COMMENTARY: What Gethsemane teaches us about suffering

[hrmjustin]

James Martin

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus utters his agonizing prayer, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.”

At this grave moment in the life of Christ, when he struggles to discern the will of the Father, we are invited to learn more about Jesus of Nazareth, about God, and about ourselves.

Who among us hasn’t found ourselves in a situation where the inevitable seems impossible? Where the unavoidable seems unimaginable?

Who hasn’t said to God, in so many words, “Remove this cup”?

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/04/14/commentary-gethsemane-teaches-us-suffering/

[intaglio]

1. Just as a matter of interest, who heard that prayer?

Will self delete this if asked

[hrmjustin]

2. Great question and I don't have the answer.

[rug]

3. The Father. Everyone else was asleep.

If your real question is, how was it then reported in the Gospel, ask it in Religion where there will be a jolly conversation.

For now, the short answer is that Jesus spent forty days with his disciples between the Resurrection and the Ascension. I'm sure they had a lot of questions.

[kentauros]

4. And this reminds me of a Babylon 5 episode :)

Specifically, the episode "Passing Through Gethsemane"

I couldn't find a full episode that wasn't behind a paywall, but this compilation of clips covers much of the main story. If you can find the whole episode, it's worth watching. It's quite powerful, though the sub-story has to do with a former serial-killer ("former" because in the B5 universe, murderers aren't put to death, but instead have their personality wiped and a new one rebuilt; only the personality is lost instead of the whole body, so that the new person may repay their debt to society.)

[hrmjustin]

5. I used to love that show.

[kentauros]

6. JMS (J. Michael Straczynski) is an amazing writer!

I always loved how "spiritual" the show was, whether in message, or just the way certain characters were changed in character and spirit (such as G'kar.) It also amazed me that he could write such spiritual episodes as an atheist. While that doesn't surprise me nearly as much today, it did back when I was first watching it, mid-90s.

I think part of the reason why he's a great writer is that he also has a degree in psychology. That helps considerably in creating characters, especially flawed ones

Look for the 20th Anniversary cast-reunions on YouTube for B5. I've only see the one from the Phoenix ComicCon, but there's also one that was done in Galveston at the beginning of this year. I couldn't go to it, but did want to. Maybe in another five years

[goldent]

7. Everyone eventually has some of those moments

with feelings like you've never felt before. It makes the Garden of Gethsemane story so real.