Holy Week Devotion: Gethsemane

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” (Matthew 26:36 ESV)

I have always been fascinated by the story of Jesus in Gethsemane. It is Jesus at his breaking point, realizing the immensity of the work ahead of him. It is Jesus at his most human, struggling as he asks for this cup of suffering to pass from him. It is Jesus at his most divine, as he places himself in the control of the father, saying "Not my will, but yours be done." It is the image of Jesus that strikes a chord: alone, agonized, praying for what cannot be.

But today I want to spend time with the disciples. The picture we have of the disciples in Holy Week is not a flattering one. They are filled with bravado. They plan to fulfill the mission Jesus has given them. They say the words they think Jesus wants to hear. But they will fall away. They will run and hide. They will deny any knowledge of this man, Jesus. They epitomize those words of our Lord, "The spirit indeed in willing but the flesh is weak." (Matt 26:41)

In Gethsemane so much of the walk of discipleship is shown. Peter, James and John are close. Close to Jesus. Drawn by him into the inner circle, "Remain here, and watch with me," Jesus says. It is a closeness we cannot imagine, a closeness that comes from years of walking with Jesus, seeing his miracles, hearing his teaching, laughing and crying together.

But as close as they are in that moment physically...as close as they have been walking the dusty byways of Galilee...they remain distant. As distant as we are. Unable to sit and wait. They were overcome by the night that surrounded them. They were not cognizant of the situation they were in. They had heard the words of Jesus, but had not listened to what they meant. And so they slept.

We are distant because there are so many distractions in our world. So much that takes our eyes off the prize of Christ's high calling. So many noisy gongs that divert our attention from the call to lift our cross and follow. So many moments that weary us to the point that we sleep through the instructions Jesus gave, "Remain here, and watch with me."

We can speak the disciples brave words. But in the moment will those words be enough. We can have the disciples willing spirits. But are those spirits enough? Ultimately we work in our weak flesh, weak flesh that wants to hide, weak flesh that doesn't want to cause waves, weak flesh that can crave any sort of attention. But the Lord, in his agony in Gethsemane, in his trial and cross, in his death and burial, shows what weak flesh, weak human flesh can do. We are cross people...weak human flesh made strong in the death of our Lord.