Most Christians have seen a copy of Heinrich Hofmann’s painting “Christ in Gethsemane.”

Much less know is Paul Gaugin’s “Christ on the Mount of Olives.”

Although they were painted only a few years apart, Gauguin’s work is strikingly modern and maybe a little disturbing. Jesus is in the left-hand corner of the painting rather than the center which I think emphasizes his aloneness. To the right are two vague figures. Are they the disciples or, as I suspect, the first of the mob coming to seize Jesus? And what’s with Jesus having bright red hair?

The features of Jesus in the painting are modeled on Gauguin himself. He has put himself into the place of Christ. Is that blasphemous especially considering that Gauguin wasn’t a Christian?

The unbeliever Gauguin did what I would wish every reader of the Bible would do: put themselves into the story. We have to be there in the story to understand it. We have to see Jesus praying and suffering.

James Montgomery, the son of a Moravian minister, wrote dozens of hymns including this one:

Go to dark Gethsemane,
You who feel the tempter’s pow’r;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see;
Watch with Him one bitter hour;
Turn not from His griefs away;
Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

Go to Gethsemane, he tells us, and see the conflict, watch and learn. That’s the way to embrace the story of Jesus in the garden.

It’s good advice for this Lenten season. Put yourself into the picture and learn from Jesus.

Read Matthew 26:36-46 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne