The Agony of Jesus

(non-referenced sources include Marcus Borg, Gardner Taylor and NT Wright)

Today is a very important day in the life of the church. It is the day we remember the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and the beginning of reality of the Resurrection. The importance of these events has produced so much potential teaching points that I have found it difficult to decide on exactly what to give the message on. So I have decided on something that is a little less common.
The Easter period has two Catholic sayings which encapsulate Good Friday – The Passion and The Agony. The Passion is the crucifixion of Jesus and The Agony is his time in the Garden after the last supper and just before the crucifixion. While traditionally The Passion receives the most attention on Good Friday, and no wonder, I want to focus on The Agony of Jesus. Instead of focusing on the graphic nature of the events and the sometimes macabre reality of what took place, I want to take slightly different path - and when I do we will find that the place of Agony was really the place of victory.
Most great public events have their origins in private, intimate struggles. All sporting coaches will tell you games are won on the practice field, and this sermon took many hours of thought and consideration to prepare. So to for our spiritual lives. The time we put into private spiritual development through prayer and bible study are what holds us in good stead when faced with the trials of life. Many times we may think that singing loudly or praying in public with vigor contributes to our spiritual growth. But the truth is when crisis comes, if there hasn’t been a deep spiritual journey taking place in the private of our own homes, then our faith can be easily shaken.
The crucifixion is the place of Gods great victory through Jesus. It is the centre point of our faith, the culmination of the gospels and the divine turning point in the history of humanity. The crucifixion is the ultimate public expression of the supreme purpose of God.
This momentous and public event of the great victory of God had at its starting place the very private and soul searching moment of the Garden of Gethsemane, where that great victory begun though a night of lonely, tortured prayer.
Jesus has just spent the last supper with his disciples. A night of reflection and celebration which would be the last night of peace and serenity before he rose again on Sunday. Then they head for the garden.
Here, Jesus asks for his three closest followers to come away with him. Then he speaks openly with them about his deepest feelings. How much do we hold back what we are feeling from those closest to us? We need people who we can share our innermost thoughts – people who will accept us and understand us. There will always be the dark night of the soul, and we need people who can give us hope and a bit of joy through this experience. Jesus exposed his heart to these disciples and showed his loneliness. We all have a need to stand near people, to be with people. When you experience this, don’t think its silly or that you need to be more self sufficient – Jesus felt this way too.
In a study done on critically ill patients about to pass on, the main want of these people was to have someone come into their room, not as an expert, not to offer opinions, but to come as a human being and to offer themselves. In our greatest time of need we want to have someone with us, whether or not they can actually do anything for us.
The need for people is an important part of being human. Jesus wanted his friends to be with him, near him, in his time of need. There weren’t many of them at this point. The public entrance of Palm Sunday must seem like an eternity passed as Jesus called for his closest disciples to stay with him. He had so few with him at the end. As with us though, it is important to understand the limitations of even those closest to us. This is the tension we have as humans. We rely on others to be with us, to the point that if there not, we can fade away to nothingness. But these same relationships can cause us great pain. People are flawed – despite the fact that we need them so much, they can let us down. Being connected to community is essential, yet if we place our hope in people – rather then in God, then we are bound for heartache. The tension has to be eased through the existence we find in God. God is the ground of all being and in this we must find a connection deeper then we can find with the people around us.
Jesus loved his disciples and wanted to place some of his burdens on them – to stay with him at his final hour. Yet the three closest to him couldn’t do it. After Jesus went away to pray he came back to find the disciples asleep. He had carried them, ministered to them, taught them and shown them his love and when he needed them, they fell asleep.
Jesus asked them if it were too much to ask them to wait for him a short time. He continues to do this today. Is it too much to ask us to read his word, to pray, to give to those who have need, to love, show kindness to the sick, the poor.
The final victory of God found in the garden was not found in the support of his friends. People will fail us in times of trial, when we need them most. He found it in God. He revealed his deepest fears, the fear of being humiliated and beaten and killed so publically. He begs God, twice to take away the future which awaits him. He shows us through his own struggle that it is ok for us to not want to go through harsh trials and sad times. It is natural to want to turn away. Jesus sweated drops of sweat that were like blood – he loved life and didn’t want to leave it. But in the end, the victory is won right there in the garden when he utters the words – not my will but yours.
God heard and responded. Men failed and slept, But God who never sleeps heard Jesus. God prepared him for the great trial ahead of him. When Jesus got up from his prayer, he had won the victory – he was ready – let his enemies come. This is the victory of God – the victory that we too can have in Jesus. If friends neglect and abandon us – its alright now. If governments oppress and leaders lie – its alright now. The heavy cross awaits us, just as it waited for Jesus. Lets go and meet it – prepared by prayer we can face the times of trials and testing confident that the victory has been won, in the quite moments, when no one is watching, no one is around. Just like a musician who practices hours alone to perform a few beautiful notes. In prayer we kneel before God that we may stand strong before the world. In prayer we enter heaven that we may face the battles of earth.