The Last Week of Jesus's LifeSýnishorn

Friday, April 3, 33 AD

The garden of Gethsemane is perfectly named for that which is about to take place within its environs this dark night. The name means “Garden of the Oil Press,” and like the olives that surround him, Jesus is about to be pressed to death, drained of life under the weight of sin, so that through his spilled blood we may experience life anew.

It is dark.

It is quiet.

It is late.

Most Passover pilgrims are asleep.

It is the perfect time to arrest a rabbi.

And Jesus knows it.

The story is told in all four gospels, and it is fraught with terror. Jesus instructs his disciples—more than eleven, as we shall see—to “Sit here while I pray.”

He takes Peter, James, and John out of earshot. He is visibly distressed. “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and keep watch with me” (Matthew 26:38). He withdraws a stone’s throw further and kneels to pray. We don’t know what he prays or how long he prays, but the gist of it is, “Father if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

In Luke 22:44, the doctor-writer reports that Jesus’s agony is so great that “his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.” Whether this means he is simply sweating profusely or suffering from an extremely rare case of hematohidrosis, we don’t know. He eventually returns to the inner three, likely an hour or so later, and they are fast asleep. He nudges them awake. “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch with me even one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:37–38).

Jesus returns to his prayers and eventually returns to the three. It is so late that they can neither keep their eyes open nor form a coherent sentence (Mark 14:40). He returns for a third round of prayers, but this one is cut short by an approaching mob. Jesus rushes back to his disciples. “The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners” (Mark 14:41).

Before he can finish speaking, Judas Iscariot and a mob breach (or surround) the garden. Judas has procured officers of the temple guard and a crowd supplied by Annas, Caiaphas, and the Pharisees, plus a Roman captain and his band of soldiers in case things get out of control. They have lanterns and torches and are armed with swords and clubs. Judas wends his way through the sleeping crowd of disciples. “Greetings, Rabbi!” He kisses Jesus on the cheek. Embodying forgiveness to the bitter end, the rabbi replies, “Friend, do what you came to do.”

Jesus steps toward the crowd. “Who are you looking for?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they reply.

“I am he.”

John says the mob draws back, perhaps as the rest of the disciples rouse and make ready for battle. He asks them again, “Whom do you seek?”

“Jesus of Nazareth.”

“I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”

As the mob closes in, the disciples panic. “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” a disciple asks. Simon Peter doesn’t wait for an answer. He draws his sword and swings at the high priest’s slave, chopping off his right ear.

There is a definite sense this violent episode is historical, as it is unlikely the gospel writers would make up a story that paints them so poorly. Peace-loving Jesus snaps at Simon. “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:52–53).

Doctor Luke reports that Jesus touches Malchus’s ear and heals him before addressing the mob. “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled” (vv. 55–56).

The soldiers rush in and arrest Jesus. As the mob tries to seize the rest, the disciples scatter and flee. One young disciple, wearing nothing but his linen nightgown, escapes arrest by pulling free of his would-be captors and sprints away naked (Mark 14:52).

Jesus is bound and led away, abandoned by those he has loved and served.