Jesus Prays in the Garden of Gethsemane
Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46; John 18:1
by Cindy Jones
Mrs. Bartram’s arched her eyebrows as she spied my knee, clearly visible through the large hole in my jeans. It was the 80s and the ripped jeans look was reaching its peak. It had not, however, reached my classmates in my college prep English class. I hung out with the “Hoods” and dressed like them…. ripped jeans, heavy metal T-shirts, stone washed jean jacket and Nike high tops. The arched eyebrows appeared again when Mrs. Bartram saw the poem I chose about to write about and read to the class. It was about the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus’s walk to Golgotha. I had just accepted Christ as my Savior and everything in the Church and Christianity was new to me. The change in me had not yet made it to my choice of clothes. As I read, I stumbled over the words Gethsemane and Golgotha in both pronunciation and understanding. I thought a garden was a place of peace and beauty. It made sense to me that it would be a place to go and pray. I did not know that Gethsemane really was an olive grove. It was a place frequented by Jesus and his disciples for prayer and solitude but during this time it was also a place of anguish and overwhelming sorrow.
As a very shy teen, I rarely asked anything. No questions during class, no help from my friends, and nothing from my parents. Jesus asked his closest friends, those disciples, walking the journey and learning from him for one thing, stay awake and pray. But they could not even in his time of sorrow and need. Maybe their sorrow of knowing and…also not really knowing…what was coming was too much for them to bear and stay awake. They waken to Jesus’ voice.
When we fail, when we fall asleep in the garden, when our flesh is weak, when we feel like we are doing nothing for him, he comes and it is his voice that wakes us. It is His voices gathers us together for the next step. He went to Golgotha, the place of the Skull, was crucified, so we may have life and life abundant. As we reflect on Jesus and the disciples’ time in the garden, remember Jesus meets us in the mess, in the sorrow, in the anguish. He meets teen girls who aren’t quite sure where they are or where they are going and gently points the way. It can be a time to provide purpose, comfort, and joy as we follow this journey together.
Imagine you are in the garden, in the olive grove with Jesus. What questions do you have for him? What might his answers be?
During this Lenten season, how are you seeking to nurture a relationship with Jesus? How will you continue to nurture your relationship beyond the season of Lent?