Most scholars agree that Mark was the earliest gospel written, . . .

Most scholars agree that Mark was the earliest gospel written, followed closely by Matthew, and then Luke, and finally John.  I point this out because the later the gospel, the more the story of Jesus’ anguish in the garden of Gethsemane gets truncated.  That is, Mark and Matthew have the fullest accounts; Luke offers a briefer, and somewhat less graphic, account; and John doesn’t mention Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane at all.

Scholars continue to debate why this is the case, but perhaps it’s simply because this is not an easy story for us to handle.  Here we witness Jesus tormented and afraid.  Here we witness Jesus expressing honest and heartfelt doubts.  Here we witness Jesus praying—or better yet, pleading—that the heavenly Father remove this cup from his lips!

Let’s face it; this is an unsettling image of Jesus, because it makes us wonder how close he actually came to turning his back on the cross.  What would have happened, for instance, if Jesus had decided, “Not your will, God, but my own,” and simply walked away before the Temple guards even arrived?  What would have happened if Jesus had elected to remove his own lips from the cup and bypass the crucifixion altogether?

Part of what makes this such a powerful story is the knowledge that it could have gone either way.  If Jesus was fully human (as well as being fully divine), then he must have had free will just like the rest of us.  He could follow God’s script, or he could decide to rewrite the ending more to his liking.  The choice was entirely his.

And so he knelt there in Gethsemane and prayed.  He prayed for another way, a different option.  He prayed as a man who could feel pain, who would be hurt by betrayal, who would be scarred by the whip, and bleed as the nails were driven into his flesh.  He prayed as a man who understood that, if he followed God’s will, he would end up being arrested, charged, convicted, mocked, beaten, and ultimately, crucified.  And yet, somehow he summons the courage and strength to pray, “Not my will, God, but yours.”

Gethsemane reminds us that Jesus made a choice.  He did not go to the cross as a lamb led away to the slaughter, because a lamb has no idea where it is going.  Jesus went to the cross as a man who had decided to follow God, knowing full well what that decision would cost him.

Of course, from time to time, we, too, will face our own Gethsemane—our own critical moments of decision.  We can either follow God’s will for our lives, or we can chart our own course.  The choice is entirely ours.  And like Jesus, we, too, may struggle with which way to go.  But because of what Jesus did on that anguishing night so long ago, we know that we will not be facing our Gethsemane all alone.