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Day 272

John 18:1-11 "THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE"

Day 272 – John 18

THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE

How many times had Jesus gone to the Garden of Gethsemane? John intimates that Jesus had been there many times! His struggle in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane took place in familiar surroundings. Even Judas knew exactly where he would find him.

“And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place;
for Jesus often met there with His Disciples.”
John 18:2

Perhaps the Disciples felt that this was just another regular trip to the Garden of Gethsemane. Thus they did not feel the tension in the air as they made their way into the Garden.

UNDERSTSANDING THE THREE INTENSE PRAYERS OF JESUS IN THE GARDEN

The Synoptic Gospels include many details about how Jesus agonized in prayer as He knelt and spoke to His Father (Mark 14:32-42; Matthew 26:36-46; Luke 22:39-46). How do we understand this sense of intensity that Jesus felt, in the light of the relative sense of calmness expressed in the high-priestly prayer recorded in John 17?

There are a number of ways in which we can balance the two seasons of prayer. Whatever the case, we must not think that Jesus was in any way inconsistent with Himself in prayer!

1. THE HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER OF JESUS (John 17)

a) The Scope of this prayer was different!
b) The Focus was more of a reflection of Jesus’ ministry, the immediate Disciples, and the future Disciples that would be made.
c) The occasion would change the nature and tone of the prayers offered to God.

2. THE PRAYERS IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE (Synoptic Gospels)

a) The scope of these prayers was quite different. Here, Jesus struggled in prayer as a Man seeking to subject every part of His being to comply with the will of God!
b) The focus of His prayer was to yield Himself to the most intense suffering that a person could be subject to!
c) It is important that we try and comprehend the weight and the gravity of the cross that God had given Jesus to bear! The pain and suffering that Jesus was asked to bear was for sinners – like us! We must never imagine that Jesus never felt the intense pressures of life that we all go through! He was fully man, and fully God! It was as Man that He felt sorrow as He did!

How our hearts must be moved to read these words found in the Synoptic texts!

“My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.”
Mark 14:34 (Matthew 26:38)

“And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly.
Then His sweat became like great drops of blood
falling down to the ground.”
Luke 22:44

A TREMENDOUS SENSE OF IDENTIFICATION

Jesus prayed intensely in the Garden of Gethsemane. He sought to yield Himself fully to obey His Father and to drink the cup of suffering that would lead to His death. His Father had handed Him the cup. Would He not drink it? Slowly, he drank long and deep from the bitter cup of suffering. With each sip, He felt the sorrows of mankind’s sins. Can we understand such a sense of identification?

In the Book of Ezra, we have an example of Ezra the priest feeling the weight of the sins of the Jews who had returned from captivity! There had been such a sense of joy and victory when the Jews returned. But that joy was short-lived, for soon the ugly head of sin rose up menacingly once again. Ezra was beyond anger! Tears came and he wept bitterly before God. We read,

“Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has
been foremost in this trespass. So when I heard this
thing, I tore my garments and my robe,
and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard,
and sat down astonished … and I sat astonished until
the evening sacrifice …
Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was
confessing, weeping and bowing down
before the house of God …”
Ezra 9:2-4; 10:1

If Ezra could feel the weight of the sins of the Jews, how much more Jesus must have felt the weight of the sins of the world. He had come as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. That was an onerous task to perform! But of course, Jesus felt the way He did and prayed the way He did too!

A RETURN OF CALMNESS OF SPIRIT

It is important to note that Jesus did not stay in this troubled state for too long. After His intense seeking of His Father in prayer, there came that peace that passes all understanding in His heart.

His Disciples had been overcome with tiredness and they had slept while He prayed. He went to them and woke them up, for soon He would be betrayed, by none other than His erstwhile Disciple, Judas Iscariot.