March 28th ,2010
Small Comfort in Agony
There is a tiny moment in Luke’s gospel as he describes Jesus’ agony in the garden on the night he was arrested: “And to strengthen him an angel from heaven appeared to him.” None of the other gospels mention this -- in those gospels, Jesus is all alone, while the apostles are sleeping.
Yet even that visit from an angel does not quell Jesus’ agony, Luke continues, “He was in such agony and he prayed so fervently
that his sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground.”
We can only imagine the terror Jesus is feeling. And here is an insight as to why he is in such distress: (a) Jesus has seen crucified people before. Often the Romans left the crucified people on the crosses alive for days, suffering in the hot sun (non-stop sunburn), mosquitos at night, bleeding wounds -- it was horrid. Jesus is contemplating that this could happen to him. (b) He had just walked through a cemetery at night under a full moon.
A cemetery? Yes. When they left the supper, Jesus and his apostles walked through the “Kidron Valley” which was the place where people were buried. And the tombs were bright white -- being bleached each day by the middle eastern sun. So at night, when the moon was full (as it always was on Passover) the place of the dead must have seemed more real than ever as the tombs glowed in eerie moonlight. And Jesus is realizing that within a short time, he will be among the dead. No matter how much he trusts in his Father to raise him, his humanity -- just like ours -- raises questions and doubts and fear.
Do you know someone who is going through their “agony in the garden” right now? It might be a sickness, unemployment, divorce or other breakup. It might be an addiction, a foreclosure or bankruptcy, an arrest, untrue accusations. I believe that each time someone suffers, God sends an angel” to strengthen them. Perhaps you are that angel, sent by God to be at the side of someone who suffers. One way to go beyond this Palm Sunday is to be inspired to go to someone who suffers: to offer them a word of hope, a moment of help, an act of loving kindness. We would do this for Jesus. And we can do this for the brothers and sisters of Jesus who are in distress. We can be that small comfort in another’s agony.
