Agony

Lenten Vespers, Week One

Jesus’ Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  AMEN.

The Sorrowful Mysteries tell the story of Jesus’ final hours before His crucifixion. They begin with His Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.

It is Thursday night, the last night before Jesus’ Crucifixion.

Jesus has come to Jerusalem, to the holy city of His ancestor David, to very house of God on earth, in order to celebrate the holiest holiday of God’s people, the Passover. All His life He has visited Jerusalem and the Temple, but this time, this last time, has been different. The people hailed Him as the Christ, crying “Hosanna to the Son of David!” They might have risen up against their overlords, the foreign occupiers from Rome, save for the fact that Jesus rode in on a donkey rather than a stallion. In ancient times, a king approaching on horseback meant conquest; a king come upon a donkey meant peace.

Many are trying to kill Him. Messianic furor is at an all-time high. The prophets of old declared this to be the appointed time for the Christ to arrive, and God’s people expect Him to be a man of war, leading armies to drive out the Romans. Jerusalem is a powder keg waiting to explode, waiting to rise up, and all eyes are upon Jesus. His words and deeds, His miracles and wonders, the very facts of His birth and life all point to Him as the Christ. Will He fulfill the hopes of God’s people, or be just another pretender to the ancient throne of David and prophecies of Daniel? Will He liberate His people? Will He smite down their oppressors? Will He start a war?

Jerusalem is run by powerful men who live Hellenized lives, fond of the wealth and privileges granted to them by Rome. They have no desire to see their positions threatened by an uprising. Even the more pious among them have no desire to see Jerusalem and her people crushed beneath the mighty boot heels of the Legions. Without a single weapon or soldier or even wealth to command, Jesus is seen as a threat by us all: by Gentiles and Jews, by occupiers and freedom fighters, even by one of His own inner circle. It is, after all, Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 Apostles, who betrays Jesus, who leads the Temple guard to Him by night, when He is away from the crowds, when they cannot riot to protect Him.

Why does Judas betray his Lord? He sits by Jesus during the Passover supper. He celebrates with Jesus the holiest night of the year—all before running out to fetch His assassins. The devil was in Judas, of course, but it was a devil he chose. And he regretted it afterwards, even to the point of returning the blood money and taking his own life. Why did Judas betray his Lord? We cannot say. But many have suspected that Judas sought to force Jesus’ hand—to force Him to reveal to the world that, yes, Jesus is the Christ, come to lead Judean armies to glory. Judas knew that Jesus was the Messiah. He just expected a different sort of Messiah.

After the Passover meal, after Judas runs into the night to fetch the guards, Jesus leaves Jerusalem under cover of darkness—something rare and dangerous in ancient cities. Roman curfews were often quite strict. People skulking about at night were assumed to be thieves, assassins, and ne’er-do-wells. Jesus leaves the city and returns to the Mount of Olives just east of Jerusalem: the Mount of Olives overlooking the great Temple, and from which the Messiah had been prophesied to come when He finally arrived to enter into Jerusalem. As we might expect, the Mount of Olives is covered in olive trees, which can live for hundreds or even thousands of years. There are trees there today which were alive the last time that Jesus was there. Towards the base of the mountain lies the Garden of Gethsemane, which means simply “olive press.”

Here Jesus is wracked with anxiety and prays most fervently. He knows that Judas will find Him here, since the Mount of Olives has long been Jesus’ preferred spot to teach and to pray. He knows that He will be murdered by the very souls He has come to save. He does not run; He does not fight; He waits and prays in earnest. The excitement of the previous week, and especially of the Last Supper, seems to have proven too much for the remaining 11 Apostles, for they cannot keep awake, and Jesus is left alone, devoid of companions or support. It is not cowardice that causes Him to tremble. Bravery is not the lack of fear. Bravery is to stand strong in spite of fear. He trembles not for His sins but for those of the world which He takes upon Himself, and which He will carry to the Cross and from there down into hell.

He is about to die a slow, horrible, humiliating death, one He in no way deserves. But we must keep in mind that the Cross is not the will of God; humanity chooses the Cross. Humanity demands the death of our King and our God. It is God Who dies on the Cross for our sins. It is God Who will rise from the grave.

So great is the agony laid upon Jesus’ back that He begins to sweat great drops of blood. This, we note, is not some literary invention nor simple religious symbolism. Hematidrosis, sweating blood, is a medical condition in which great anxiety causes the tiny capillaries around someone’s sweat glands to burst, making their skin supersensitive to pain. Throughout history, sweating blood has been reported amongst soldiers about to enter battle and convicts facing execution. I confess that I myself have witnessed this during my time as a trauma bay chaplain, though it took me a bit to realize what I was seeing: a man, screaming and hysterical, painted in blood, with no visible wounds, and whose clothes were stained from the inside out.

Such is the agony experienced by our Lord even before the formal tortures begin. Yet He does not run, does not hide, does not even defend Himself. Rather He gives Himself over entirely to those He has come to save, holding nothing back—not even His life. He knows all of this, accepts it, and suffers alone: suffers for love.

Between the Mount of Olives and the city of Jerusalem lies a deep gash in the earth, a craggy valley known as the Kidron. And the Kidron Valley is a gigantic cemetery. On the last night before His death, Jesus will descend from the Mount of Olives and enter the holy city, just as was prophesied of the Messiah. Little did we know, little did we expect, that the Christ would walk this holy road as a captive, in chains, dragged by night through the darkness, treading on the graves of His kin.

Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world. In Jesus’ Name. AMEN.