It was the Monday of Easter week and I was reading the Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly. I knew that week’s Lesson would naturally include select verses from the Gospels about Christ Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. But I hadn’t gotten to that section of the Lesson yet. I was still reading about Jesus’ agonizing experience in the garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion.
Then I came to this related passage in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “During his night of gloom and glory in the garden, Jesus realized the utter error of a belief in any possible material intelligence” (pp. 47–48). I didn’t get past the words “During his night of gloom and glory in the garden.” Stopping right there, I blurted out, “Glory? Where was any glory in that garden?” All I saw was sorrow, suffering, and disciple-dereliction. So, I set out to find the glory.
What happened that night in the garden is described in three of the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke. After finishing the Lesson, I decided to read all three accounts. They tell us that, knowing what was to come, Jesus asked his heavenly Father to spare him the crucifixion but then humbly prayed, “Not my will, but thine, be done.” According to the Gospel of Luke, at that moment of self-surrender “there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (22:43).
