Episode 1980: The Agony in the Garden: Could you not keep watch with me for one hour - Part 4

Luke 22:44-46: "And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 'Why are you sleeping?' he asked them. 'Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.'"

(For “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly”)
Jesus' soul was filled with sorrow and that sorrow has become even heavier and deeper with each passing moment. He is in anguish, in agony; He is in torment and consumed by an inconsolable grief.

In a Lenten sermon delivered in March of 2006, a Capuchin priest (Father Raniero Cantalamessa) spoke of “human life being strewn with many little nights of Gethsemane” and that there are many causes for such events, like a threat to our health or the indifference of someone close to us; but he also spoke of more profound causes of these “little nights of Gethsemane” such as the loss of the meaning of God, of the awareness of sin or having lost the faith - the priest then makes reference to the night of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane being His “dark night of the soul,” which is a reference to the poem written by St. John of the Cross.

According to author Evelyn Underhill, in her book Mysticism, she writes, “the Dark Night of the Soul is a stage of final and complete purification, and is marked by confusion, helplessness, stagnation of the will, and a sense of the withdrawal of God’s presence. It is the period of final ‘unselfing’ and the surrender to the hidden purposes of the divine will.”

That does seem to describe the anguish of Jesus that night in the garden of Gethsemane. Isn’t that what Jesus experienced? Final and complete purification, marked by confusion, helplessness, stagnation of the will, and a sense of the withdrawal of God’s presence? It truly was the final “unselfing” and surrender to the no longer hidden purpose of God’s divine will.

(“and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”)

All Jesus can do is continue to pray, and He prays even harder than before; His physical, spiritual and emotional condition causes Him to sweat so much that as scripture tells us “his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Did John use what we now call simile to refer to Jesus’ sweat being like drops of blood in a way to possibly foreshadow the real blood He would soon shed?

(“When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked them. ‘Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.’”)

Jesus persists in trying to teach the disciples the importance of turning to prayer. Why else would he seek the company of his friends? He knows they will not be able to distract or console Him. He only asks that they support him in prayer, that they pray with him. He actually has to ask them repeatedly; we know He has already asked them to keep watch with Him.

I find it interesting that John wrote that the disciples were asleep, exhausted from sorrow. It is disturbing to me that all of the disciples were asleep. I have personally survived two such times when a loved one was suffering and nearing death, and I needed to stay awake and keep watch. Despite how difficult it may be, physically, spiritually, emotionally, you do it for the sake of the one who is suffering. How is it that not one of Jesus’ friends could stay awake for Him?

Then He says, “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Why didn’t the disciples use their time in the garden to just be with Jesus and pray with Him? They had already submitted to the temptation of putting themselves first with sleep - they couldn’t even keep each other awake?

Shouldn’t they have been praying for the strength that would help them face what is about to happen to Jesus? For strength for themselves? For the strength to stand with Jesus until the end? Hadn’t they promised Him they would always be there for Him, even die for Him? It’s difficult for me to understand why this happened.

I go back to the mention of the disciples being exhausted from sorrow. Did they believe that Jesus would appreciate their “exhaustion from sorrow” for all He had endured and was about to endure? Did they really believe they deserved the rest even though they knew Jesus would not, could not rest? And even more disappointing, did they also believe they were already filled with so much courage and strength that they felt they didn’t need to pray? Even though there may not be anything we can say in someone’s hour of need, we can still show our love for them; we can at least BE there, pray with them, watch with them.

Up until the hour of His death, Jesus continued to teach. And in the four sentences of this passage Jesus showed us His never ending love for God despite all of His suffering, he showed us how He allowed his soul to surrender to God’s divine will, He reminded us of the need for prayer and the power of prayer in our lives, and he reminded us of how we need certain people in our lives to be there for us when we are facing our “dark night of the soul.”

Thank you for listening.