Carl Barth's dogmatic. We follow a little meditation on Gethsemane that Carl Barth here makes in the context of Christ, the obedience of the son of God. and he as the judge, as the one who is being judged in our state. By the way, I wanted to mention that tonight, Henry Clifford called up and he asked for the prayers of the community because his wife is going to be operated on tomorrow and he's very much afraid that it might be cancer, malignant. but so is in great agony and hopes very much that we assured him that we all would remember him tomorrow.

[01:11]

Then so that he starts in Karl Barth in doing this, he connects the temptation and Gethsemane. You see that's indeed There are two different polls. We start the Lenten season with the temptation of the Lord in the desert, Mark 4 and Luke 4. And it ends in the gospel according to St. Luke. The story of the temptation ends with this sentence that after the The devil had tempted him in vain. He left him until the decisive moment. Up to the decisive moment.

[02:14]

Kairos should be translated that way. Kairos is the decisive moment. The out. The Lord calls the out. So, Karl Barron, I think, rightly asked if this up to the right moment, I looked up the new English version of the Bible and there it was biding his time. It's very, you know, it kind of makes sense, you know, sensible, but maybe not quite up to the to the text. Anyhow, the kairos is the decisive moment. The decisive moment is the passion. Now, then Karban in a special way, you know, makes the parallel between the temptation and the agony in the garden, Gethsemane, and finds there, you know, especially the

[03:25]

be in our correspondence. Because in the hour of Gethsemane, the essence of the events of Holy Friday, of Good Friday, kind of are condensed, are all being taken together. The agony, agony. But with this thing that it is essentially in Gethsemane, the readiness in front of the event which is approaching, which is coming. And therefore, Gethsemane is really, and this morning we heard that in the Passion, so beautifully read, we heard that there is, that is the beginning of the Passion, and it is the, let's say, the turning point, you know, the angle point. between the preceding our Lord's way and then the passion itself.

[04:33]

It's the declaration of the inner welliness, the taking, deliberate taking of the chalice, the intention which accompanies the Lord during the night of Good Friday is there, one can say, formulated solemnly And therefore, the way that the Lord began in the desert, which was in itself a continuation of what had been begun in his baptism. Baptism in the Jordan, that is the, I'm going to say, sacramental anticipation of the whole. And the way in the desert is the first step. And on this end, the temptation of the devil in the desert means, are you willing and are you ready? I mean, that's the meaning. To go the way of the penitent sinner.

[05:37]

And now, of course, the question, how do you go the way of the penitent sinner unto the end? In the temptation in the desert where the... The confrontation with the devil takes place and the Lord solemnly decides with the word of God in his mouth against it. But here, of course, at Gethsemane, the bill is presented as now the hour is there when the Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of the sinners. That is what Karl Barth kind of makes the essential point in the whole history of Gethsemane. We can see there that Gethsemane first shows

[06:46]

in various words, in the vocabulary which is used by the various evangelists, makes it clear that the Lord's inner, the Lord's soul is shaken to its very depth. That he really is, as Saint Luke expresses it, sweating blood. And that has become a word which is a mark of this kind of inner suffering. And together with this, the depth and the emphatic character of this inner suffering, then this moment, that this Gethsemane moment is a moment of, is a halt. It's a stop in some way. It's a... Shall one call it? We might speak about it later, a moment of hesitation.

[07:47]

Should one call it in some way? Well, one certainly cannot, but I mean we see there that there is a, as it were, a possibility which is before Christ and according to which, if that were the will of God, that is the essential parenthesis in the Lord's thinking, which of course would be exclude what is then the tragedy of the passion, and that means that through the passion, the power of the devil seems to conquer in some way, blot out or obscure the power of God. So therefore the report of the three evangelists on the story, on the scene in Gethsemane, in their various expressions, emphasize that.

[08:49]

Karl Barth uses, in order to characterize it, the word of Hebrews. Hebrews 5, Christ, during his earthly life, offered prayer and entreaty to the God who could save him from death, not without a piercing cry, not without tears, yet with such piety as won him a hearing. Then, if one considers the difference between the story of Gethsemane and that of the temptations One sees there the second point that I just alluded to and which makes the two so different that in the desert no hesitation whatsoever. No, one can say, questioning on the part of our Lord.

