The Garden of Gethsemane
by Rosemarie Adcock
This monumental sized oil painting by Rosemarie Adcock depicts Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as He is about to be betrayed by Judas. In the left foreground, the brothers James and John are depicted sleeping, with a spilled cup of wine, symbolic of Jesus' sacrifice. A sleeping Peter is seen with the rooster who was to crow when he would deny even knowing Jesus. Peter holds an apple in his hand, a symbol of his cowardice and failure in that denial. Jesus had asked the disciples to pray for Him as He prayed to God asking, "take this cup from Me, nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done." Jesus willingly accepted that He would be the sacrifice for sin, separated from His Father's presence.
He holds up the apple with the 2 bites, the same fruit depicted in the artist’s painting of the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, the original sin that infected the entire human race for which He is about to give His life.
In the far left of the painting, Judas points the way for the guards who are behind him. The Scriptures say that Satan himself entered Judas. His evil and the resultant satanic possession can be seen in Judas' face and hand. The hand begins to display the same striped markings as the markings upon the serpent, which is wrapped around his extended arm.
The serpent is identical to the one in the painting of The Expulsion From the Garden of Eden, where Satan was also present. Easter lilies, symbolic of the Resurrection, are seen here, waiting to bloom.