Gethsemane and Golgotha represent two notable peaks in the ordeal of Jesus Christ on the way to Crucifixion. Gethsemane was a quiet place on the Mount of Olives, parallel to the Eastern part of Jerusalem, housing a Garden where Jesus Christ withdrew into alone to pray on the night of his betrayal and subsequent arrest before the Crucifixion. The garden was said to be a grove of olive trees in which an oil press was located (the Internet). This sorrowful account is contained in the four Gospels in Matthew (26:36-56), Mark (14:32-50), Luke (22:39-53),  and John (18:1-27), suggestive of the significance of the event in the life of Christ. However, there are slight differences in the details.

In Matthew, the garden is identified by name, and Christ took Peter and the sons of Zebedee, James and John, with him up to a point, and then went apart to pray, while asking them to keep watch (possibly anticipating his betrayal and arrest).  “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me” (38).  He fell on his face and prayed, saying: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou will” (39). Thrice Jesus made this prayer only to come back and find the disciples asleep. He said unto Peter: “What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (40-41).

After the third time, he came back to the weary disciples and told them: “Sleep on now, and take your rest: Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: Behold, he is at hand that doth betray me” (45-46). The last statement ushers in Judas with the mob who swooped on Jesus to arrest him after Judas had betrayed him with a kiss.

The other disciples initially attempted a defensive resistance, with one of them drawing a sword, and striking off the ear of  “a servant of the high priest”, which Jesus put back saying “…for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (51-52). “Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled” (56), apparently overwhelmed by the murderous crowd.

       Mark’s account is very similar to Matthew’s in material detail. The sorrowful prayer, the wish to avoid the bitter cup, the slumbering disciples, the entry of Judas to betray Jesus with a kiss to effect his arrest by the mob, the initial resistance by the disciples resulting in the slashing off the ear of one of the attackers which Jesus instantly redressed, and the final desertion by the overwhelmed disciples - all these are also captured in Mark’s Gospel. Jesus’ plea to avoid the bitter cup is even put more passionately:  “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee: take away this cup from me: nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt” (36). And Jesus was led away to the high priest to face his trial.

       Luke’s account is less detailed, but it captures the essence of the agony Jesus suffered in Gethsemane without identifying the place by name as in the two previous Gospels.  Luke simply describes it as Mount Olives of which Gethsemane was a part. “And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the Mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him” (39).  Luke adds a few details not found in Matthew and Mark. At the height of his agony, “there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (43). Also, his sweat was described as “great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (44), suggestive of the intense despair of Christ at this most sorrowful moment of his life. As soon as Judas kissed him, our Lord said: “Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?” (48). The smiting of the right ear of one of the servants of the high priest and the instant healing performed by Jesus are also mentioned. This was apparently the last miracle of Jesus before his Crucifixion.

In all the three synoptic Gospels, although all the disciples deserted Jesus at this critical moment, Peter followed at a safe distance and observed the ordeal his Master was going through without identifying with him. And when accosted by those who had seen him with Jesus, he bluntly denied three times with a curse, before the cock crew to remind him of the solemn promise he had made to Christ to stand by him through thick and thin. But he went out and wept bitterly in utter contrition.

       The account in John’s Gospel is totally different from those in the three other Gospels. Gethsemane is also not identified by name. Jesus is simply said to have gone forth “with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into which he entered, and his disciples” (18:1). Details of what transpired in the Garden are left out, and the account delves straight into the entry of Judas with a band of men and officers from the Chief Priests and Pharisees to arrest him. The betrayal kiss is left out, and Jesus simply confronted the group, asking them: “Whom seek ye?” (4). They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth” (5), while Jesus identified himself, saying, “I am he”, and “they went backward, and fell to the ground” (5--6). Twice the question is repeated with the same answer given. Jesus then asks them to arrest him and allow his disciples to go free. “That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spoke, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none” (8-9).

Ironically, Jesus was about to lose one of the twelve - Judas Iscariot. John identifies Simon Peter as the disciple who drew his sword, and Malchus as the servant whose right ear was cut off in rage. But Peter still went ahead to deny Jesus three times before cockcrow. Jesus was then taken to Caiaphas, and transferred to Pilate for trial. Pilate found no fault with Jesus, but ended up giving up Jesus, and releasing Barabbas, the robber.

       The events that occurred between Gethsemane and Golgotha, included Jesus being condemned and made to carry his heavy Cross through a difficult journey celebrated in fourteen Stations, involving three falls, and the relieving interventions by Simon of Cyrene and Veronica. 

Golgotha (also known as Calvary) was a place immediately outside the walls of Jerusalem, where the actual crucifixion of Christ took place, flanked by two thieves who were also crucified, one of them gaining a last-minute entry into Paradise by his faith in Jesus.  Before being finally nailed to the wooden Cross, Jesus was jeered at, flogged, tortured,  stripped naked and given a crown of thorns, and he eventually gave up the ghost, after praying for his persecutors to be forgiven “for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

According to an Internet source, it is speculated that Jesus was crucified on April 3, AD 33, and He died on the ninth hour which was about 3p.m. Gethsemena and Golgotha thus stand for the climax of the ordeal of Jesus in the process of paying the all-time price for the redemption of sinful humanity.

Gethsemane found Christ at his weakest point ever, overwhelmed by fear of the known, and reduced to the lowest level of divinity.  He could have called for divine intervention if he needed one. But Jesus had to suffer the Crucifixion fully as a human being to make the sacrifice valid and completely successful once and for all. Let us take note that each time we commit sin, we are crucifying Christ all over again.