Art and Faith: Christ in the Gethsemane Garden by Arkhip Kuindzhi


"Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, 'Sit here, while I go over there and pray.' . . . he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.'  And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.'”
-Matthew 26:36-39

    This 1901 painting by Russian Impressionist Arkhip Kuindzhi portrays Jesus entering the depths of the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before his crucifixion.  Impressionist painters like Kuindzhi were less interested in capturing the photo-realistic details of the world and more concerned with capturing the feeling of a moment or a place using light and color.  In this painting, the artist bathes the solitary figure of Jesus in a patch of pale moonlight surrounded by a dark archway, emphasizing his loneliness (his disciples have all fallen asleep and he wrestles with his sorrow alone) and creating a sense of tension as Jesus determinedly progresses forward into the shadows, his face set toward the darkness ahead.

    One of the more haunting elements of this painting are the dozens of indistinct figures obscured in the shadows along the path that Jesus is entering.  Are they the crowd led by Judas to arrest him, lying in wait to ambush him?  Are they the dark spiritual forces of evil eagerly gathering to maliciously torture and torment him in this hour "when darkness reigns" (Luke 22:53)?  Are they the outlines of the men and women that Jesus came to die for--the ones he loves and is willing to walk this dark path in order to save?  Whoever these mysterious shadows are, we, the viewers watch from the darkness with them, wondering at Jesus' courage to willingly walk into the deep shadows with them and with us.

    One of the reasons I chose this painting for reflection on this Holy Week, is that it hangs in a museum in Ukraine which is currently experiencing the horrors of a brutal war with Russia.  This image of Christ facing alone the darkness of Gethsemane hangs in the midst of a people who are, this very moment, facing unimaginable sorrow, violence, injustice and death.  Jesus' sorrow and loneliness in the Garden remind us that the Son of God knows and understand our sorrow and loneliness, that he is intimately familiar with human grief and pain, and that he has firsthand experience with being a victim of violence and injustice.  It reminds us that God has walked into and through the darkness of human struggle with us and for us.  It reminds us that "we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness" (Hebrews 4:15) but one who can fully relate to us in the sorrows of human existence.  This Holy Week, may you experience, more than ever, the nearness of Jesus in all of your struggles and sorrows.

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