Day 84 | Fast Asleep
January 21, 2015 - WEEK TWELVE
Carl Heinrich Bloch, Gethsemane, [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
DAILY READING
There is no scripture reading assigned today. Use this day to catch up as needed and ponder the supplemental reading.
For Younger Disciples
SUPPLEMENTAL READING
Then came a marvelous manifestation, … one impossible to ignore. It was a dream, or a vision in a dream, as I lay upon my bed in the little town of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
I seemed to be in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. I saw Him as plainly as ever I have seen anyone. Standing behind a tree in the foreground, I beheld Jesus, with Peter, James and John, as they came through a little wicket gate at my right.
Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, the Son of God passed over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed. It was the same prayer with which all Bible readers are familiar: “Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
As He prayed the tears streamed down His face, which was toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I also wept, out of pure sympathy. My whole heart went out to Him; I loved Him with all my soul, and longed to be with Him as I longed for nothing else.
Presently He arose and walked to where those Apostles were kneeling—fast asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them, and in a tone of tender reproach, untinctured by the least show of anger or impatience, asked them plaintively if they could not watch with Him one hour. There He was, with the awful weight of the world’s sins upon His shoulders, with the pangs of every man, woman and child shooting through His sensitive soul—and they could not watch with Him one poor hour!
Returning to His place, He offered up the same prayer as before; then went back and again found them sleeping. Again He awoke them, readmonished them, and once more returned and prayed.
Three times this occurred, until I was perfectly familiar with His appearance—face, form and movements. He was of noble stature and majestic mien—not at all the weak, effeminate being that some painters have portrayed; but the very God that He was and is, yet as meek and humble as a little child (Orson F. Whitney, Through Memory’s Halls: The Life Story of Orson F. Whitney, Independence, Mo.: Zion’s Printing and Publishing Co., 1930. 82).
ADDITIONAL MEDIA
The Savior’s Sufferings
in Gethsemane
FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES
QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES
- Does it amaze you to think how much Jesus loves you?
- What can you do to show your love to Him?