The Agony in the Garden

THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN – THE SPECIAL PLACE OF LONELINESS The passion of Jesus refers to the helplessness he had to endure during the last hours of his life, a helplessness extremely fruitful for him and for us. The first component in that helplessness begins in the Garden of Gethsemane, immediately after he has celebrated the last supper. The scriptures tell us that he went out into the Garden with his disciples to pray for the strength he needed to face the ordeal that was now imminent. In describing Jesus’ suffering during his passion, the evangelists focus little on his physical sufferings (which must have been horrific). Indeed, Mark puts it all in a single line: “They led him away and crucified him.” What the gospel writers focus is that in all of this, Jesus is alone, misunderstood, lonely, isolated, without support, unanimity-minus-one. What’s emphasized is the agony of his heart that’s ultra-sensitive, gentle, loving, understanding, warm, inviting, hungry to embrace everyone but which instead finds itself misunderstood, alone, isolated, hated, brutalized, facing murder. That’s the point that has been too often missed in both spirituality and popular devotion. In Gethsemane, Jesus’ agony is not that of the son of God is frustrated because many people will not accept his sacrifice, nor even his agony the all-too-understandable fear of the physical pain that awaits him. The agony in the Garden is many things, but first of all, it’s Jesus’ entry into the darkest black hole of human existence, the black hole of bitter misunderstanding, rejection, aloneness, loneliness, humiliation, and the helplessness to do anything about it. The agony in the Garden is the black hole of sensitivity brutalized by callousness, love brutalized by hatred, goodness brutalized by misunderstanding, innocence brutalized by wrong judgement, forgiveness brutalized by murder, and heaven brutalized by hell. This is deepest, black hole of loneliness and it brings the lover inside us to the ground in agony begging for release. But, whenever our mouths pushed into the dust of misunderstanding and loneliness inside that black hole, it’s helpful to know that Jesus was there before us, tasting just our kind of loneliness. To read more click here or copy this link into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/the-agony-in-the-garden-the-special-place-of-loneliness/#.YE-YL11KjDY www.facebook.com