And Judas’ end? He went out and hanged himself. Suicide was better than living with the weight and guilt of his abominable deed.

Gethsemane. I’ve had the privilege of visiting this garden, walking its paths, kneeling near where Jesus prayed. Giant, twisted trees, so experts tell us, were there even from before Jesus’ time. With awe and deep humility, I knelt beneath a gnarled olive tree and identified at least in part with what Jesus endured on His knees as He wrestled to fulfill His purpose in God’s plan to save even me. To reject the sacrifice of Christ would be a greater betrayal than even that which Judas Iscariot carried out in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Think on these things.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Thursday, March 25, 2010