Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” (Matt 26:36-42)

While reading the text about the garden of Gethsemane the thought wants to travel to another garden. The garden of Eden. In the first garden the human being did not trust that the way of God was best for her. So she went her own way. But she did not know the price of her choice. The human in the second garden knew exactly the price of His choice. Still he trusted that Gods way was the best.

So often I have questioned why God punished them so hard in Eden. After all they did not understand. No, they did not understad, so perhaps what God did was not a punishment at all, but a consequence, a necessary intervention. A rescue. Since he already knew who would take the real punishment of the human betrayal. Himself.

The human being does not understand the consequences of her actions. She does not have the full picture so she makes many mistakes. She hurts herself and others. She is strong sometimes and weak sometimes. She is wise sometimes and completely insane sometimes. He in the garden knows all this but he is still madly in love with her. He wants her back. And for that he must pay an inhumanly high price. That is why his body is shivering and anxiety is tormenting him as he pray to his Father for another solution. An other way to win her back. But there is no other way. He must be divorced from his Father, from life itself, and enter the darkness. All alone.

So he does it. He takes on all the crap that has ever happened and will happen och says “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). He dies so that she can live.

So that their love story may never end. Ever.

At times it seems like God has left us with our madness and short-termism, but he has not. He is here. Creating beauty out of broken pieces. Again and again. Every little deception that would push her further away from him, righteousness himself, has no effect. Now, when Jesus through his death, has said an eternal “forgive her for she knows not what she does”, NOTHING can separate her from him. All that belongs to him now also belongs to her. He is her home. Their love will never end. His heart is aching of desire to receive her on the other side.

If she want it of course.

In the garden of Eden where the humans hid, God calls “Were are you?!” (Gen 3:9).  In the garden of Getsemane, it is as if Jesus answers “Here I am!”. He stepped into that shame-filled distance between them. When Jesus answers the Fathers question there is no shame, no guilt, no condemnation. No sin. It is all replaced by himself. In Him the human being is found, by their Creator, that has called on her heart for so long. In all her shortcomings she is devoured by love. There is no room for anything else.

Only love.

Written by Emelie Rönnerfors