"Then everyone deserted him and fled".

These are the two texts that effectively "bookend" the story of what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane. When we hear them along side each other, leaving aside the story of the faithless slumbering of the disciples while Jesus prayed alone, and the unseemly scuffle between disciples, Temple guard and mob; the duplicity of the disciples becomes shockingly clear.

Three years of following Jesus, listening to him, praying, eating, travelling with him. Seeing the most extraordinary things, and hearing things of heaven never before revealed to humankind, the disciples were ready to die with Jesus rather than desert him. Or so they said. But when it came to the crunch moment in that dark and quiet garden, their faith evaporated as quickly as the breath on which their previous promises hung. Trouble arrived, and the disciples departed.

It's not altogether clear why Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ, the scriptures aren't explicit, but that's not the case with the disciples - we know very well why they all fell away - quite simply, they were scared. They ran away because they feared for themselves, and left Jesus to his fate. Perhaps it never occurred to them that the outcome would be Jesus' crucifixion, even though he had explained that he was to suffer and die, perhaps they thought arrest and imprisonment would be the likely outcome - and they could get back together again once it was all over. Whatever the disciples thought was happening, having said they would stay with Christ even unto death, they did not, and ran away.

Why, after all they'd been through together ?
Jesus said "the spirit is willing, but the body is weak".
Often there's a big disconnection between the body and the spirit.
Before the disciples were physically scattered like sheep in Gethsemane, they were already scattered, deep within themselves. Their spirits naturally desired to be faithful to God through commitment to his Son, Jesus Christ. But their bodies (their fleshy, mortal selves) were weak - perhaps because spirit and body, heaven and earth, were not yet united within them. Even though they had been with Christ, God made flesh, for so long, they were still unable to make the connection between heaven and earth within themselves. "Spirit gives birth to spirit, but flesh gives birth to flesh" Jesus once said. And so it was there in the garden, the body overcame the spirit, and the disciples fled. Under the pressure of Gethsemane, their internal division ruptured into the outward scattering of those who only hours beforehand had pretended to unity.

And so what might we learn from Gethsemane about our own condition ?
Perhaps this, that it's just too easy to say "Lord I am yours".
We must be on our guard and take Jesus' words seriously, "the spirit is willing, but the body is weak", understanding that our spirits may be willing but in our flesh we are fatally flawed.

Many so-called witnesses had offered testimonies against Jesus, and in particular his actions in the Temple - turning over the tables and throwing out money changers, but none could agree and the case against him was weak. Throughout these testimonies Jesus remained silent - clearly there was no need for him to speak - the inconsistent stories spoke for themselves.

And so it was that only when Jesus was asked about his identity, that he chose to speak. He spoke to confirm it, to say "yes", to what was true.

"Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One" "I am" said Jesus, "and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven".

Caiaphas tore his clothes in response to this affirmation of Jesus' identity. Tearing clothes was one of the most powerful ways of displaying mourning, and according the book of Leviticus, the High Priest was barred from such an act, which only goes to show how utterly horrified he was at Jesus' answer. The dramatic effect of the High Priest tearing his robes would not have been lost on the other priests and teachers of the Law as they considered Jesus' guilt or otherwise. Eventually Jesus was taken away and beaten by the Temple Guard.

Meanwhile, while Jesus was saying "yes" to the truth concerning his identity, Peter was outside in the courtyard saying "no" his. Having run off with the rest of the disciples, Peter had now decided to find out what was going on and made his way into the courtyard near where Jesus was being held prisoner. While warming himself by the fire and listening out for snippets of information concerning Jesus, he was recognised as someone who had been a follower of the "Nazarene". Compare Peter's reaction on being recognised, with Christ's;

"After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, "surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean". He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this man you're talking about".

As he denied his identity for the third time, Jesus' prophecy concerning Peter's betrayal came true and the cock crowed. Peter remembered Jesus' words, and then his own words uttered just a few hours before came back to haunt him ""Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you". Peter broke down and wept bitterly.

