The Atonement 3 - Matt 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:40-46

The little group of 12 men finally made it to the gate at the garden of Gethsemane, and Jesus instructs the all except Peter, James, and John (PJJ from now on) to “sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.” Going into the garden, he takes PJJ with with him a ways then says, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.” I’ve honestly been racking my brain trying to figure out why Jesus would have had PJJ come into the garden with Him, instead of having them wait out front with the rest of the disciples. I don’t think that I’ve discovered any new, revealing information, but I did have a couple of thoughts. 

First, we know that Jesus doesn’t need anything from us, that He is fully capable of performing and providing for himself, but that doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t appreciate some support or kindness. One of the thoughts I always have about the atonement is that if Jesus has felt all my pain and sorrow from this life, I hope that he got to feel all my happiness too. Some times I can pull myself out of a funk, or be a little bit happier, just with the thought that, Jesus will suffer for my bad mood, but if I can be happy, then it alleviates his suffering a little bit and it is my gift to him as a thank you. Maybe that doesn’t make sense, but it does to me. It would only be fair that if he must endure our pain, he would also get to enjoy our happiness as well. And maybe that’s why he did it, because he knew that for the most part, people would eventually be grateful and joyful because of what he did.

Even though Jesus doesn’t need anything from us, perhaps he took PJJ with him because he was hoping that they would be able to render some type of support to him. Even just watching him while he suffered, that recognition that they couldn’t do anything to help but that they appreciated the sacrifice he was making would have been at least something. I don’t necessarily think that Jesus was scared to make the atonement, but he before it even started he knew it was going to be bad, and he was probably pretty anxious about it. Any type of support would have been welcome I think. We know that John is considered Jesus’ “beloved” so they were tight, best friends even. “I’m about to do something hard, just hang out with me while I do it,” would have been understandable as a reason to bring them along.

Second, something I thought about while I was reading the IM which says, “Perhaps their experience in Gethsemane would provide them valuable knowledge of the Savior’s suffering, allowing them later to serve as witnesses of the Atonement.” I know that for 33 years of my life, I had absolutely no idea what the Atonement was, how it happened, really, anything other then, “because of the atonement, we can repent.” Which, if you are going to know anything about the atonement, then I guess that’s the most important part, but everything else was a complete mystery to me. I was even relived as a kid to hear the prophets say that the atonement can not be fully understood in this life, I thought “whew… at least I’m not the only one.” 

Interestingly, many of the conversations that I’ve had with non-Mormon Christians look at what happened in Gethsemane as Jesus just saying a prayer, like he had so many times before. Even trying to find outside insight into this event, there is a lot of talk about Jesus’ suffering in the garden, but no reasoning as to why or how. And I guess we probably won’t find anything like that because we have to come to our own understanding with the  Spirit on our own. As a whole, Christianity knows that Jesus died for our sins, paid with his blood so we can repent, and Jesus Himself taught that He is the way, that following his example and commandments is what will bring us happiness and salvation. But I can’t think of anywhere that Jesus says “I voluntarily give up my life so you can be saved. My death is the vehicle by which you will be saved if you repent.” 

This begs the question, how did the people find out that Jesus’ death made our repentance possible? Maybe the answer is because PJJ were with him while it happened, they were able to teach and understand from the perspective of a first hand witness. It’s clear that they didn’t understand what was going on when it was happening, but we also know that they didn’t have the Holy Ghost with them at that point. Maybe witnessing the suffering of Jesus in the garden was the first step in teaching them about the atonement so that when they got the Holy Ghost they would have a background information so that they can be taught about what it means. 

We haven’t gotten into what the apostles did after the ascension of Jesus, but from the snippets here and there that we’ve studied at church and stuff, there is an enormous amount of knowledge and understanding of the gospel that clearly wasn’t there while Jesus was alive. Does that mean that Jesus didn’t teach them enough? Of course not. It means that they were able to have the Spirit with them after Jesus ascended, and the Spirit taught them and connected the dots of the gospel  with their added understanding. PJJ being there while the atonement was happening might have been Jesus laying the foundation for them to more fully understand the gospel afterward.

Jesus is not having a good time and takes a break, apparently after about an hour, and (spoiler alert) PJJ were all asleep. Jesus seems a little put out and asks Peter, “Simon, sleepiest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?” This statement and the feeling of irritation that I get from it is what led me to believe that Jesus wanted them there so that he could feel their love and support. Jesus continues, “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” What temptation could PJJ possible face at that moment. Well, we know that this is the most important moment in all of human history, so it would make sense that Satan would be there doing his best to disrupt it. PJJ could have experienced the temptation to get angry with each other, to get angry with Jesus, to run away, or something like that. 

They did yield to the temptation to go to sleep, however. I wonder at what point, is sleep a temptation or just an inescapable action. Because we are not perfect, we are not able to completely subject our bodies to the will of our spirits. Jesus was able to go without sleeping because he chose not to let his body sleep, but we don’t really have that option. I personally relate to PJJ for sleeping at this moment, I have had so many times in my life when I just physically can not stay away. Unfortunately, it happens often when I’m driving, which is scary, but Jesus takes the wheel and I have made it through so far. JTC indicates that it was in “tenderness” that Jesus tells them, “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 

At least one of the three is able to stay awake long enough to observe parts of the happenings that we will cover later, but they just couldn’t stay awake. I genuinely believe that they wanted to, that they wanted to be obedient, and that they probably did their best but physically, they just couldn’t and I’ve been there so many times that I completely understand their struggle. After waking them twice, he comes to them at the end and says, “Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” ​