Don’t we wish to hurry up and get to our destination? The waiting can be agonizing in its own right. Who wouldn’t want to sleep through the hard stuff? Passengers on a long road trip often try to sleep in hopes that the trip won’t seem so long. Maybe we should not be so hard on the sleepy disciples. This is a journey into the heart of darkness, the tomb of Jesus, before we get to shout the joy of the resurrection. Next week we will join the Israelites in the wilderness. Last week we studied the fall in Genesis 3. Throughout this unit on Suffering, our Bible selections are taking us to some of the most heartbreaking events in the Bible. This will happen not once or twice, but three times! And it will be the last time they are all together on this side of the resurrection. They will fall asleep when he told them to “keep alert with me” (Matthew 26:38). We may have to assume that this is Jesus on the first of the three times he went in to pray because he does not yet look exasperated over his sleeping disciples. No signs that Jesus felt “sad and anxious” (Matthew 26:37). There are no bloody drops of sweat (Luke 22:44). He is the picture of obedient availability.

His face is raised up, eyes open, to look into the light as if awaiting instructions from above. An even brighter halo radiates from behind his head. You can also just make out the wiry branches of a thorny bush in the foreground, foreshadowing the crown of thorns.Ī beam of light emanates from a break in the clouds above and shines down on Jesus like a spotlight. The painting is so dark that you can barely see three sleeping disciples behind Jesus and to the right.

His hands, with fingers interlaced, are extended in front of him. Hofmann depicts Jesus kneeling at the edge of flat rock resembling a natural altar. This famous painting has inspired many copies and homages. and given to Riverside Church in New York City where it is displayed today. The original was purchased in 1932 by John D. Over the altar in the small rural church of my grandparents there hung a large framed reproduction of “Christ in Gethsemane,” a painting by Heinrich Hofmann from 1890. To realize that suffering can come to all parts of our lives

Anxious Disciple by Mark Mills