Christ's anguish before death.

  

“And he said to the disciples: Sit here while I go further and pray. And taking Peter and Zebedee's two sons with him, he began to be sad and distressed. And he said to them then: My soul is sad until death. Wait here and watch with me." After commanding the other eight Apostles to remain seated in one place, He went on further, taking with Him Peter, John and his brother James, whom he always distinguished from the rest by greater intimacy. Even if he had no other reason to do it than to have wanted it that way, no one would have reason to be envious because of his kindness. But he had reasons for behaving this way, and he must have kept them in mind. He distinguished Pedro for his zeal for his faith, and Juan for his virginity, and his brother, Santiago, he would be the first among them to suffer martyrdom for the name of Christ. These were, furthermore, the three Apostles who had been granted to contemplate his glorious body. It was, therefore, reasonable that they were very close to Him, in the agony prior to His Passion, the same ones who had been admitted to such a wonderful vision, and whom He had recreated with a flash of eternal clarity because it was convenient that they be strong and firm.

Christ advanced a few steps and, suddenly, he felt in his body such a bitter and acute attack of sadness and pain, of fear and sorrow, that, although others were with him, it led him to  immediately exclaim words that clearly indicate the anguish that oppressed his heart: "Sad is my soul until death."An overwhelming mass of sorrow began to occupy the blessed and young body of the Savior. He felt that the test was now imminent and that it was about to befall Him: the infidel and treacherous traitor, the bitter enemies, the ropes and chains, the slanders, the blasphemies, the false accusations, the thorns and the blows , the nails and the cross, the horrible torture that lasted for hours. Above all, this overwhelmed and pained him the terror of the disciples, the perdition of the Jews, and even the disgraceful end of the man who treacherously betrayed him. He also added the ineffable sorrow of his dearest Mother. Sorrows and sufferings stirred like a stormy whirlwind in his most loving heart and flooded him as the waters of the ocean break mercilessly through broken dams.

Some may perhaps be amazed, and wonder how it is possible that our savior Jesus Christ, being truly God, equal to his Almighty Father, felt sadness, pain and sorrow.

He could not have suffered all this if, being as God was, he had been in such a way that he was not at the same time true man. Now, as he was no less true man than he was truly God, I see no reason to be surprised that, being a true man, he shared in the natural affections and passions of men (affects and passions, of course, absent in all of bad or guilty). In the same way, being God, he performed marvelous miracles. If we It is astonishing that Christ felt fear, weariness and sorrow, since he was God, why are we not so surprised that he felt hunger, thirst and sleep? Was he not the less true God for all this? Perhaps, one might object: "Okay. It no longer surprises me that he experienced those emotions and moods, but I can't explain why he actually wanted them. Because He himself taught the disciples not to be afraid of those who can kill the body and can no longer do anything else. How is it possible that he is now so afraid of those men and, especially, considering that his body would suffer nothing if he did not allow it? It is also recorded that his martyrs ran to their deaths ready and happy, showing themselves superior to tyrants and torturers, and almost insulting them. If this was so with the martyrs of Christ,How can  it not seem strange that Christ himself was filled with terror and dread, and grieved as suffering drew near?

Is not Christ the first and the exemplary model of all martyrs? Since he loved doing so much first and then teaching, it would have been more logical to have set a good example at that time so that others would learn from him to gladly suffer death for the truth. And also so that those who would later die for the faith with doubt and fear do not excuse their cowardice by imagining that they follow Christ, when in fact their reluctance may discourage others who see their fear and sadness, thus lowering the glory of their cause. »

These and others who raise such objections fail to see all the sides of the matter, nor do they realize what Christ meant by forbidding his disciples to fear death.

He did not want his disciples to never reject death, but, rather, that they never flee for fear of that "temporary" death, which will not last long, to fall, by denying the faith, into eternal death. He wanted Christians to be strong and wise soldiers, not fools and fools. The strong man endures and resists blows, the foolish does not even feel them. Only a madman does not fear injury, while the prudent never allow the fear of suffering to separate him from noble and holy conduct. He would be escaping from some minor pains to fall into others much more painful and bitter.

When a doctor is forced to amputate a limb or cauterize a part of the body, he encourages the patient to bear the pain, but never tries to persuade him that he will not feel any anguish and fear of the pain caused by the cut or burn. He admits that it will be painful, but he knows that the pain will be outweighed by the joy of regaining his health and avoiding more excruciating pain.

