To the vast majority of people who base their lives upon religious orthodoxy and consequently are unable to make intellectual demands on the narratives of the Bible, this event was only an outer physical event in accordance with the letter of the Bible, an event which in the deepest sense was merely an internal matter between God and Christ. To the millions of people who have lost the ability to believe in the narratives of the Bible, and through their attitude towards life have completely given themselves over to matter or materialistic science, the narrative of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is without meaning.

Neither of these two large groups of people can see the real truth about life which this event in itself is intended to give to the person "who has eyes to see and ears to hear". It is a fact that the vast majority of religious narratives of the past are at one and the same time told as external, historical events while simultaneously containing the disclosure of or solution to a purely spiritual problem. Therefore the spiritually uninterested person can only comprehend these narratives as historical, in the same way as he comprehends other events handed down from the past. The great spiritual mystery which conceals itself behind the narratives of the Bible (among other things) cannot be understood by such a person; often he does not even have the slightest notion of the existence of such a mystery.

What concealed wisdom lies behind the narrative of the drama in the Garden of Gethsemane? The literal account tells us that here Jesus fought a spiritual struggle the result of which was his giving himself over into the hands of the authorities, allowing himself to be crucified; that is, in the first instance, merely a physical account of where in Palestine this event took place. This account does not contain any kind of mystery. On the contrary, it contains an absolute clarification. Thanks to it, it became no problem for future generations to know where Jesus was taken prisoner. And the other part of the narrative, that is, Jesus' spiritual struggle, does not apparently contain any mystery either. Seen from the outside, it was a person's struggle with himself about whether he should flee or take the consequences of his attitude and his life work.

It is, however, in this part of the account that the inner hidden truth becomes visible, because it shows us how a human being through his relationship the Godhead is able to struggle through the deepest sorrow, the deepest distress and hopelessness, and conquer the culmination of darkness itself. It is this essence of the account which has meaning as it turns the Garden of Gethsemane into not merely a physical indication of a place which in itself means nothing but, on the contrary, into the name of a spiritual situation which means everything. The event in the Garden of Gethsemane constitutes in reality a narrative of a spiritual stage at which a human being can conquer the fear of his own annihilation or death and submit to the will of God without fear, whether this is fulfilled through crucifixion or success. Imagine such a stage! Imagine having spiritually conquered all dark fate and in every kind of unhappy condition being able to raise one's eyes towards the Godhead and be most happy in saying: "Father, let not my will but Thy will be done" and "Into Thy hands I commend my spirit".

For such people there is no other way than to try to use their steadily increasing intellectual powers for the benefit of a more profound understanding of the truth they still feel exists but which they are now seeking in another far clearer form than the one that religion has preached to them. And through this search the developed human being will soon discover that the event in the Garden of Gethsemane is not a narrative about a man at a spiritual stage of development which is completely unattainable by others but, on the contrary, it is the narrative of the spiritual condition which is attainable by everyone.

We see that the unshakable foundation for Jesus in his victory over darkness, the fear of death and the horrors of crucifixion was due to the enormous power burning in him, making his brain create the word "Father". And time and time again we see how this power makes him reveal to the world that he himself had a higher understanding of the fact that he himself was facing a force just as alive as he was, an omnipotent force of which he himself was a child, a son. And what or whom could be greater than this omnipotence, and with what or with whom could he be more related? What could then be more reasonable than that he address himself to this omnipotence, this omnipotence who was his father or originator?

Must not every human being's intellectuality grow until it reaches this attitude which is the highest in life, as it is an unshakable fact that intellectuality cannot exist without growing? And must not this growth lead the son directly into this father's consciousness and make him one with the omnipotence? And must not this intellectuality, after having reached the understanding that this omnipotence is its originator or father, continue its growth into immortality beyond the boundaries of time and space, experiencing itself as identical with nothing less than eternity? Towards what should it otherwise grow? What should it otherwise be able to subjugate? And do we not in the world redeemer Jesus Christ see a being who has left this growth behind him and become one with the almighty power of the universe or the cosmos? Must not small ordinary human problems, human beings' mockery and spite disappear like dew before the sun faced with this overwhelming cosmic outlook, this deep union with the Almighty?

What did a physical body mean in this connection where the intention was nothing less than to show human beings the eternal "something", the divine spirit and consciousness which had created the body they now tortured? Was it not necessary that the body be torn to pieces in order that the superiority of this elevated spirit could become a fact? How should such an immeasurable superiority to death and mutilation be demonstrated without this crucifixion? A being can easily be happy and praise the Father when no pain, no death, no crucifixion threaten him.

Therefore, we see how his own strength of mind and his love for the divine Father quickly conquered darkness and that a radiant angel appeared before him. It was at that moment that the most elevated, the purest and humblest, of all prayers was born on the lips of a human being for the first time. With the words "Father, let Thy divine will, not my will, be done" this crisis, the most perfect model of the victory of spirit over matter that history has known, was ended.

From the moment this prayer was completed the suffering and darkness were no longer any problem for Jesus. With enormous strength of mind he went through crucifixion and death and, instead of finishing his life as many people at that time believed, it was at this moment that he really started it. With what joy has not the story of his life gone around the world since then! His spirit has worked incessantly among us. His words have been spiritual bread for innumerable millions of people, and hardly an hour in the day passes when his name is not on the lips of countless people.

But his words have greater depth than most people understand yet. With his behaviour he did not aim to become a Godhead for human beings, a being no one would be able to copy. On the contrary, his soul was burning to proclaim to the human being that behaviour, the action, was more important than all the beautiful words in the world. "No man cometh unto the Father but by me" are simple words which are expounded over and over again and which only say: "No one can come to my divine Father but by my way of behaving. I am the model of 'God's image' in which human beings will be created!".

By his own behaviour he completed in the Garden of Gethsemane the spiritual foundation which will never perish. Only he who follow him will be unshakably united with the Omnipotence; for all others a new Gethsemane is waiting ahead. The purpose of life for any living being, just as for any community, nation, race or people, will be this: to surmount any threatening Gethsemane and thus be unshakably united with the Divine Will which radiates over us. Where this happens the "Kingdom of Heaven" will inevitably be inside each individual person as well as his nation.

To him who, in the most profound pain of his own life, is able to renounce his own will in favour of God's will, there will always be sent an angel in his darkest hour. And it is easiest to obey God's will where one renounces what has caused the "Gethsemane". It might be the loss of a small child, the death of a spouse; it may be the experience of unfaithfulness and the desertion of the person one loved the most. "Gethsemane" shows itself in many ways. But in all these it is true, that they can only be overcome by submitting to the inevitable. What is done cannot be undone. The hopes attached to that which broke, that which was lost, one must let go of.

With all one's might one must try to find the possibilities in the change in one's fate. At the very moment that one places the entire experienced pain in God's hands and frees oneself from anxiety and fear, from destructive forces or hate and bitterness, then a radiant angel will penetrate one's aura and the presence of God will be felt so intensely that fear and sorrow will disappear from one's mind.

The joy of life will once again begin to pulsate in blood and nerves, for in the light of God's will, even the most profound pain, the deepest humiliation will quickly change into the warming and life-giving blessing which is the divine fruit of every single completed spiritual cycle.