None of it had gone as they had imagined it. Looking up at Him on the Cross, they had felt so helpless, and when Joseph of Arimathea and some others had carried off the Master's lifeless beaten body to bury him, they felt lost.

They had all gathered together later in a room, not knowing what to do, their minds having gone back to the days of the last week, but one in particular. It was a night in our April, when a small group of men walked together from the upper city of Jerusalem, eastward, toward the Mount of Olives.

They had just finished eating the Pesach, or Passover meal together, and it had been a strange week, filled with many troubling events. Their Master had arranged for them to eat their Passover meal a day early, saying that He had longed very much to eat it with them. The evening had even started off strangely. Jesus had laid aside his clothing and wrapped himself in a towel, insisting that He wash their feet. He was turning everything around, and it was very confusing. Jesus was taking on the role of a servant, a slave even. Servants wash their master's feet, not the other way around. Peter had even challenged the Lord about this, but had been persuaded by Jesus and changed his mind, allowing his feet to be washed by the Master as well.

They had argued amongst themselves at the meal, trying to determine which one of them would be the "right hand man" to their leader, Jesus. Jesus had quieted them, by making them think about their argument, contrasting the wisdom of the world with the wisdom of this servant King. Later on, as they reclined to eat their meal together, they heard Jesus say that one of them would betray Him. Now they were really on edge, all of them wondering to themselves if they would be the one to do this terrible thing. And when they had shared bread, Judas Iscariot had left them on some mysterious mission.

It was a long walk through the streets of the city, down to the Siloam gate, and now northward to their destination. There were twelve in all. Jesus was leading the eleven who accompanied Him, crossing over a brook and stopping in the Kidron Valley, at a garden called, "Gethsemane." Jesus had gone there before to pray, more than once.

The garden, which name means "olive press," was practically named for the work that was carried out there. To this day, it is still filled with ancient, gnarled and knotty olive trees. Were any of them present that night? Throughout their journey that night, their thoughts must have been tumbling back to the meal they'd shared, and the strange things Jesus had said to them all. He had told them that He would be leaving them, and that He was going to a place to which they could not follow, but then He had assured them that He would be preparing a place for them to come to.

"I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative-and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit-he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you." He had said.

"I am leaving you with a gift----peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid."

"Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really love me, you will be very happy for me, because now I can go to the Father, who is greater than I am."

"I have told you these things before they happen so that you will believe when they do happen."

"I don't have much more time to talk to you, because the prince of this world approaches. He has no power over me, but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let's be going."

Before they had left, they had sung a hymn together, but having heard He would be leaving them, their hearts were filled with sorrow. The eleven who followed Him to the garden may have been speaking quietly to one another about the unusual things He had said at the meal they'd shared, or the ominous proceedings may have rendered them silent, as the Bible is on that subject. One thing was sure, Jesus was not done speaking to them, and as they walked, He taught them more.

Jesus used imagery to make them think about a vine and its branches, and what that meant to them as His followers. He told them, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you." And, "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."

They became even more distressed when He told them, "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father." He knew that they were at a loss for what He'd meant, and so He talked with them about it, telling them that they could be certain that they would "weep and lament." But He also assured them that their sorrow would be turned into immense joy.

"Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you."

There had certainly been happier days in the Galilee, but they knew in their hearts that Jesus had had opposition from the beginning of His ministry. These men had supported Him. And now, He called them "friends" and lifted His eyes to heaven and said a prayer for their future.

They had to be able to look up, and see people camped out for Passover, on the Mount of Olives. They may have remembered how their fellow Galileans had rejoiced days earlier at Jesus' arrival, overlooking from the top of that mountain, the holy city and the Temple.Seeing Jesus had seen fit to be welcomed and worshipped, they had been happy, joining the celebration, and singing songs to the King. Jesus had known those in Bethany from whom He'd secured a donkey, and had ridden into the city on that colt. Any political or religious authority who had entertained the notion that Jesus would try to enter the city as a military conqueror shouldn’t have been as bothered by such a humble entrance as this.

Were the authorities aware of the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, which read "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

"Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey."

And if they had been paying attention, they may have discerned that Jesus was indeed claiming to be the true King of Jerusalem and her people. That had only happened days ago. Now, it seemed like the distant past. Walking now through the Kidron valley, they would have been able to see large tombs to their right, cut out of the rocks about a hundred years before they were born. Everything seemed to add to the ominous quality this evening had taken on. Were Jesus words about His body, and His blood now coming back to their minds?

It had been a long day, and they had descended the steep sides of the Kidron valley, and were now trudging upward toward Gethsemane. Everything had broken down. It seemed now to have gone horribly, horribly wrong. Jesus had been betrayed and arrested. He had been given a mock trial, and made to suffer and to die in front of them. It was unbelievable to them that this amazing man had given Himself over to be so badly treated by such cruel men.

Why had He done it? Only later, when He had appeared among them, had they understood, and the joy they had been promised, come into their hearts. Only then, had they begun to fully understand His words; "that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me."

In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink {it,} in remembrance of Me."

The Apostle Paul wrote, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."

We have share this bread, and this cup today, with our brothers and sisters in Christ, past and present, and we share this joy with them too.

19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,

22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.--- Ephesians 2