The
Essence of Gethsemane - Part 2
by Mathew G. Daniel, Manjanikara
The different pictures and warnings that we get or in other words our lord reveals to us in the Garden of Gethsemane shall be examined closely. What we see in the last article was that Jesus wished his close and chosen ones shall watch and pray with him.
In Mathew 26:40 we see all of them sleeping and their master asks Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
Why was He so eager of their prayers, for He knew the nature of homo sapiens.
A very special species of the class of mammals family, who has full of knowledge. The word sapient in Latin means wise or of full of knowledge. If the race of human being is full of knowledge why should the creator be bothered about him, seems to be a wise question to me, and Jesus answers this question in the next verse,
Verse 41: Watch and Pray, that ye enter not into temptation : the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
This statement is well explained if we see the metabolism of flesh. Could you prevent the watering of your mouth by the sight of tamarind or a raw mango. If your answer is NO, we may wonder why not; because it is an involuntary action of the flesh.
Here come the importance of metabolism; it is the chemical and physical process continuously going on in our flesh.
The Latin word meta means beyond, yes it is beyond the control of the body. This is the reason why Jesus says body is weak.
The thoughts of almost all of us is related to the nature of work we perform. To make it more clear I would like to tell an incident that has
happened. Once two doctors were on their daily jogging session at dawn. One of them was an orthopedist and the other was Ayurvedic physician.
En route they came across a lame man. He seemed to have seen five decades of his life.
Observing the difficulty in his pace the Orthopedist said “oh! how sad he has a sprain in his
ankle. He should not have a strain his ankles in this condition. A tight bandage is essential to avoid further damage of the ankle."
Upon this the other doctor who was a connoisseur in herbal medicines said, “No sir it is a clear case of inflammation and blister due to Rheumatoid Arthritis. It is common for a person of his age. He should be treated with……” he named out some Sanskrit words.
Both of them were erudite and they began to show their expertise in their concerned realm of professional
excellency.
In between, the man neared them and the orthopedist asked him, 'my friend tell me the fact that how you got a twisted ankle, did you
fall into a pit...' No, sir my ankle is alright! he answered all his questions in a simple sentence.
See, I told you he has inflammation due to….. the other doctor was very happy in finding a wrong diagnosis by his friend and he asked the man, “Where you ever
in extreme climate in the past few weeks so that you have been attacked by …..”
“No, sir my ankle is alright” was his reply once again.
Now both these physicians were astonished and asked in the same time."If your ankle is alright, why do you walk vacillating?”
He laughed for a few moments and said, ‘because the bar of my slippers is broken.”
See the fact and the conclusion. We relay on situations and temper the fact with our limited knowledge.
Exactly this has happened in the garden of Eden also.
Geneses 3:6 “and when the woman saw the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
Here it is obvious that metabolism caused by temptation overcomes spirit which made her blind for a moment. Hence ignoring the warning of the creator she did sin resulted in their spiritual death.
That is what is pleasant to our eyes usually betrays
us. Let’s see what has happened the court of Herod. Imagine the situation now. It was the birthday anniversary of the ruler, his concubine, how could she be the wife since she was married to his brother Philip.
The court room was adorned by the presence of high dignitaries of the state. Where into Herodias, his second wife introduces her daughter on a dance mission.
She was sure to be a teenager, gorgeous like Cinderella, of the Arabian nights.
The impious movements of her erotic flesh associated with royal music was pleasing to the eyes of the spectators irrespective of their age. They all fell into the whim of ecstasy.
Here again the situation betrays the spirit, and he proclaims a boon to the damsel. If you want to see the intensity of his impression see the next verse
Verse : 23 “And he sware unto her, whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom”
He was ready to sacrifice even half of his kingdom, where as it is always the psychology of kings and emperors to widen the area of their domain.
He realized the trap only when Herodias advised Salomy to ask for the head of John the Baptist, in a charger.
Here his spirit becomes cautious, but his weak flesh fails.
Herod now fears the consequences of the breech of the promise of a king, and the rest is known to all of us.
Sigmund Frued – the father of Psychology – defines this condition as Autism:
‘A condition in which one’s thoughts feelings and desires are governed by one’s internal
apprehensions of world. ‘
Saint Paul confesses of this condition in his apostolic letter the Romans Rom : 7 : 14-17 we read:
"for we know the law is spiritual: but I am carnal sold under sin. For, that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not that what I hate that I do. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that is good. Now then, it is no more, that I do it but sin that dwelleth in me."
This is what exactly Lord Jesus means when he warns the chosen ones. To watch with him at he odd hours of the night. Temptation is such a strong weapon of the devil which can easily overcome spirit when strongly influenced by the situation.
When Jesus was hungry after 40 days of lent and fasting he appeared to him and signed of bread.
The sound of bread as it echoes in the ear will tempt the weak flesh to jump and catch on it.
So, to avoid temptation we have to be in the nearness with the one who overcame it.
That’s why he said, worldly attractions always distract us from the God and it is sure to put us into trouble and death.
Early twentieth Century English Poet Robert Frost in his Poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ gives us a clear picture of getting attracted to worldly
pleasures. The poet was riding a horse to a distant place, in between he got attracted to the enchanting elegancy of a forest on a snowy evening. Then he forgets everything in the admiration of the beauty of the nature.
It was about to dusk and the horse alarms him by it’s harness bell. He soon realizes the danger of being there at night. So he concludes the poem:
'Miles to go before I sleep; Miles to go before I sleep.'
Yes, we have miles to go before we are called to the sleep, but before that we have to be aware of the danger of being attracted to the world and its follies.
Our Lords and Saviour knew the one and only formula to conquer Autism, that is to be with him. That is the reason he spoke the 52nd verse.
Mathew : 26 : 52 “Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”
Do you understand the meaning of it, he obviously indicates to us that worldly means ends up in the world itself which ultimately will perish ourselves.
Since even your hair is counted by the father, be near to him and he is the deliverer as well as the redeemer. And the only way to be near to him is to be with his son to watch and pray to deliver us form evil.
So, my brethren, please don’t forget to pay heed to his authentic advise
which shall light up our way to eternity - in the Garden of Gethsemane. Else we shall be trapped by Barabas, who is the personification all worldly evils that is sin.
So, Saint Paul writes to us: Romans : 6-23 “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.
And he exhorts us to Pray and Watch ‘cause our spirit is ready but our flesh is weak. Let’s us strengthen our weak flesh in the holy communion of Jesus.
Continued in Part 3; June edition