[09:52]

But constantly answering every temptation on the part of the devil with absolute decision with the character of it's understood, you know, with the uncompromising refusal, and not only refusal, but the positive defeat of Satan with and in the power of the Word of God. In the in Gethsemane, it is different. There comes this, there is this, which looks like a moment. Does it really have to be this way? It seems as if that decision that was made in the desert now becomes...

[11:03]

wobbly, see, is shaken. One can also see that in Gethsemane, the very figure of Satan, his presence is in no way is mentioned. He disappears. He is not visible, but he acts through his instruments. He does not come and act as the, like the serpent in paradise, with the subtlety of persuasion and advice, with the, I'll come and say, suggestion. That was in the desert too.

[12:06]

The subtle way of suggesting what is the decisive thing in Gethsemane, and then of course in the course of the Passion, that the armor, the weapons of Satan, do not consist in much subtlety, but they consist in great power. in great power. It is here in the... it could become so clear what in the epistle to the Ephesians, as it is said, you know, the one who is... the one who has power, power in the atmosphere, That means in all the existence and the conditions of existence in this age here.

[13:07]

The spirit which is effective in the sons of disobedience, the inner motor that drives them. You remember that the scene in Gethsemane ends with There is now then the traitor. He comes and the Lord meets him. There is the hour in which he is now actually being delivered into the hands of the sinners. So it isn't in that way the subtlety of the serpent here, as in the desert. But it is here Satan as the king of this world. who is acting through and in his power and in the power which he has over his instruments. And these instruments are the sinners.

[14:12]

And of course, the one who is the leading one, is the traitor, is Judas. And the characteristic thing is that Getsemane ends with Jesus Christ. falls into the hands of man. He is delivered into the powers of darkness. That is... characterizes the event which is now breaking in over the Lord. Therefore he realizes and he experiences the power here of the tempter. It is one thing to resist and to contradict the tempter.

[15:17]

It is another thing now to see him as it is here in this world and in humanity, which is dominated by him, to see him triumphant and to be refuted, as it were, by him through the hard language of defeat of destructive facts, let us put it that way. Still one cannot say, Karl Barth continues, that the real and the deepest meaning of the Hour of Gethsemane was not yet and only to see the world and to see the world as subject to the prince.

[16:22]

and therefore in the power of the one who dominates the world. And therefore it is at Gethsemane, the theme of Gethsemane is not the mystery of the existence and the meaning of evil as such. One cannot say, he says, that here in this scene in Gethsemane, really the question is treated of the problem of what we call the theodicea. That means the harmonizing of the existence of God and of evil in a reflective way, through a reflection. let us say, a philosophical or theological reflection.

[17:25]

Where is then here in this world in which Satan evidently rules and where the Son of God and the Son of Man becomes the defeated one, the judge who becomes the judged one. Is it so that here God is on the retreat or that he abdicates or that as sometimes we can see that in titles of books when they speak about the dying God, the death of God. Such reflections and such thoughts are, as Karl Barth I think rightly reminds us, are simply not the theme of the New Testament. But anything that is revealed in the New Testament, anything that happens there, the essential foundation is that God is the one who here rules

[18:48]

who here follows his own purpose. It is the story of the living Lord who lives also in a world with whom and with which and in which he is at odds, in enmity. And therefore it is not the question of speculation of the harmony or the coexistence of evil and the goodness of God. It can never be the question of any kind of resignation on the part of God, but Jesus, and I think that is so important and beautiful as Karl Barth puts it here, Jesus does not reflect about his God, but he addresses him. And that is really so true.

[19:51]

If you take, for example, in Gethsemane, if you take Mark, it's the 14th chapter, and there you have Peter and John, and now he grew bewildered and dismayed. And my soul, he says to Peter, James, and John, is ready to die for sorrow. Do you abide here and keep watch? And so he went forward a little and fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass him by. Abba, Father, he said, all things are possible to thee. Take away this chalice from before me. Only as thy will is, not as mine is. So he addresses, he speaks to God. And then Karl Barth points out three points and maybe we can just touch them.

[20:58]

One in the story of, in the scene of Gethsemane to which we could, on which we could focus first, what is the content of this address, of this prayer? The second point is that Christ at this hour is completely alone and without any friend and without any helper. And the third point then is that the only answer which God really gives to his prayer, you see the I think it's so true. Gethsemane is not presented to us in any way as a dialogue between the Son of Man and his heavenly Father. The answer, the only answer that is given is the answer that then follows.

