THE BIBLE VIVIDLY DESCRIBES Jesus' severe inner struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane (see Luke 23:39–46). Though facing arrest and trial, humiliation, a brutal beating and crucifixion, Jesus nevertheless surrendered his will completely to God in order to carry out the fulfillment of his divine purpose.
The combined words patient woe in Mrs. Eddy's spiritual definition of Gethsemane describe for me Jesus' ability to bear sorrow and yet maintain a steadfast, mental calm in the face of fearful misunderstanding, uncertainty, and tragic injustice. He proved that because good is infinite, it is also inevitable. Through his committed understanding of the uplifting influence of God, ever-present Love, he showed all humanity the way of salvation—complete freedom from the material sense of life.
Jesus' agony in Gethsemane occurred when his human sense, anticipating violent reprisals, momentarily caused him to resist God's will to carry the banner of spiritual life forward even to the point of death. But he must have recognized that God had fully authorized him to show that the Christ, his true spiritual nature, included the spiritual capacities that result in dominion over all evidence of the material senses. As his human sense subsided in humility, his spiritual perception ultimately enabled him to rise above all hatred—and eventually even death itself—to the demonstration of entirely harmonious, eternal Life.
