Dark Gethsemane

The intensity of the evening must have been over bearing. Knowing that death lurked just around the corner. How could Jesus not simply turn and run away? How could he endure such foreboding and heaviness of heart? After all this was life we are talking about. Jesus in his full humanity must have been terrified. He must have felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, trying to pray, but receiving no response. The Son of Man experienced complete abandonment from the Father. His three closest disciples couldn’t even stay awake with him for one hour. How frightened and lonely those dark hours before death must have felt. Jesus experienced fear, anxiety and loneliness like no one on this earth ever had felt. He knew what awaited him and the dread must have been awful to bear. The wooden beams of the cross already laid claim to the Messiah.

On that dark night before his crucifixion Jesus endured pain, suffering and fear. He shook with anxiety, but never once disobeyed the Father. He knew what was coming and accepted it, not because he wanted to, but because he was obedient and selfless.

How often do we experience the Dark Night of the Soul, where fear rages and beats us down? Where anxiety and depression rule our lives. We all find ourselves in dark Gethsemane at some point in our lives. It is a place of loneliness and dead silence. It is a place in which the darkness is so thick that we can see no light of help or hope. It feels eternal but that is a lie. It will pass! Jesus suffered and died for us so that the darkness would be temporary and dissipate.

The sun will always rise again just as it did on the morning of Jesus’ resurrection. The night can only last so long, even though it may feel like it can last forever. Remember Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John, “The darkness cannot stand the light.” And my friends, the light will come and penetrate the darkness that lays siege to our hearts.

Whatever Garden of Gethsemane we may find our self in at this hour, know this, Jesus is the Risen Lord, and he will come for us. He is light perpetual. He is the Morning Star that knows no setting. Turn over to God whatever it is that holds us captive in the silent dark, and we will be set free.

Jesus died for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to experience a life of misery and darkness. By his death he destroyed death and the power of the darkness. He has brought light and set all the captives free, that includes us. So embrace Christ in your heart. Let his light burn there and whatever it is in this world that holds us captive will lose its power.