[22:02]

There is Judas and there are the traitors and there is he delivered. into the hands of his enemies. In other words, the answer that is given is not a word. It is not a consolation. It is not in any way an enlightening, consoling manifestation of his father. A word of encouragement also. But what is there is the sign of Jonah. The sign of Jonah is the answer that is given. Now we would first, you know, just touch upon the second point. The second point is what characterizes the hour of Gethsemane is the Lord's being alone because that certainly is in all the texts emphasized in a way which cannot be overlooked.

[23:04]

First of all, one thing is the desire and longing of the Lord to be with his disciples, to be close to them. He invites the three whom he loves most to go with him. And then he says, only if little I go away, only for a little distance. A stone thrower, as they say. Literally, you know, as Mark says in 1435. And therefore he wants, as it were, the support of those whom he loves and who love him. He goes three times, you know, it is the whole thing, the whole Gethsemane scene is built like a vigil.

[24:04]

It's a real true vigil. It's a vigil with the three nocturnes. And three times the Lord comes and makes sure. Are you there? Are you there waking with me? Are you there praying with me? It's the realization that the one in this hour, and that I think is also such a true... if Karl Barth calls our attention to that, you know, that in the hour of temptation, in the hour of Satan's power, the manifestation of Satan's power, what is our only possible answer? The Spirit is willing. And how is the willingness of the Spirit expressed? It's expressed in prayer. Where is the expression, the only possible expression of the willingness of the spirit?

[25:06]

But here in this hour, the flesh, the weakness of the flesh, takes over. Every time he comes back, he finds the apostles, he finds his own asleep. And that is the one great and important element and to understand the hour of Gethsemane and to understand the sorrow. And right away also and actually to understand this hour in connection with the future. Because who are the disciples? We are the disciples. And therefore the question is how we react in temptation. Do we react in the willingness of the Spirit? Or does the weakness of the flesh take over? Here he is our Lord, therefore he is alone. And therefore it makes this hour, makes it clear.

[26:11]

And that is where the inner, one can say one call it, now the spiritual anguish of this, one aspect of the spiritual anguish of this hour. And what becomes clear is whatever he does, whatever the Lord does, is purely and basically for us. For us. So that's what God does in Christ, you know. has at this moment and in this context, has no, nothing corresponds to it in the existence, in the reactions of the faithful.

[27:13]

Then he points out the third point, that the answer that God gives, that this prayer in Gethsemane cannot be called a conversation of the Lord with his heavenly Father because there is never nowhere an answer on the part of God. If one thinks in this connection may be of the apparition of the angel in Luke in chapter 22, the 43rd verse, then one must keep, I think, in mind that the word which is used there, what the angel does is, and he's sure, and that means strengthening him, strengthening him, giving him strength.

[28:16]

Strength for what? The strength to endure, the strength to take upon himself, because right in the next verse, in verse 44, immediately is mentioned that decisive word of the agony of Jesus. So the challenge that the angel brings does not have the meaning in any way of, let us say, of softening or of transforming in any way the suffering and the anguish of the Lord's soul. It strengthened him so that he physically, as it were, is able to stand it, the agony which then comes over him. That is also a difference, and Karl Barth points that out, and I think it's so deeply true that what our Lord suffers in Gethsemane is so completely different in its...

[29:18]

aspect, the way it's presented to us from, for example, the suffering, the dying of the Christian martyr in the arena. If you think of that in the reports, in the acts of the martyrs, of the death of the martyrs, that it has the air of trial. The martyr dies in joy. Somehow the spirit, the consoler, is there. carries the martyr in many ways even over the physical, the impact of the physical pain he has to endure, carries him into the realm of song, into the realm of praise. So like Polycarp dying on the stake, you see, being burned, you know, and with his voice praising, thanking God, speaking the Eucharistia.

[30:20]

Nothing of that is here. This here is the Lord really and truly interiorly in darkness. The only sign, the only answer that is given to him is three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the dead. Therefore, the will of God here is done and takes place, is effected in that what Satan wants. By this, that the will of Satan was done. The answer of God is in that way, you must always see, in the experience, you know, in the factual manifestation is identical really with the power and the word, the deed of Satan.

