Category 14 (Lent and Easter)

"AFTER WITHDRAWING ABOUT A STONE'S THROW FROM THEM AND KNEELING, HE PRAYED, SAYING, 'FATHER, IF YOU ARE WILLING, TAKE THIS CUP AWAY FROM ME; STILL, NOT MY WILL BUT YOURS BE DONE...' HE WAS IN SUCH AGONY AND HE PRAYED SO FERVENTLY THAT HIS SWEAT BECAME LIKE DROPS OF BLOOD FALLING ON THE GROUND." LUKE 22:41–42, 44 In the few hours aer the Last Supper, Jesus had to prepare for his death. at's a lot of pressure, the kind that brings life sharply into focus. What would you do if you knew you were in your final hours? How could that type of insight affect the choices you make between now and then? at's what the Agony in the Garden is all about. In this Update we'll look at three major aspects of the scriptural text. First, we'll talk about the passion of Christ, the context for the Agony in the Garden. en we want to enter with Jesus into the Garden. What is the real drama of the Garden of Gethsemane? Finally, we'll take a look at some of the deeply moving images that are written into this text. THE MEANING OF AGONY e word agony is not just a pious term from the rosary or other traditions; it's a term from Scripture. In Greek they talk about Christ's agonia. We know what agony means in English, but in Greek, at the time of Jesus, it was also a technical term for what athletes did warming up for the Olympic Games. During that warm-up, the Greek athletes would produce a certain sweat that would warm up their muscles and ready them for coming combat. at sweat, that lather, was called their agonia. Luke tells us that Jesus does an agonia to get ready for his passion. In essence, Luke is saying, we don't move from day- to-day life to dying on a cross without some preparation. e Agony in the Garden is the warm-up, the readying, the agonia for the passion that follows. But what is the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ? e English word passion gives you a false image. In English, passion refers to something very deep in terms of feeling love. But although you certainly can have passion and love, you also can have passion and suffering. When we think of Christ's passion, we think of all the suffering that Jesus did. It's more a sense of passivity, or passiveness. In Jesus' passivity he gives his death for us, unlike during all his active life up until the Agony in the Garden, when he gives his life for us. We oen lump these together and miss the distinction. Christ gave his life and his death for us. We give our lives for each other in our activity; we give our deaths for each other in our passivity. When blood and water poured out of the crucified Jesus (see John 19:31–37), we see not only a sign of baptism and Eucharist, though clearly that is part of the story. We see also another sign. What are blood and water? Blood is the life principle that flows between us. It makes us alive. Water washes us. So what the evangelist is saying at another level is that Jesus died in such a way that it makes us freer. We're able to live life; life flows more easily and we're able to live cleanly. at is when we are free of guilt. DRAMA OF THE GARDEN Do you ever wonder why that drama happens in a garden? It's the Agony in the Garden, it's not the agony in the temple, the agony in the synagogue, or the agony on a mountaintop, or in the boat at sea. In Scripture, where something takes place is always much more than geography. At a deeper level, the geography is spiritual; it's a place in the heart. Why a garden? Gardens don't appear that oen in Scripture, but they're important. In spirituality, gardens have nothing to do with cucumbers, radishes, garlic. Gardens are where lovers go. at's important in getting to the drama of the Agony in the Garden. is is a drama inside of love. at's why the beginning, where Scripture opens up, we're in the Garden of Eden. In the garden you can be naked. ere's no shame in the garden. Where does Mary Magdalene, who was the great lover in Scripture, find Jesus on Easter, in the morning? In a garden. Remember the wonderful old gospel hymn that Elvis Presley famously recorded: "I come to the garden alone, and he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own. And the joy we feel when we tarry there...." at's Jesus as a lover, and he calls us into the Garden. Nothing against Mel Gibson's film e Passion of the Christ, but Jesus wasn't a physical athlete. e evangelists don't emphasize the whips, the beatings, the thorns, the blood, the nails. ey emphasize he was alone, betrayed, humiliated, hung out to dry. Nobody stood up for him. When you read Mark's Gospel, Jesus is saying in the Last Supper that he is dreading what's going to happen. He doesn't speak about the ropes and the whips and the chains, he doesn't say, "You know, I'm really going to get beaten up out there." He says, "You're all going to betray me. I'm going to be alone."

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