Although Christ our Savior commands us to tolerate death, if it cannot be avoided, rather than separate from Him through fear of death (and this occurs when we publicly deny our faith), yet He is so far from commanding us to do violence to our nature. (as would be the case if we had no fear of death at all), which even leaves us the freedom to escape if possible from the ordeal, provided that this does not harm its cause. "If they persecute you in one city, he says, flee to another." This indulgence and cautious advice of a prudent teacher was followed by the Apostles and by almost all the great martyrs in later centuries. It is difficult to find one who did not use this permission at one time or another to save life and prolong it, to the great benefit of himself and many others, until the opportune time approached according to the hidden providence of God. There are also courageous champions who took the initiative by publicly professing their Christian faith, even though no one demanded it; and even came to expose themselves and offer to die, although no one forced them either. This is how God wants it, who increases his glory, sometimes by hiding the riches of faith so that those who plot against believers may take the bait; and others, displaying these treasures in such a way that their cruel persecutors are irritated and exasperated to see their hopes frustrated, and realize with rage that all their ferocity is unable to overcome and defeat those who gladly advance towards martyrdom. There are also courageous champions who took the initiative by publicly professing their Christian faith, even though no one demanded it; and even came to expose themselves and offer to die, although no one forced them either. This is how God wants it, who increases his glory, sometimes by hiding the riches of faith so that those who plot against believers may take the bait; and others, displaying these treasures in such a way that their cruel persecutors are irritated and exasperated to see their hopes frustrated, and realize with rage that all their ferocity is unable to overcome and defeat those who gladly advance towards martyrdom. There are also courageous champions who took the initiative by publicly professing their Christian faith, even though no one demanded it; and even came to expose themselves and offer to die, although no one forced them either. This is how God wants it, who increases his glory, sometimes by hiding the riches of faith so that those who plot against believers may take the bait; and others, displaying these treasures in such a way that their cruel persecutors are irritated and exasperated to see their hopes frustrated, and realize with rage that all their ferocity is unable to overcome and defeat those who gladly advance towards martyrdom. hiding the riches of faith so that those who plot against believers may take the bait; and others, displaying these treasures in such a way that their cruel persecutors are irritated and exasperated to see their hopes frustrated, and realize with rage that all their ferocity is unable to overcome and defeat those who gladly advance towards martyrdom. hiding the riches of faith so that those who plot against believers may take the bait; and others, displaying these treasures in such a way that their cruel persecutors are irritated and exasperated to see their hopes frustrated, and realize with rage that all their ferocity is unable to overcome and defeat those who gladly advance towards martyrdom.

However, merciful God does not command us to climb such a steep and arduous summit of the fortress; so no one should rush headlong to such an extent that he cannot retrace his steps bit by bit, putting himself in danger of crashing headlong into the abyss if he cannot reach the top. Those who are called by God for this, who fight to achieve what God wants and will reign victorious. He keeps hidden the times and the causes of things, and when the right moment comes, he brings to light the arcane treasure of his wisdom that penetrates everything with strength and disposes everything gently. Therefore, if someone is brought to that point where he must make a decision between suffering torment or denying God, he must not doubt that he is in the midst of that anguish because God wants him. In this way, he has the greatest reason to expect the best from God: either God will free him from this combat, or else he will help him in the fight, and make him win to crown him as the winner. Because"Faithful is God who will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength, but will make you profit from the same trial so that you can sustain yourselves".

If faced in hand-to-hand combat with the devil, prince of this world, and with his minions, there is no possible way of escaping without offending God, such a man - in my opinion - must cast off all fear; I would order him to rest in peace, full of hope and trust, «because the strength of those who distrust in the day of tribulation will diminish»14. But fear and anxiety before combat are not reprehensible, as long as reason does not stop fighting against it, and the fight in itself is neither criminal nor sinful. Not only is fear not reprehensible, but on the contrary, it is an immense and excellent opportunity to deserve. Or do you perhaps imagine that those holy martyrs who shed their blood for faith were never afraid of torture and death? I don't need to elaborate a whole catalog of martyrs: for me the example of Pablo is worth a thousand.

If in the war against the Philistines David was worth ten thousand, surely we can regard Paul as worth ten thousand soldiers in the battle for the faith against unfaithful persecutors.

Paul, very strong among the athletes of faith, in whom hope and love for Christ had grown so much that he had no doubt at all about his prize in heaven, was the one who said: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and now a crown of justice is reserved for me»15. So ardent was the desire that it led him to write: “My living is Christ, and dying, a gain” 16. And also: “I long to be free from the ties of the body and to be with Christ”17. However, and along with all this, that same Paul not only managed to escape with great skill, and thanks to the tribune, from the snares of the Jews, but also escaped from prison by declaring and asserting his Roman citizenship; he evaded the cruelty of the Jews by appealing to Caesar, and escaped the sacrilegious hands of King Aretas by letting himself slide over the wall in a basket. Someone could say that Paul contemplated on those occasions the fruit that he would later sow with his works, and that, furthermore, in such circumstances, he was never frightened by the fear of death. I freely grant the first point, but I would not venture to strictly affirm the second. That the brave heart of the Apostle was not impervious to fear is something he himself admits when he writes to the Corinthians:«As soon as we arrived in Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but suffered all sorts of tribulations, struggles on the outside, fears on the inside» 18. And he wrote elsewhere to them:  «I was among you in weakness, in great fear and trepidation19' . And again: «Well, brothers, we do not want you to ignore the tribulations we suffered in Asia, since the weight we had to carry exceeded all measure, beyond our strength, to such an extent that the very fact of living was a burden to us. annoyance»20 . Do you not hear in these passages, and from the mouth of Paul himself, his fear, his trembling, his weariness, more unbearable than death itself, to such an extent that it reminds us of the agony of Christ and presents an image of it? Deny now if you can that the holy martyrs of Christ were afraid of a horrible death. No fear, however great, could stop Paul from his plans to spread the faith; nor could the counsel of the disciples dissuade him from traveling to Jerusalem (a journey to which he was moved by the Spirit of God), even though the prophet Agabus had foretold him that chains and other dangers awaited him there.

Fear of death or torment is not to blame, but rather pain: it is an affliction from which Christ came to suffer and not to escape. Nor should fear and horror in the face of torture be called cowardice. However, fleeing out of fear of torture or death itself in a situation where it is necessary to fight, or else abandoning all hope of victory and surrendering to the enemy, this, without a doubt, is a serious crime in military discipline. For the rest, no matter how disturbed and trembling with fear the spirit of a soldier is; if in spite of everything he advances when the captain commands him, and he marches and fights and defeats the enemy, he has no reason to fear that his first fear may diminish the prize. In fact, he should receive even higher praise, since there was to overcome not only the enemy army, but also his own fear; and the latter is often more difficult to defeat than the enemy himself.