Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane
Basic Info
Matthew 26:36–46, Mark 14:32–42, Luke 22:39–46
After the Last Supper, Jesus went out to the Garden of Gethsemane at the Mount of Olives to pray. The disciples followed him. He knew he was in for some trouble ahead. He was troubled; after all, who goes blithely to death? He acknowledged in prayer that he would rather not go down this road (drink from this cup), but he also placed his life in God’s hands and acknowledged his surrender to God’s will.
The story can be interpreted as emphasizing Jesus’ human suffering, his surrender to God’s will, or the idea that his human friends couldn’t hang with him in the end.
Matthew and Mark tell of Jesus’ taking Peter, James, and John further into the garden to pray with him. They fell asleep. Jesus woke them, but they fell asleep again. Luke doesn’t say which disciples fell asleep. Luke also contains a passage (which may not be original) that mentions an angel who came to support Jesus and says that Jesus was praying so hard his sweat dripped like blood onto the ground. Some paintings of the scene depict Jesus alone in his agony; others include the disciples. The sweat-like blood is not always depicted.
What to Look For
- Whether Jesus is alone or with disciples
- Jesus’ emotional state (face, hands, posture, gestures, etc.)
- Jesus’ physical state (sweat, blood, tears, etc.)
- How prayer is depicted
Questions to Focus a General Interpretation
Does the artwork seem to emphasize Jesus’ human suffering, his surrender to God’s will, or the idea that his human friends either didn’t have what it took to face Jesus’ pain or didn’t get the seriousness of what was going on?
Is Jesus depicted as comfortable accepting God’s will, or does it look like a struggle?
Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation
Have you ever faced a situation that caused you the kind of agony depicted in the artwork? Were you able to separate your will from God’s will?
Have you ever been, through one of your own friends, in the position of one of the disciples depicted? Does seeing the disciple in the painting change the way you think of your own experience?
Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation
Artists want to create artworks that will have a powerful impact on viewers. Part of the calculus in this is knowing what the audience finds moving. What might have been going on in the lives of viewers at the artist’s time and place that might have factored into the artist’s thinking? For example, where and when did they pray? Did many people have to face danger?
Notice the prayer position Jesus holds in the artwork. Do you think that someone in Jesus’ situation would pray in that posture? What might this prayer posture say about prayer in the artist’s time and place?
