Jesus in the Garden

AFTER leaving the upstairs room, Jesus and his apostles go out to the garden of Geth·semʹa·ne. They have come here many times before. Jesus now tells them to keep awake and to pray. Then he goes a little distance away, and gets face down on the ground to pray.

Later Jesus comes back to where his apostles are. What do you think they are doing? They are asleep! Three times Jesus tells them they should keep awake, but each time he returns he finds them sleeping. ‘How can you sleep at a time like this?’ Jesus says the last time he comes back. ‘The hour has come for me to be handed over to my enemies.’

Just at that moment the noise of a large crowd can be heard. Look! The men are coming with swords and clubs! And they are carrying torches to give them light. When they get closer, someone steps out from the crowd and comes right up to Jesus. He kisses him, as you can see here. The man is Judas Is·carʹi·ot! Why does he kiss Jesus?

Jesus asks: ‘Judas, do you betray me with a kiss?’ Yes, the kiss is a sign. It lets the men with Judas know that this is Jesus, the man they want. So Jesus’ enemies step forward to grab him. But Peter is not going to let them take Jesus without a fight. He pulls out the sword that he has brought along and strikes at the man near him. The sword just misses the man’s head and chops off his right ear. But Jesus touches the man’s ear and heals it.

Jesus tells Peter: ‘Return your sword to its place. Don’t you think that I can ask my Father for thousands of angels to save me?’ Yes, he can! But Jesus doesn’t ask God to send any angels, because he knows that the time has come for his enemies to take him. So he lets them lead him away. Let’s see what happens to Jesus now.