Hello and welcome to Wednesday’s Foundations podcast. My name is James and I’m part of the team here at STC. We are reading through the book of Matthew this term and we are coming to the closing chapters of this book. Today we are looking at the passage of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane and his eventual arrest, Matthew 26:36-56. You can find all the verses on the website to read through. Today I’ll be focusing though on Jesus’ time in Gethsemane.

REFLECTION:

Yesterday we looked together at the famous passages of the last supper – if you had not read the story before you may have seen the picture by Leonardo Da Vinci depicting Jesus sharing a meal with his disciples at the long table. Similarly there is a lot of art out there depicting this scene in the garden on Gethsemane. If you are anywhere near a search engine I would really recommend doing the search. It really is a story where you feel the emotion of the scene as well as hear it and take it in.

Jesus is anticipating his betrayal, arrest & crucifixion. Yet he sticks to his usual rhythm of prayer. Throughout the book of Matthew, time and time again, Jesus engaging with the public space and then actively searches out times of quiet where he would pray – ready for what comes next. Just a short thought on that as I heard a great idea through the Advent reflections through the 24/7prayer movement. He talked about the need for everyone to have a regular space to meet with God. His is his chair. In the morning over a coffee he dedicates time to spend with Jesus, to still himself and to make time for God and for God’s presence. Then he gets up and he carries on with his day. What he has noticed over the years is that – his chair moments have grown him significantly. And when he is looking to meet God in prayer, anywhere really, he takes himself back to that place he does it regularly. He becomes mindful of God and it helps him to connect. That idea really connected with me. What is our regular rhythm and what is the equivalent in our lives of his chair? That place we go back to – time and time again – that helps us to connect with God.

So Jesus is looking to prioritise some time with God in prayer and Peter, James and John are with him.

As much as Jesus was the Son of God, with all the access and resource of Heaven that identity brings, he was also the Son of Man and fully human. Here we really catch a raw glimpse of that human nature. We read:

He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

We go on to read in a few verses after this that Jesus looks to his friends for some comfort and they’re asleep. And finally in v56 of our Bible passage today, after Jesus gets arrested, we read: Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Crazy scenes! A deep sadness looms over Jesus’ final night. Not only because he will soon be arrested by his enemies, but also because of the failure of his own friends to keep watch. To pray. On that night, weariness and weakness got the better of Peter, James and John.  We need to learn the Jesus rhythms of work and rest so we can play our parts effectively.

This small section is packed with drama. I don’t know if you have ever been in that mindset like Jesus had in the garden. I don’t know the most appropriate word for what it is but one that comes to mind is overwhelmed. Its in those moments that all we really have left is prayer. If you are struggling to relate don’t worry. The important thing is that we have a God who knows what it is like...