The Word Will Be Fulfilled

Jesus led His disciples to a garden named Gethsemane. While there he began to pray in agony over what was about to happen. He asked The Father to take away the suffering He was about to endure if at all possible. But Jesus also trusted His Father and asked that above His own The Father’s will be done. Just as Jesus finished praying, Judas arrived with a small group of armed men to take Him in. After a short display of power, Jesus left willingly, while His disciples scattered.

In our last episode, we heard of the Passover meal in which Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, giving them a model for servanthood. He also identified his betrayer, Judas Iscariot, who, led by Satan himself, departed from the group. Finally, we heard how Jesus gave new meaning to the elements of the Passover meal, linking the bread and wine to his own body and blood which would soon be broken and shed for the sins of the world. Today, we’ll find Jesus’ filled with sorrow going to the Father in prayer. He knows his time is nearing, and though he submits to the will of God He also desires to be spared from the suffering he knows he’ll endure. As he prays, the betrayer will arrive to hand him over to those who want Jesus dead. The cross looms large as we begin today’s reading.