Among The Olive Trees

After the meal they sang a hymn and went out into the grove of olive trees.

Gethsemane.

A quiet place for prayer and uncertainty.

A place for the final confrontation to begin.

He prayed and sweated with drops like drops of blood itself.

Like his blood shed from a broken body.

But the soul was not broken. Even in the agony of Gethsemane there was the certainty that he promised to his followers. A body broken and blood shed in hope. A new Passover. A new meal.

In Gethsemane the night settled in and darkness seemed to be the victor.
And this was but the beginning.

Go to dark Gethsemane,
ye that feel the tempter's power;
your Redeemer's conflict see,
watch with him one bitter hour.
Turn not from his griefs away;
learn of Jesus Christ to pray.