'STAND FAST IN THE FAITH'

New Zealand Tablet, 19 March 1914, Page 3

'STAND FAST IN THE FAITH'

(A Weekly Instruction specially written for the N.Z. Tablet by 'Ghimel'.)

THE PASSION OF OUR LORD.—I. GETHSAMENE

During the Lenten season we must make some attempt to sketch, however briefly, the history of our Saviour's Passion, to us the greatest of all histories. It is in these His last sufferings, when He entered the ' sanctuary of sorrow,' that Christ seems most divine. <, ' And whereas indeed He was the Son of God He learned obedience by the things which He suffered,' and through His sufferings He was ' made perfect ' as the author (captain) of our salvation. The dread of the hour of darkness was already weighing on the mind of Jesus, as He led His disciples out of the room of the LastiSupper into the cool night air. Leaving the .city through one of the eastern gates, they descended the steep hill into the ravine of the Cedron, crossed over the bridge, turned aside into the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives, where within a low wall or hedge was an olive grove, with its gnarled and twisted trees, and oil-press, called Gethsamene. Leaving behind eight of His disciples and then even the favored three, Jesus advanced further into the depths of the garden. ' There is an awful silence in a sleeping wood, but never did the silence speak to a heart so still in its agony as the one that was then seeking, in Gethsamene, a place of seclusion and prayer. That seclusion seems too sacred to be broken. Grief is always holy, and the holier the sufferer the less may we profane his sorrow by our presence. A great painter who painted the Man of Sorrows as an act of highest worship showed at once his genius and his reverence by hiding the marrCd visage, leaving the less noble parts to reveal the agony that had broken His heart. So to us Gethsamene ought ever to be a veiled Holy of Holies, to be visited, if at all, only at moments when we can look with purified eyes, and allow the meaning of the Saviour in His passion to steal softly into our minds. We are here on holy ground, and must stand, as it were, with spirit bareheaded and barefooted, reverent while inquiring ' (Studies in Hie

Life of Christ, p. 235). Let us combine the fourfold record of the Evan-

gelists—nothing can better describe the feeling of sorrow, the experience of dread, and the excessive and poignant anguish that swept over our Saviour's human soul, or the fervor of His prayer, and His filial, passionate confidence in His Father's loving presence and helpful will.

‘ When Jesus had said these things, He went forth, with His disciples over the brook Cedron, where there was a garden, into which He entered with his disciples. Now Judas also, who betrayed Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often resorted thither together with His disciples. And they came to a place called Gethsamerie, and He saith to His disciples, Sit ye here, while I pray. And He # took with Him Peter and James and John ; and He began to fear and to be heavy (to grow sorrowful and to be sad).' And He saith to them, My soul is sorrowful even unto death ; stay you here and watch. And He was parted from them a stone’s throw; and kneeling down. He prayed that if it might be, the hour might pass from Him. And He saith ; Abba, Father, all things are possible to Thee: remove this chalice (of suffering) from Me: but not what I will, but what Thou wilt. And He cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith to Peter, “Simon, sleepest thou! Couldst thou not watch one hour? Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation ; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again the second time, he went and prayed, saying: O* My Father, if this chalice may not pass away, but I must ,drink it, Thy wilL be done.” And He cometh again and findeth them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy* and they knew not what to answer Him. And leaving them, He went again and prayed a third time, saying

the self-same words. And being in an agony He prayed •the longer; and His sweat became as drops ol blood trickling down upon the ground. And when He rose •up from prayer, and was come to His disciples, He •found them sleeping for, sorrow; and He saith unto them, Sleep ye now and.take your rest; it is enough; ■the hour is come; behold the Son of Man shall be •betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go ; •behold he is at hand that will betray Me.' The agony of our Saviour was essentially a matter of the spirit, though sorrow of spirit naturally created •physical pain. 'My soul is sorrowful even unto death.' •It was only when the touch of the Roman spear showed •He had died of a broken heart that the intensity of .His sorrow became manifest. Meantime the suffering •became so intense that a sweat of water and blood •broke out over His members and fell to the earth ' as drops of blood.' This phenomenon may have been due to natural causes, and it has been known to take place through surprise or fear or violent anguish ; but in the ease of our Lord the abundant flow of blood falling ' as drops of blood ' is hard to explain on these grounds. The cause of these torments was first the vision of the Passion. Christ had for Himself nothing to fear, nor could He feel remorse. It was the way to death, the drinking of the cup that He feared, for He was genuinely human and clung tenaciously to life and instinctively shrank from pain. Then, 'He knew what was in man,' and saw clearly that for many His Blood would be shed in vain. Though He was now bleeding in every pore of His heart for men, though He would offer His life for them on the morrow, yet past Him in vision the lost went, ' hurrying, trampling each other in their mad haste to be ruined.' The indescribable record of the world's suffering, wrong, ruin, and sin came before His soul, and His sympathy made Him feel all as His own.