Gethsemane: Two Gardens-One Place – Matthew 26:36-46
March 28, 2021Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Speaker: Jerry Cisar
In classical music, in particular in the sonata form, there is this final section called the “recapitulation.” We get our word “recap” from recapitulation. Sonatas have themes or movements. You may have a first and second movement. In the recapitulation, regardless of just how much has been built on top of or around the original themes, the sonata goes back to that first movement, but often in surprising ways.
Recapitulation is also a theological term. In the 2nd century, Irenaeus articulated this concept of recapitulation in Scripture. The opening scene of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ understood this. It opens in Gethsemane, Jesus is praying, sweating drops of blood, a Satan figure is looking on, and a serpent comes from him to Jesus, and Jesus eventually becomes resolute, standing and crushing its head.
Gethsemane is a retelling of another garden story… with a significant and surprising twist. Two Gardens but the same place: Gethsemane and Eden. This Sunday is Palm Sunday. We recently walked through Luke 19 and Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. So this week, to help us reflect on the sufferings of Christ, we will explore this recapitulation of the story of Adam’s disobedience… but it will be transformed into the story of Christ’s obedience and our redemption.