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Contrary to some people's beliefs, Jesus wasn't some kind of unfeeling super-human, a sort of religious robot, who always knew the exact right thing to say, never made mistakes, and didn't feel. Nor was he possessed of absolute confidence and never doubted. We see in our Gospel accounts Jesus weeping, getting tired, getting angry, and struggling with his own calling - the Gospel reading set for today, the Tuesday of Holy Week, from John's Gospel has Jesus saying "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say – “Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour." Jesus was courageous enough to admit and wrestle with his doubts, to confront his fears, and move through them with a deep sense of his calling to serve God. 

The most stark example of Jesus' wrestling with doubt is in the Garden of Gethsemane just before his arrest - where we read that he prays 'please take this cup from me...' asking that, if it is possible, the cup of suffering he is going to have to drink might be taken away by God. We don't know what happened in that time of prayer, but it ends with 'But not my will, but yours be done.'

Scripture

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 took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’ Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again he went away for the second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’ Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.’    Matthew 26.36-46

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Artwork: JESUS MAFA. Christ on Gethsemane, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48391 [retrieved April 15, 2025]. Original source: Éditions de l’Emmanuel, https://www.editions-emmanuel.com/contact/.