The
Essence of Gethsemane
by Mathew G. Daniel, Manjanikara
…tarry ye here, and watch with me. (Mathew 26:38)
Saint Mathew in his Gospel gives a flamboyant picture of our Lord Jesus on the eve of the Great Mission of Salvation of the mankind.
It was pre-determined by his Father, the Almighty, as he promised Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden of this day for which their offspring have been waiting for about 4000 years.
In the Book of Genesis Chapter 3:15 it was a finite proclamation by the Creator that the head of the deceiver
(snake) shall be crushed by the son of woman. The time has come to get the wish of his
Father shall be fulfilled, for more than 33 years the scapegoat has been waiting for this day which was only a few more hours ahead.
Though Prophets Elijah and Moses inculcate about the master plan of the Holy father on the mount, Our Lord and
savior seems to be a little bewildered of the anguish that he suffers in his soul.
It is misinterpreted that He was thoughtful of the pain of the flush that he was supposed to endure. See the verse in St. Mathew 26:38
“Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death, tarry ye here and watch with me."
Jesus says that it is His soul that suffers not the body. If you go through the meaning of soul in simple meaning, it is an entity that is distinct from the body. So it is not the
flesh that counts over here but the soul which is not an example for a concrete noun. What I mean to say is that the feeling of Jesus was not of the stress that was about to suffer
from the physical pain.
A close analysis of the situation is very necessary here now. What shall be the thought that has pricked
His divine soul during the last hours of his life upon the Earth. Verse 35 of the same chapter: “Peter said unto him, Though I should die with you, I will not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.”
Jesus was doubtful of the outcome of this proclamation of his disciples, for he was
God and knew what was about to happen. He was sure of the power of Satan who could have easily deceive men upon this earth. His main weapon is temptation.
He fills the hearts of man with panic.
In verse 41, Jesus reminds them of the fact by telling them that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak;
He tells this when he found that they have failed to stay awake and pray
along with him as instructed. He tells them “..tarry ye here and watch with me."
By using the word tarry he requests them to stay with him for a short period till
He finishes his own prayer.
The next verb is watch. He asks them to watch with him: word watch is also defined as
‘to stay awake at night to pray and meditate.’
Why should they pray and meditate at the odd hours of the night in the garden of Gethsemane, for he knew that the flesh is weak. He
wanted to let us know that the way to overcome the weakness of the flesh is spontaneous prayer and meditation.
Now let’s see what might have haunted Him so deep; He knew that His disciples were not yet empowered by the Holy spirit so they may stray away ignoring the promise in verse 35.
As He entered into the garden he took Peter and the sons of Zebedee with Him and asked them to stay for a while and watch with him.
Peter was surnamed as Kefa or rock and upon Him he decided to build His church. So, he
was afraid that the deceiver shall never leave a single leaf unturned to topple the divine plan of Salvation. Moreover he has declared his loyalty by stating that even death shan’t be able to keep him away from the son of God.
And for The Sons of Zebedee, their mother has urged Jesus to allow them to sit one on the right and the other on the left in the heaven.
Clearly Jesus makes us know that this is not in his jurisdiction but only of his father. Still here
He wants us to know that once if you wish to be with him in the heaven we shall pray and meditate with him even in our adverse situations.
The situation here is more interesting for serious students of the Holy Book. He finds all of them fast asleep as
He returned to them, which might have intensified His pain. He asks Peter,
“And he saith unto Peter, what, could ye not Watch with Me one hour?”
When the scenario is repeated for the second time, he keeps mum and goes for his own prayer for the third time.
See what happens further after the abduction, verse 56, “But all this was done that the scripture of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled.”
Peter claimed that he won’t deny him even on death, but we saw him denying his master
three times in a gap of two hours time.
Here comes the importance of prayer and meditation. It is the only tonic that can strengthen us against temptation and other weapons of the evil.
According to St. Paul and St. Stephen Jesus is now standing at the right side of his father praying for us to strengthen us against evil.
We proclaim our faith until death through our baptism, but please remember that our eye lids are heavy and we fail to remain watchful with him.
He asks us 'could ye not watch with me one hour.' His soul is exceeding sorrowful, by sight of all the mischievousness by his children whom
He saved enduring unbearable torture on His flush.
Now as we are ready to commemorate the passion week and the crucifixion once again please remember one thing that Barabbas was released from detention before the cross of our sins was placed on the shoulder of our
Savior.
The word sin is also defined as: 1)
missing the mark, 2) out of equilibrium, 3) falling short of the goal of life:
He marked us with the sign of Victory that is the holy cross, He balanced himself on the cross to balance ourselves to our equilibrium, He filled our shortcomings with his perfect life as a man.
Unfortunately, Barabbas is still residing in the very same place where our Lord wishes to dwell. I hope that our prayers and meditation for the past forty days might have been helpful for us to drive away him from our hearts to make room for Jesus.
If not try to hear those excruciating words even after 2000 years: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, tarry ye here and watch with
me.” Never forsake Him and run away from Him if these words echoes in your ears.
We are very busy here on earth but according to Emily Dickinson, death will stop for us
the very next moment;
Because I couldn’t stop for death he kindly stopped for me. The carriage held but just ourselves,
and immortality.
We slowly drove-he knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure
For his civility.
This extract gives a clear picture of the peaceful ultimate destiny of man, which in other words we call
death in Christ.
As we think of death, for a Christian we shall surely be resurrected as our Lord
overcame death and has ascended into heaven to make room for us.
So, Lets Tarry and Watch with Him so that his soul shall be overwhelmed with joy by winning a soul from the captivity of the deceiver, and our
Savior's noble sacrifice shall be fruitful.
Continued in Part 2; May edition
