Weekly Musing

Nurturing Love -

“And He went a little further, and 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 You will.”

Matthew 26:39

Traditionally, we have been taught that this was where Jesus is struggling against the will of His Father, not wanting to give up His life, but in the end, He submits and voluntarily gives up to the torture and death that awaits Him. Here's another perspective.

Jesus spoke an Old Galilean form of Aramaic. When reading from the Aramaic version of the Bible, I come up with a little different rendering. First and foremost is the use of the word that is used for cup in Aramaic which is the word kasa. It is identical to the Hebrew word kavas that is used for a stork. The stork was noted for its tender loving care of its young. This is the same word Jesus used at the last supper when He said that this cup (not this wine) is myblood. In other words, this nurturing love is my blood.

In Gethsemane, Jesus is praying that this kasa (cup, nurturing love) will pass from Him. It is possible the Aramaic might be closer to what Jesus said, which was the word avar. You could say that it is passing over, but more correctly it would be overwhelming. Yes, the human part of Jesus was not looking forward to the coming torture and pain, but Jesus was not praying to get out of this situation but instead praying that this cup, or this nurturing, sacrificial love would overwhelm His physical body so He would not dread the coming pain.

In verse 37 it says He became sorrowful. That word sorrowful in the Aramaic is kamar which means to burn or kindle and is used for a burning love or compassion. As Jesus was about to make the sacrifice of His own life, His entire being was filled with a burning love and compassion for humanity. The words if possible in Aramaic is shekev which literally means if this happens. In other words, Jesus is saying, "If this is to happen tonight, then let this burning love, this nurturing love for humanity just overwhelm Me so that all I will think about is this burning love that I have."

I don’t believe Jesus sweat drops of blood over the fear of His impending torture and death. What I do believe is that He saw and knew at that moment the tremendous agony, pain, and suffering of humanity, He was so filled with love for each one of us that He could not endure the knowledge of what our pain and suffering were like. As God, He could not understand human suffering until He took on human flesh. Just like a mother prays that the suffering and pain of her child could somehow be removed from that child and placed upon her so that she would suffer rather than her child, so, too, our Heavenly Parent, Jesus, at that moment understood our suffering and pain and knew He could take it on.