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THE AGONY
IN THE GARDEN

Jesus came to the entrance of the garden,
hesitated and then walked in.

Right now,
Jesus had an overpowering need to pray.

He needed time,
time to be with his Father,
for strength, strength to do his will.

He walked deeper and deeper into the garden,
into the agony,
into the garden of Fear.

And there on the table of fear
was the chalice of pain,
the cup of death.

It was easy to drink the cup of wine at supper,
but now to drink this cup of sorrows,
this cup of suffering,
knowing the end was near,
this was the agony in the garden.

The wine tonight in the upper room tasted good.

It should have; it was with friends.

But tomorrow, the wine will turn to vinegar.

It will have the sour taste of betrayal.

Right now he needed friends, not enemies,
wine not vinegar.

He needed the presence of Peter, James and John
as he was about to climb the mountain of disfiguration.

They were exhilarated
when they climbed the mountain of transfiguration.

Could they not watch one hour with him?

He hoped Judas was far away.

Jesus fell down,
falling deeper into prayer,
deeper into the agony.

Fear filled his night.

Sounds of hammers, hatred, spit,
filled the cup in front of him.
“Father, if it is possible,
let this cup pass me by,
but not my will,
but your will be done.”

Jesus, you are facing,
you are making the major decision of your life.

Yes or no?

Acceptance or rejection?

The hard or easy side of life?

“Why do things have to be this way Father?”

A garden is for walking in the cool of the evening.
A garden is for delights,
to eat only the good fruit,
to avoid the tree of evil,
the bitter fruit of life.

These moments
were like the moments of temptation in the desert,
the wanting and the not wanting to do the Father’s will.

Suddenly,
while his friends slept
Jesus heard the footsteps of betrayal behind his back,
and quickly he grabbed the cup before him.

“Yes, Father, I have come to do your will.”