BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS – MAUNDY THURSDAY

I can see it so vividly, and hauntingly, in my mind’s eye. You, my Lord, praying in despair as the disciples slept nearby. This beautiful garden that so often brought peace to those who entered, was filled only with darkness, fear, and determination on this night. The pain must have been excruciating. The weight of the world’s brokenness must have been almost unbearable. In silence and solitude, your prayers screamed out into the universe and across the ages. And as you knelt here, your sweat and tears fell like drops of blood staining the innocence of the creation.
Tonight, the most divine of all hearts poured out the purest of all loves. Tonight, grace proved its strength in a world that would much rather judge. Tonight, standing alone, you would bear your soul, and in doing so indelibly leave your image scarred into these rocks and this earth. This garden was made holy not by your presence alone, but by the blood, sweat and tears you shed here. The earth, in all its simple splendor, gently absorbed the suffering of your gut-wrenching pain, even as your disciples failed and your enemies approached. It was the creation itself, which came from the very Word that is your essence, which cradled you as a mother would a distraught child. I truthfully cannot fathom the depth of energy or emotion that filled the air on the Mount of Olives in those moments. I cannot comprehend the uneasiness of your pounding heart. In my mind, I can only watch in horror as Judas kisses you. What went unsaid as you both locked eyes? This place…these tears…the echoes of a quiet garden that hosted all that is holy and all that is evil on one fateful night. And the stars gently shone above as if to offer their reassurance…
-Rev Jeffrey G Mikyska (pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Elgin, IL)