On Palm Sunday and Good Friday, we read Jesus’ journey from the Last Supper to the tomb.
The majority of our attention is drawn to Jesus’s crucifixion and death. These pivotal moments can eclipse the more subtle parts of the narrative.
However, within these readings there are countless riches that reveal the spectacular grandeur of God’s love and His plan of salvation. Let us explore four such treasures from the garden of Gethsemane.
There is a beautiful fittingness that Jesus’ Passion and our redemption begin in a garden, for it was in a garden that Adam lost paradise. Adam, who was tempted before the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, chose to rely on his own strength in the face of the devil and was seduced by his vain lie: “You will be like gods” (Gn 3:5).
Jesus, the new Adam, is also tempted before the tree of the cross. However, unlike Adam, He calls out to God in prayer and is given the strength to place God’s will before His own, saying, “Not my will but yours be done.” (Lk 22:42).
Adam chose to exalt himself, while Jesus, “humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8).
Even the name of the garden is significant. Gethsemane is the Hebrew word for “oil press.” It is here where the olives were crushed to extract their prized oil. In Jewish culture, olive oil was valued for its use as medicine, as healing ointment, as food, and in religious ceremonies. So too, Jesus’ Paschal Mystery begins in Gethsemane where He is crushed for our sake and provides us with the spiritual medicine and nourishment of grace.
Another gem we find in the garden is Jesus’ last miracle before the crucifixion. More than just a piece of Biblical trivia, this last miracle shows us what it means to “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5:44).
Judas came with a “band of soldiers” or “cohort” (Jn 18:3). This may have included several hundred soldiers. Seeing this threat to Jesus, one of His disciples reacts and cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant.
After stopping the conflict, “Jesus touched the servant’s ear and healed him” (Lk 22:51). His love for us is so great, that even when we are in full rebellion against Him, He still desires mercy and healing for us. Jesus’ model of love challenges us to live radically differently from how the world does.
Among the most stunning pieces to come to us in the garden is Jesus’ reply to the crowd. They come asking for Jesus of Nazareth and He says, “I AM.” To those of us reading this in English, it seems like a perfectly reasonable response. However, we can see by crowd’s response that something exceptional is happening.
St. John recounts that “When he said to them, ‘I AM,’ they turned away and fell to the ground” (Jn 18:5). This is not the typical response of an angry sword- and club-wielding mob. Jesus is not just affirming His identity as the man they are looking for; He is claiming the divine name. When Moses first encountered God in the burning bush, he asked God His name and God replied, “I AM” (Ex 3:14). In this extraordinary moment, Jesus reveals to the crowd that He is God.
From the garden of Eden to the garden of Gethsemane, God has had a single plan: to restore us to life with Him through Jesus. As we approach Easter, it is important to reflect upon each moment of Jesus’ Passion. Every line of sacred Scripture reveals another facet of God’s inexhaustible love for us. In addition to reading Scriptures, praying the Stations of the Cross or the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary are a wonderful way to meditate on Christ’s Passion.
And remember, since this is where God’s plan of mercy is revealed: the Divine Mercy Novena begins Good Friday.
