Whether it’s depression, anxiety, or another mental health challenge, many today are confronted by torrid battles in their minds. I have been one of them. I could cite the financial crash of 2008 which led to me having regular panic attacks as I witnessed the demise of my property company. Or I could share the example of my son’s life-threatening illness when he was two years old and doctors were preparing my wife and me for the worst.
By God’s grace my son survived, but that period between the sudden decline of his health and turning a corner was the most challenging time in my life. I was an absolute wreck as my mind was overwhelmed with worry and panic. I have never cried so much as I did over those four days when I thought I had lost him.
Having experienced these crushing moments of fear and anxiety, there is one aspect of Holy Week that particularly stands out to me. It shows that Jesus, God incarnate, was not immune from these kind of emotions and mental challenges. For many, God is someone who is aloof, beyond being approachable, and certainly above psychological suffering. Yet Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane, a place where He spent some hours in anguish before His arrest and crucifixion, offers a very different perspective. Here is a God who feels as we feel and for whom mental anguish is both real and uncomfortable.
Let’s take a moment to look at Luke’s account (22:39-44):
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Up until this point in Jesus’ earthly ministry, we have seen Him preach about God’s kingdom, heal the sick and cast out demons. He has travelled from one town to the next, speaking to huge crowds while publicly rebuking religious leaders for misleading people in the ways of God. But then we get to the events of Holy Week, and the culmination of His ministry.
It is in these days that we see a different side to Jesus. Oh, don’t get me wrong, He is still wowing the crowds, as seen by His entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. But Holy Week also gives us insight into the humanity of Christ, where we see Him not only at His lowest but also as a humble servant. We see Him weep over Jerusalem for failing to recognise that He has come to set them free from sin and death. We see Him on Maundy Thursday getting down on His knees to wash the feet of His disciples, an act of humility, service and love that makes the mind boggle. And as if these examples are not enough to challenge our perspective of God, how do we process what happens in the Garden of Gethsemane, where we see the inner turmoil of the God-man unfold as He wrestles with what lies ahead.
As any human would do in Jesus’ situation, Christ asks His Father to ‘take this cup from me’: the cup of death and divine judgment on sin. In truth, Jesus already knows the answer because He immediately follows His remark by saying, ‘Yet not my will, but yours be done.’ And the very thought of what lies ahead is excruciating enough to throw Him into such anguish that He sweats drops of blood.
And as if that is not enough to deal with, where was the support of His disciples who were meant to be His friends? Asleep, we are told. Evidently, Jesus’ pain came in many forms, and was compounded by isolation.
So of all the incredible events in Holy Week, Gethsemane will always be very precious to me, and to so many in our culture who struggle with mental and emotional challenges. Jesus might not have been crippled by anxiety as we sometimes can be, but this is also not a God who is somehow removed from mental and emotional anguish. Gethsemane reveals a relatable God who understands our circumstances, and who chooses to act in love in the midst of the most anguished trial.
Without Gethsemane there would have been no Good Friday or Easter Sunday. The battle took place in the mind, and Jesus overcame this because alongside thoughts of the pain of the cross were thoughts of you and me. And that is a comforting thought indeed!
Manoj is pastor of Pinner Baptist Church, and Chair of the Board of the Evangelical Alliance. From a Hindu background, he is now passionate about sharing the love of Jesus with others and building a church family where people of all ethnicities and cultures feel valued, supported and released to use their unique gifts and talents serving the Lord. He tells his story in Filthy Rich.
Filthy Rich
‘Why not spend £35 million on one big day out?’ – The Daily Telegraph on Manoj’s growing property empire, 2005.
Manoj Raithatha appeared to have it all. A booming property company, a picture-book family and the power to shape his destiny. Yet behind the enviable façade, his reckless ambition was consuming him and wreaking havoc on his marriage.
Then his professional and personal worlds were shattered. The 2008 financial crisis devastated his business and a sudden illness threatened his son’s life. With his hollow foundations exposed, Manoj found himself utterly dependent on the prayers of others and the help of a previously unknown God. What happened next would forever change his life. Morally bankrupted by greed and selfishness, Manoj would have to build his life and marriage anew with different foundations.
With profound reflections on faith, identity and meaning, Filthy Richaddresses some of the burning issues of our day.
Published September 2022 (Instant Apostle), £9.99
Photo by Massimiliano Sarno on Unsplash