him, Jesus agonized over his coming death, begging the Father to spare him, but at the same time accepting it as his Father’s will. This was surely more than an ordinary fear of death. What Jesus was now undertaking was a journey to the darkest extremity of the human condition, where, deserted by friends, mocked by enemies, left to an excruciatingly painful death, Jesus felt, like so many people suffering in extremity, that even God had abandoned him.
