For a long time, I kept a small painting with me. It was a beautiful painting. I treasured it. The title of the painting was: “The Agony in the Garden.” A young, beautiful Belgian nun gave it to me as a thank-you for serving Masses for her community at St. Therese College in Cebu City, the Philippines.
The picture portrayed Jesus as very serene and very calm. He was sitting on a large rock. His clothes were very clean and tidy. His hair was tidy, too. Above His head was a halo glowing with gentle rays of light from heaven. Angels were ministering to Him.
Later, I realized that portrayal of Jesus was not accurate. I do not know where the artist got his idea. But I know that it did not come from Scriptures. This was not how Matthew, Mark and Luke described the events of that horrible Thursday night in the garden (Matthew 26: 36-46; Mark 14: 32-42; Luke 22: 39-45).
In the garden, Jesus truly suffered. No man has suffered or will suffer as Jesus did. He was truly afraid of the events He would endure that Friday.
He was so afraid that He sweated blood. He was so scared that He begged the Father to spare Him the torture and death that was about to happen to Him.
He asked the Father if there was another way to redeem the world. But He remained committed to the mission (Luke 22:42). Jesus was always resigned to do the Father’s will.
The event in the garden teaches us that suffering is a part of life in this broken world. We have to go through suffering. We cannot hopscotch through life.
All of us, Jesus included, must go through suffering in one way or another. Suffering is not a matter of “if,” but “when.”
Our culture teaches us to avoid suffering at all costs. The pharmaceutical industry comes up with medications for different sorts of pain and suffering.
Pain relief is a blessing. I am not advocating the abandonment of medicine and science. They are God’s gifts. They are blessings.
But at the same time, we need to be mindful not to lose the blessings associated with suffering.
When we suffer, we need to do what Jesus did. He faced it. He invited God to be a part of it.
God suffered for us. This is why God became man in Christ. When we avoid suffering at all costs, we disconnect our suffering from God’s suffering for us.
In so doing, we may miss the opportunity to experience the healing touch of the loving Father.
It is only in facing our wounded condition that we can experience our Father’s healing touch. It is only when we experience His touch that we can enter a new way of living.
Healthy people do not need a physician. Sick people do. Jesus came to heal us.
Jesus did not come for the righteous. He came for sinners (Matthew 9:12).
Our culture teaches us not to show our weakness or our vulnerability. “If we do, we get hurt,” it says.
It also teaches us not to depend on other people. “If you do, you will lose your freedom,” it says. This is the world’s way.
But this is not God’s way. “We are strong when we are weak,” Paul says.
Think about it. If there is no cross, there is no resurrection. Growth without a cross, healing without pain, or resurrection without a cross are appealing to us.
That is why we keep suffering at a distance. That is why we put the sick in the hospital. That is why we put old people in nursing homes. That is why we put disabled people in institutions.
Jesus came to save us. He did not come to take suffering away. In fact, Jesus invites us to remain in touch with our suffering. “Take up your cross daily. Come and follow Me,” Jesus says (Luke 9:21).
Think of Jesus’ life. When the crowd’s hosannas had become silent, when His disciples left Him, He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:45). It was then that Jesus became a Savior.
It is notable, isn’t it? The fall of mankind happened in a garden, and the salvation of mankind happened in a garden, too.
The fall of man involved a tree – a tree with a forbidden fruit. And in the salvation of man, a tree also is involved – the tree of the cross.
When we see the suffering in our broken world, we wonder how people can go through it. We become desperate and wonder where God is. The cross reminds us that there nothing in our broken world and that there is nothing in our own selves that is beyond God’s mercy, regardless of the type of suffering we endure.