Jesus' "yes", and Peter's "no"
Jesus confirming his identity, Peter denying his.
Jesus, beaten for being who he is. Peter weeping in shame for denying who he is.

Yet here is an amazing truth - that it's through the "yes" of Jesus', that the "no" of Peter can be redeemed. It's because Jesus is the Son of God, that he could say "yes" to Caiaphas' question, and because the "yes" sent him to the Cross and to resurrection, the "no" of Peter can be transformed into those wonderful words recorded at the ends of John's gospel, when on the seashore of Galilee Jesus enabled Peter to be restored;
"Simon son of John, do you love me ?
"Lord you know all things, you know I love you".
Jesus replied - "follow me".

So Jesus now appears before Pilate, bruised and weary from the earlier interrogation and beatings of the Temple Guards, Pilate proceeds to interrogate him further. His first question is the only one of any importance to him;
"are you the King of the Jews ?"
Jesus answers, "yes, it is as you say".

Although the Chief priests accuse Jesus of many things before Pilate, Jesus doesn't answer any of them, which amazes him. Pilate is probably used to seeing prosecutors and defendants arguing in front of him, and it made good sport. But Jesus remains silent. It wouldn't have mattered what was said anyway, for if the Chief Priest wanted Jesus dead because he was a trouble maker (remember what happened in the Temple), and if Pilate was happy to execute anyone who might cause serious unrest in his province - (particularly political activists who might aspire to royalty), then the sentence was always going to be the same - crucifixion.

That said, there does appear, just for a moment, the possibility of escape from the cross, as Pilate gives the crowd a say in whose to die. Why does he do this ? Several reasons perhaps; one being that there appears to have a tradition of releasing a prisoner during the Feast (this probably helped to keep the people "sweet" and reduce the possibility of friction and trouble). Another reason may be that it helped distance Pilate from the consequences of the execution, at least in local terms; having done only what the people of Jerusalem asked of him. But there's another reason which is worth considering too, which is this - Pilate really didn't care which one of the two men, Jesus or Barabbas he executed, indeed the choice made more sport for him. What was interesting to Pilate was to see which one of these two men the people might choose, because both of them were claiming to be some form of Messiah. When Jesus was in front of the Chief Priests he answered "I am" to the question "are you the Christ?", (the Messiah). Now Barabbas' name, Bar-abbas means "son of the father". This is almost certainly a self-styled Messianic title, and Mark's gospel connects Barabbas to a recent Jewish insurrection in which people were killed. Indeed, it's possible that Barabbas' name was actually Jesus, for in some ancient manuscripts, St Matthews' gospel has Pilate saying "which one do you want me to release to you, Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ". This explains why Pilate chose Barabbas as the alternative to Jesus - which one of these two "would-be-Messiah's" would the people choose ? They chose Barabbas. It's not surprising, the crowd preferring the well renowned local revolutionary who acted more like the Messiah they expected, than the son of a carpenter from Nazareth (can any good come from there ? Nathaniel once asked), who preached love for enemies and disrupted traditional Temple life.

We know what happened next - the Roman soldiers took Jesus away and tortured him, using the label "king of the Jews" to scorn and beat him, dressing him in mock royal robes and pressing a crown made of thorns onto his head.

The crowd that had gathered earlier to shout for Jesus' death had assembled beneath the cross too. They added their insults, "you who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself". And the chief priests and teachers of the law mocked him too - "he saved others, but he can't save himself". And as he hung there dying, they continued to cast doubt on his sense of identity - "let this Christ, this King of Israel come down from the cross that we might see and believe".

"Let this Christ, this King of Israel"….. these are vicious scornful words designed to cut deep into the dying Christ's sense of who he is, tempting him to doubt himself, persuading him to despair - perhaps he was wrong, perhaps he'd made a terrible mistake, perhaps he was simply Jesus of Nazareth - can anything good come from there ?

