What Jesus Saw in the Garden of Gethsemane

After instituting the sacrament of Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives with his apostles and prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.    He suffered greatly in the Garden as he knew what he must do and what great personal cost it would be to him.  

The moment was rapidly approaching that Jesus would fulfill his earthly mission to redeem humanity from its brokenness and its sinfulness.   In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus saw the vast multitude of sin committed by humanity since Adam and Eve’s first sin in the Garden of Eden.  In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve first sinned against God in disobedience to His command.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus would first begin to make amends with love and obedience for Adam and Eve’s first sin.  

 
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus saw humanity’s sins up to that moment.  He saw Cain murder his brother Abel.  He saw the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah.  He saw Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery.  He saw the Israelites worshipping a golden calf while Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments directly from God.  He saw Israel repeatedly worship false gods instead of the one True God.  He saw other civilizations and peoples worship idols, conquer, oppress, enslave, and commit vile acts of sin.  

 
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus saw all of humanity’s sins that would occur from that moment until the end of time.  He saw the oppression of the poor, the Holocaust and other genocides, the murder of the unborn through abortion, abuse of the elderly, euthanasia, the exploitation of women and men through pornography and human trafficking, slavery, and horrifying sexual crimes against children and young people, including those committed by members of the clergy and religious life, teachers, and coaches.  He saw false prophets inventing new religions to lead the people away from the One True God.

 
Jesus saw Martin Luther, John Calvin and King Henry VIII tear his Church apart with erroneous doctrines and personal ambition.  He saw the leaders of his Church trying to destroy his Church from within by advancing heretical doctrines concerning homosexuality and by using the Church as the means of personal enrichment.  

 
He saw his closest friends abandoning him as the Romans tortured and put him to death.  He saw the angry crowds calling for his death and celebrating in his ordeal.

 
He saw our ingratitude for his love, our selfishness, our malice, our greed, and our ambition.

 
He saw all of our sins, what we would do and what we would fail to do.  

 
He saw all of my sins, what I would do and what I would fail to do.    

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus saw the enormity of humanity’s sins and the enormity of the sacrifice that he must perform to atone for those sins.   “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!” he prayed (Matthew 26:42).  

Jesus knew exactly what he needed to do and what he was about to endure to make that happen.  His humanity recoiled at the coming ordeal but his Divinity and love of the Father and of humanity strengthened him and motivated him to do what had to be done for our salvation.  

Jesus also saw all those who truly would love him and the Father, those who would make heroic sacrifices of love for God and for humanity.  Jesus saw Saint Mother Teresa and Saint Francis of Assisi and the numerous others who would respond to God’s call of love.  Jesus saw the sidewalk counselors praying outside abortion clinics and marching for life.  Jesus saw Saint Faustina bringing his message of mercy to the world.  He saw those who bring the Gospel to a world so desperately in need of it.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus saw God’s adopted children reconciled to Him through Jesus’s sacrifice and love and ultimate vanquishment of sin and death and evil.