There Was a Garden There
Having said these things, Jesus left with His disciples and went across the ravine of the Kidron. There was a garden there, which He and His disciples entered.
John 18:1
God gives us gardens on our darkest night.
Over a millennium before this black night of betrayal, another king left Jerusalem and crossed the ravine of the Kidron. Yet there is no reference to a garden there. Instead, he continued, climbing barefoot with his head covered, to the Mount of Olives as the people wept aloud. His name was King David, and he too had been betrayed. You can read his story in 2 Samuel 15.
The Kidron Valley has long been a theater for history’s most tragic parades.
On the eve of his death, Jesus traces David’s steps, leaving Jerusalem, where days earlier He had been welcomed like a king. Like His ancestor, Jesus crosses the dry brook bed of the Kidron Valley. But unlike the Kidron of one thousand years before, there is a garden there and Jesus and His disciples enter.
Amidst the gnarly shelter of olive trees Jesus kneels and weeps, seeing all of time. He weeps not only for Jerusalem but for David, for all who have been betrayed, for every rejection of God since time began. He weeps, and He surrenders to the will of His Father.
Like King David, Jesus will also return to Jerusalem. He will carry the physical instrument of His death heavy on His shoulders.
But in this hour, He pauses in a garden to lay down His burdens.
God gave His Son a garden on His darkest night and gives gardens to you and me today.
In the garden, we unburden our souls. Under the silhouette of our Father’s will, we surrender. In return, He gives us the grace and strength we need to pick up our cross and continue to tomorrow’s Jerusalem.
Are you marching toward inevitable sorrow today? Are you wrestling with God’s will? There is a garden along the way. Enter with Jesus and lay your burdens down.
Lord, thank You for giving gardens in the Kidron valleys of our lives. Amen.
Image by Domenico Biello from Pixabay
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