Maundy. Derived from the Latin "Mandatum" which means commandment. His last commandment to us :
" Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34
How did He love them, in the Garden? His brothers, His friends, His disciples, the ones He loved. He was hours away from betrayal, hatred, being given over to torture and anguish and death, by a friend, a disciple, someone He loved. As a human being (seeing as me and Jesus had this in common) I cannot imagine sitting in a dark garden, a grove full of olive trees, my best friends by my side..cold...scared...trembling..surrounded by people but never feeling more alone...the moonlight overhead, the cool ground beneath His feet soon to be broken and pierced... there He was...knowing full well what had to be done for a world in the present, and a world in the future...begging His Father to take it away...
" Then Jesus brought them to an olive grove called Gethsemane, and He said 'Sit here while I go ahead to pray.' He took Peter and Zebedee's two sons, James and John, and He began to be filled with anguish and deep distress. He told them, 'My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me.' He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground praying, 'My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me...Yet I want your will, not mine.'
Then He returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, 'Couldn't you stay awake and watch with me even one hour? Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!!'
What was going through His mind? Being an all-knowing God in the form of man, He knew...the trials. the beatings,.the shouts of His own people to "Crucify Him!"...the same voices that, just a few days before had praised Him and sung songs of "Hosannah, Hallelujah!" Men and women, boys and girls, old and young, one minute praising Him, the next minute, cursing Him and sending Him to His death... He knew what was coming...his body, skin torn from muscles and bone, bones broken, piercing into his organs, his lungs filled with fluid, can't catch His breath, eyes swollen shut- unable to see, but knowing the hearts of those before Him, thirsty, aching, burning, broken...
But in that moment. In the Garden...much like another Garden, thousands of years before, where He had strolled as God in the cool of the evening breeze, asking "Adam? Eve? Where are you?" One commandment: Do not eat of that tree. They did. They were doomed. In the garden, they were doomed to death. And although they touched evil in the midst of beauty, what did God do for them, just before He sent them out to work the land, suffer childbirth, and struggle in life? He provided for them. He forgave them. He loved them in their brokenness, in their rebellion... Gen. 3:21 " The Lord made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."
In Gethsemane, His dearest and closest friends could not even stay awake to be there for Him as He anticipated the horror that was to take place in just a few hours. How would I feel? Would I be upset? Would my feelings be hurt? Feeling alone, knowing I would be betrayed by my friends? He couldn't even stand..He was face down, begging, pleaing, crying out for just one small chance that it might not have to happen, but knowing it would...God in human form, tears, sweating, probably in so much despair and devastation that it took His breath away... Have I been there? On my face, crying out, begging for help, in so much pain that I couldn't catch my breath?
Completely alone...there He was, in His creation, with His beloved creation, those He made in His image...completely alone. And for what? For me? For you? For His disciples? For Peter, who would deny He even knew Him, even though He had pledged His loyalty and faithfulness just a few days before?
"Love one another...as I loved you."
How is that? I deny Him, and He shows Himself to me. I disobey and disappoint Him, and He provides for my every need. I forget Him, and He cleans up my messes and makes good of all my stupid mistakes. I have done this for years, I will do this until the day I die. I apologize and praise Him, and in the same breath I curse Him...and He wraps me up in His arms, wipes away my tears when I'm alone and crying out, and tells me it's gonna be ok...who is this God that is just like a neverending foutnain of love and peace and forgiveness? How does He do it? Why should He? What have I ever done for Him??
I love Him. I acknowledge that I'm broken. I tell Him I need Him, and I love Him.
At church tonight, they ended the service with a popular song, and I had never thought of the lyrics in this way, but I will never hear this song and think of it the same..read the lyrics. Imagine Christ in the Garden. His anticipation, his nerves, his knowing what was about to unfold...and the reason..
"I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord.
And I've been waiting for this moment all my life, Oh Lord.
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord.
Well if you told me you were drowning, I would not lend a hand.
I've seen your face before my friend, but I don't know if you know who I am.
Well I was there and I saw what you did, I saw it with my own two eyes.
So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you've been.
It's all been a pack of lies.
And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord.
Well I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord.
And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord.
Well I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord.
I remember, I remember, don't worry. How could I ever forget?
It was the first time, the last time we ever met.
But I know the reason why you kept your silence up, oh no you don't fool me
Well the hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows.
It's not stranger to you and me.
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord.
Well I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord.
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord.
Well I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord.
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord.
And I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord.
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord.
Well I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord.
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord.
Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord."
Phil Collins "In the air tonight"
Song is on playlist on the right side of the blog..listen while you read..and think..
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