Upon arriving at the
garden in Gethsemane, what did Jesus do? He asked his disciples to sit while he
prayed. The calm before the storm.
Where was Judas in all of
this? Most accounts indicate Judas' absence. During the Last Supper, Judas'
betrayal was mentioned in John 13:21-30
and Matthew 26:25.
His departure from the upper room proceedings was to handle a Festival matter
or to help with the poor; nevertheless, he didn't return to the group soon thereafter.
If one person though was missing
from the group for a lengthy period of time, especially after Jesus
stated someone would betray him, wouldn't that have sent up a red flare? An
all-alert for the remaining disciples? Who wouldn’t be wide-eyed and on edge?
And the writer of Mark
never alluded to Judas' departure from the upper room.
Consider Judas was with
Jesus and the disciples at Gethsemane. If he made the choice to follow-through
with his betrayal, now was the opportunity. Jesus provided Judas with particulars
of his whereabouts, that he would be here praying, and... it was far enough
away from Jerusalem to not cause harm to innocent bystanders in a
confrontation.
As stated previously, Jesus
left nothing to chance.
Before Jesus prays, he
leaves nine disciples near the entrance to the garden. When walking a bit
further with three of his leaders -- Peter, James and John, Jesus becomes "distressed and agitated,"
"deeply grieved, even to death."
From a "human"
perspective, one can understand why. Jesus knows what is about to happen. One
of his own will betray him; all of his disciples will soon desert him; one of
him most trusted followers will even deny knowing him. Add his pending
execution and what will take place between the garden and the cross, the inner
emotions of anticipation have reached a boiling point.
Jesus needs to pray. He must pray. In the meantime, all he asks
is for his three friends to simply sit nearby and stay awake.
Only a stone's throw away,
Jesus prays fervently for an hour. During this time, he expresses his concerns
to Abba -- "Daddy" -- making
it all the more personal and intimate.
Isn't this something to
which we can relate? Think back to childhood when a hurt or injury occurred in
our lives, where all went wrong. While our parents may have been respectfully addressed
as "Father" or "Mother," when in anguish, distress or pain,
we called them "Daddy" or "Mommy." That deep intimacy between
a child and parent still happens even in adulthood.
Within Jesus' prayer(s) that
evening, three things transpire: acknowledgment ("all things are possible" through God), the
"ask" (if possible, "remove
this cup from me"), acceptance ("yet,
not what I want, but what you want").
Was it wrong of Jesus to
ask for the cup to be removed? Did acceptance come after the "first"
prayer? Did acceptance mean understanding?
Isaiah 51
provides an example of where God removed "the cup of wrath" from his
people (Israel). Yes, all things are possible. Just not this time.
One hour later, Jesus
returns to find his three key leaders asleep. "Simon, could you not keep awake one hour?" His use of
"Simon" instead of Peter, almost comes across as a chide.
What follows Jesus'
question is important. "Keep awake
and pray that you may not come into the time of trial." "The spirit indeed is willing, but the
flesh is weak." "Flesh in
biblical thought describes the whole person as blind to God and driven by
selfish concerns; spirit is the
person as alive to God." [i]
Jesus returns to his place
in the garden to pray, "saying the
same words." And when he comes back a second time to his three key
leaders, what does he find? The trio asleep, again. "They did not know what to say to him."
A third time, Jesus goes
away to pray. It is here in the third hour of prayer that Jesus accepts what is to
come. Sometimes we must accept even when not fully understanding.
"For most of us
prayer serves as a resource to help in a time of testing or conflict. For
Jesus, it was the battle itself. Once the Gethsemane prayers had aligned him
with the Father's will, what happened next was merely the means to fulfill
it." [ii]
Back to Judas. When Jesus went
to pray, he left the nine near the garden's entrance. Those disciples fell
asleep as well. It seems no one was overly concerned by Jesus' prior warnings
or that a betrayer might be in their midst.
If Jesus' prayers in the
garden were an hour each, then at least three hours passed. Having this much time
allowed Judas to sneak from the premises like a thief in the night, provide the
necessary details to the Jewish authorities who were at the ready, and return to Gethsemane to have
Jesus arrested.
The three's were wild. In
three hours, three key leaders took three naps during three of Jesus' prayers which
included 1) acknowledgment, 2) an "ask" and 3) acceptance. And forthcoming
would be the predicted three denials uttered by Peter.
NEXT
The kiss of death; how
many people does it take to arrest one man?
