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Jesus at the Mount of Olives

At the Mount of Olives, Jesus -- in a human moment -- is troubled by and seeks to ease his own suffering; however, during the Crucifixion, he demonstrates divine compassion by seeking only to ease the suffering of others. During his prayer vigil, Jesus is trying to ease his own mental anguish and internal torment and come to terms with his faith. Before Jesus travels to the Mount of Olives, as he eats with his disciples, he states that his fate has been decreed. He is hated as a sinner and a criminal and now his time has come and what is set for him must be carried out. One of his own disciples, one of the very men at the dinner table, will betray him. In this, Jesus directly says to the disciples and forces himself to hear that he will soon be slaughtered by a people to whom he has devoted his life in trying to make them see their sins and follow the right path of God. He leads his disciples to the Mount of Olives so that he may pray and they may pray in support of him in his critical time of decision-making. As he prays, Jesus says, “‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done,’” (Luke 22: 42). With these words, Jesus undoubtedly attempts to ease his mental anguish and c

During his Crucifixion, a mentally prepared Jesus shows his divine compassion when he eases the suffering of the criminal on a cross next to him. As Jesus is being led to the site of his Crucifixion, women follow and mourn for him. One of his disciples is forced to betray him, as many of the others already have. He is crucified with two criminals, one on each side of him, and rulers, soldiers, and most of the spectators mock him, asking that he save himself if he is truly the son of God, taunting him with food, and casting lots to divide his clothes among them. A sign above him reads, “This is the king of the Jews.” Even one of the criminals next to him begins to mock him. After he has spewed a number of insults, the criminal opposite him defends Jesus, pointing out that he is insulting God’s Messiah for accepting his death when he is about to die too, but more importantly noting that they deserve their positions on the cross, as they have earned them with their crimes, while Jesus has done nothing wrong. He then asks Jesus to remember him when he has his power in heaven, to which Jesus responds, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise,” (Luke 23: 43). This criminal is in agony on the cross. Not only is the physical pain unbearable, but he is also faced with the worse burden of his belief that he will go to hell, a belief evident by the fact that he ends up asking Jesus to remember him in heaven, or, in other words, save him from hell. Despite his extreme physical and mental suffering, this criminal makes an effort to show the other criminal his stupidity in mocking Jesus. He repents and shows remorse for his sins, saying that he deserves the fate of crucifixion and also shows moral judgment and faith in saying that Jesus has done nothing wrong. Jesus knows that he could be mocking him with the others, but that he is instead protecting him. Jesus does not judge him because he is a criminal, but looks deeper and sees that he truly has a good heart, despite his criminal acts. Jesus, in an act of divine compassion, uses his waning breath to try to ease this man w