Unlike the gospels of Luke and John, Mark and Matthew record no conversation, no words of Jesus uttered from the cross. In these two gospels Jesus suffers and dies in silence, with the exception of the loud cry as he breathes his last. Mark's account of the crucifixion is dark and bleak. Jesus hangs on a Roman crucifix, executed for being a fraud and a troublemaker, hung alongside petty thieves, mocked and scorned by priests and lawyers, bystanders and passers-by. There is nothing remotely glorious, majestic, spiritual or healing about the scene at Golgotha in Mark's gospel - it's simply crude, barbaric, full of pain and deadly.

How can we not give to this man, the Word of God made flesh, all our worship, all our commitment, all our energy, all our trust, all our possessions, all our love. How can we not fall on our knees and with trembling voices whisper, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner", or perhaps with Peter "Lord you know all things, you know I love you". That God should come to us in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and suffer and die in such a manner as this, all for loves sake. That he should suffer and die on the cross so that humankind might know what real love is, so that through that love we might be united to a God whom we can call father, or mother, or Lord or Saviour. A God who created us and cares for us so very much, a God within whom we live and move and have our being, and without whom we are never at peace, never whole, always lost, always searching, ever hopeless, always alone.

Some Christians have understood this darkness, and the cry of our Lord, to be a sign of God distancing himself from Jesus - because Jesus bore our sins in his body, and because God is holy and without sin, God could not be at one with his Son during his time on the Cross. I don't accept that interpretation of the significance of the darkness or Jesus' cry, and I will offer another view. Concerning the darkness. In the Bible we find that God, far from being absent, is actually very present in darkness, indeed darkness is often a sign that God is about to do something very dramatic, perhaps even doing what only God can do, create new life. Take for example Exodus 20:21, Moses goes up Mount Sinai to receive the 10 commandments - the founding covenant that created a people who would become God's treasured possession (Ex 19:5). Exodus records that "the people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was". Indeed when we read about how the world began, how that astounding act of creation came about, we discover that "darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters".

God was not absent in the darkness at the beginning of creation, but at work doing only what God can do, creating new life. God was not absent in the darkness that covered Moses as he climbed Mount Sinai to meet with the Lord, but God was in the thick of it, creating a new people for him-self. And God was not absent in the darkness that covered the Hill at Golgotha and beyond, but he was right in the heart of it, creating through the pain and suffering of his only Son, new life that would be for all, an eternal life, that would overcome sin and death and shatter their power forever.

Concerning Jesus' cry. This is not a cry of desolation, but a cry of hope. Jesus is reciting the first line of psalm 22, a psalm concerned with God's faithfulness. The psalm begins in despair, "I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint", but soon turns into a song of deep joy. Here a few lines;
"He has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
The poor will eat and be satisfied;
They who seek the Lord will praise him;
All the families of the nations will bow down before him
All the rich of the earth will feast and worship".
And the psalm concludes;
"They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn-
For he has done it".

At Golgotha, Father and Son are not divided but united in an act of creative and redemptive power the like of which has not been seen since the foundation of the universe. God at work in the darkness, Christ at work on the Cross, and the power of the Holy Spirit blasting into the Temple and tearing the curtain in two, from top to bottom, that which divided people from the Holy of Holies. For this is what Good Friday is about, today is the day when the full force of sin, everything that humankind could muster to break, disfigure, smash, ruin and wreck the loving purposes of God is met by the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, through Christ on the Cross. And as Jesus' last breath issues forth from his broken body, so the curtain in the temple is ripped in two, and everything that divides humanity from itself and its God, is no more. Sin is defeated, the curtain that symbolised separation, people from people, people from God, hangs in shreds. The Holy of Holies will not be divided from his people, and his people will not be divided from one another, for on the Cross Jesus took upon himself everything that causes hatred and division, and conquered them for all time, through divine, eternal love. As with bread and wine, God takes what is broken, and through it creates a greater and undividable unity - for there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, able bodied nor disabled, sick nor healthy, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic nor Anglican, neither rich nor poor, American nor Iraqi, white nor black, old nor young, dead nor living - for we are all one in Christ Jesus, Son of man, the Son of God. Amen

Ian Spencer