Reading the Gospels Together The garden/Gethsemane – Part 5 As we turn to John’s gospel it is clear that John has the same basic story in mind as was told by the others. But there are some striking differences we need to observe. First of all, John never mentions either Gethsemane or the Mount of Olives. Instead he tells his readers that the group crossed the Kidron valley which was also to the east of Jerusalem in the direction of the Mount of Olives so likely John is speaking of the same location. John tells his readers that Jesus and his disciples go to a garden in this location – a place well known to Judas as well since Jesus and his disciples had been there often. As we have noted John’s storyline has Jesus in and near Jerusalem for about five months so Jesus and his disciples would have been very familiar with these surroundings. Once the group has gathered in the garden John moves immediately to speak of the betrayal by Judas and the arrest of Jesus. There is no mention of Jesus agonizing in prayer regarding his destiny! We need to pause and ask two questions. Why might Mark have added this story of the agonizing prayer of Jesus to his storyline? Or, why might John have left it out? It seems likely that it is the second question that is really important. Mark told the story in the way he did because the story of Jesus’ agony was imbedded in the earliest traditions about the passion of Jesus – it was likely part of the earliest passion narrative and most likely reflects what really took place that night. We have noticed that we may be uncomfortable with a Jesus who agonizes in prayer struggling to find and do God’s will. It is most likely that the first followers of Jesus found this uncomfortable too – but they knew it was part of the story so they told it. And we can be thankful they did. That leaves us with the question of why John would leave it out. Perhaps to help us sort this out we should think about the way that John has unfolded his story and what John has told his readers earlier in his gospel. Is there any point in his story where John reflects upon Jesus contemplating his destiny? If we turn back a few chapters to the end of chapter twelve we encounter these words of Jesus, “Now my soul is troubled. And should I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.’” John tells his readers this at the very time when Jesus recognizes that his “hour” has now arrived. His “hour” is a code word for John of Jesus’ coming death. The “struggle” of Jesus in John is far less potent than it is in the synoptic gospels and we might even hesitate to call it a struggle but it is interesting that John tells his readers that Jesus’ “soul is troubled” at the realization that his “hour” has come. Perhaps John is well aware of the tradition imbedded in the earliest stories of Jesus agony at Gethsemane after all! Perhaps John has moved it to this point in his storyline and downplayed the agony – but nonetheless it is there. His story of Jesus “troubled in soul” is his Gethsemane! But, this of course, still leaves us with a question. Why would John move the story as he has – why doesn’t he just tell it at the same time as the synoptic writers? To answer that question we need to consider the portrait of Jesus that John has been painting. John tells his readers from the very beginning that Jesus is the God-man. The Jesus he portrays is really in charge of his destiny – he “lays down his life of his own accord and no one takes it from him.” The agony of Jesus in Gethsemane does not work well within the portrait of Jesus that John has been painting. We will see that Jesus controls even his own death – he remains “in charge” throughout. So, in keeping with his own theological and evangelical needs it makes sense for John to modify the story here. And it also makes sense for him to re-write the story in his own way earlier and insert it at the time when Jesus announces that his “hour” has now come. John is able to preserve his own portrait of Jesus and yet be faithful to the story he knows regarding the arrest of Jesus. In fact, as we return to John’s story in the garden we discover once again that John paints Jesus as the one who really is in charge of what happens. The others, especially Mark, told the story of the betrayal by Judas and the arrest of Jesus as a mob scene. Jesus is overwhelmed. John tells the story in a very different way. When Judas and the soldiers and guards arrive Jesus takes charge. Jesus initiates the contact by asking who they are looking for. When they say they are looking for “Jesus of Nazareth” Jesus responds with the divine Name – “I am” – and those who come respond in the only way appropriate before the divine. They fall to the ground in worship! Our English translations betray us by saying “I am he” since the “he” is added only to make the sentence flow. We have noted how John uses the divine name “I am” often in reference to Jesus. John is not afraid to identify Jesus as “I am” in his gospel. So it is “I am” who encounters those who come to arrest Jesus. Jesus is the God-man. And Jesus is fully in charge of what must happen – even his arrest! Jesus is not overwhelmed but freely submits to his captors.