Buechner: Remembering Maundy Thursday
“WHAT YOU ARE GOING to do,’ Jesus says, ‘do quickly.’ … Jesus tells them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death,’ and then asks the disciples to stay and watch for him while he goes off to pray. … His prayer is, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will but what thou wilt,’—this tormented muddle of a prayer which Luke says made [Jesus] sweat until it ‘became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground.”
He went back to find some solace in the company of his friends, but when he arrived, he found them all asleep. ‘The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak,’ he said, and you get the sense he was speaking to himself as well as to them.”—Frederick Buechner, “Last Supper” in The Faces of Jesus: A Life Story (Paraclete Press, 1974).
We constantly grapple with our own humanity. Many spiritual friends I meet, including myself, spend a lifetime striving for perfection. Holy Week is a time to reflect on Jesus’ struggle with his humanity, as best depicted in the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
On Maundy Thursday in these Gospels, Jesus reveals how complex the human condition is. As he asks for this cup to pass, he sweats “blood.” On Good Friday, we read from John as Jesus suffers more, cries out in anguish, thirsts, and even asks God, “Where are you?”
A large painting of Jesus praying at Gethsemane hangs at the front of the sanctuary inside the Methodist Church where I grew up in Virginia. The image of Jesus praying in the Garden differs from other depictions of his prayer in the Gospels. A thorn bush is beside him, and the sleeping disciples in the distance are barely visible. This time, Scripture shows us Jesus’ human side. This image is a reminder to hold onto when we pray through tough situations and feel alone.
We can relate to and identify with Jesus and others who have experienced similar struggles. I observe this in grief recovery groups, where people listen because they understand the pain others are going through. I see this in twelve-step groups, where alcoholics, addicts, and co-dependents hear from others walking a similar path.
It's amazing that our God loves us so much that God chose to be among us and suffer. This week, we especially remember that God has experienced and understands what it's like to suffer and be human. There is no greater love.
dan abrams
I picture each of us praying, sometimes in distress, beside Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Unlike the disciples, we have some understanding of the danger ahead. I see each of us praying with Jesus in the garden, asking that “this cup will pass.” He is right there with us, fully aware and experiencing exactly what we are going through. There is no greater love than His Presence.
Joanna joannaseibert.com. https://www.joannaseibert.com/