[31:25]

And then in this apparent, if one may make, coincidence between the will of God and the will of Satan, That causes and is the inner, deep inner suffering and the agony of the Lord. Then the third is our Lord addressing his prayer, his prayer, the Lord's prayer to his heavenly Father. What is this? Is the meaning of this prayer in some way that our Lord, that in our Lord, let us put it perhaps this way, that in our Lord a will has been formed which is different from the will of his heavenly Father, goes into a different direction, and that the result, let us say, of the hour of Gethsemane would be this, that the Lord resigns, that the Lord kind of offers, you know, or let us say gets over

[32:35]

this, or offers up this, his own will, as different from the Father's will. And that too is, I mean is here and I think also very deeply and in a very beautiful way, you know, Karl Barth warns against such an interpretation. that Christ has not really in his prayer opposed, as it were, his own will against the true and real will of God. But he speaks of his own will in this way that it could be and would, could become, as it were, the will of God.

[33:38]

Not that it is in any way opposed to it, but it could become the will of God. There is therefore nothing in itself that would contradict the basic intention of the Father, his redeeming intention. But it is a a direction, a tendency, say which then, if it really would become and would be God's will, then could be legitimately followed and executed. He emphasized, and I think again rightly, That anything that the Lord, and of course in that way, our Lord's prayer in Gethsemane is the, let's say, model for deep existential prayer, there where the will of God is met by us, one can say, in all its nakedness, in all its strangeness, in all its otherness.

[34:55]

And it is always met in the parenthesis, if this is your will. The decisive thing is, Abba Father, everything is possible to you. If this is possible, if you want this, then let it be done in a different way. But not in any way Therefore the decisive thing is that anything that Christ himself wills or wants or intends is in the parenthesis of the will of God for him, the will of the Father, Abba, Father. Therefore he completely speaks as the Son, as the child of his heavenly Father. That of course in itself does not take away, let's say, from the inner intensity of his prayer.

[36:02]

Why? That is of course presented because the, one can say, the solution, the will of God is something so really and truly terrifying. See, it is this disappearance, let's say, of the public disappearance. of the goodness of the heavenly Father. In the sentence, death sentence, which is being executed with and in the Son of God made man. That is the, one can say, the inner, what calls and what... produces in the soul of our Lord that deep inner agony. But he does not, and that I think is so important for us to realize that, he makes no claims.

[37:04]

He does not in any way, let us say, support his prayers for these and these reasons. He does not put any conditions to God, to his heavenly Father. Therefore, this prayer in no way counteracts or annuls the essential, the status of the repentance, the status of maybe we could call it penance that the Lord, the repentant servant of God, takes upon himself for us. We cannot continue that anymore, but I just wanted to, maybe I just would repeat it, you know, that in this, what Karl Barth sees in the, that is, of course, is not all, but I mean, we don't have time to do it, but is this, the difference between the temptation and the agony in the garden.

[38:09]

First, their relation, one at the beginning and the other at the end. One, the kind of overture, of the decisive temptation when the Lord sets out on his way, which is, according to the declaration in baptism, is the way of the sinner who has come into this world to fulfill all justice. And then the hour of Gethsemane, which also is again, you see, in order of an hour of preparation, an order of manifesting the intention, but in a different way. Not, you know, in conflict or in contradiction and in the refuting of the subtle suggestions of the tempter, but the inner, the meeting as the helpless, I'm going to say, victim, standing helpless before

[39:14]

the real power of Satan, which he exercises not through himself, but he exercises through those who are his instruments, those who have the power in their hands in this world, who therefore represent and are really the powers of darkness, which rule the atmosphere of this world. And in order to fulfill all justice, now the way in which that is done is presented to him. And it is, I can say, the victory of Satan. He himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, has in that way the will of the Father is that he dies on the cross. That the powers of darkness take over and in that way put the last periods to his life here on earth.

[40:16]

So in that way one can say the bill is presented. There is the price to be paid. And that is what produces in the heart of our Lord together with the abandonment, being abandoned, this absolute loneliness in which he evidently then acts alone and purely for us. meeting the power of Satan, and doing it in prayer, in the prayer of the song addressed to the Father. But a prayer that, as its answer, only receives the execution, as it were, of the sentence. And so that, as the inner... meaning of at least one aspect of the Hour of Gethsemane.

[41:14]

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