Go to Dark Gethsemane

When James Montgomery (1771-1854) wrote "Go to Dark Gethsemane" (LSB 436) he first called it "Christ our example in suffering." The author wrote his text as a meditation upon the Passion of Christ that we remember especially each Holy Week.

In the hymn, the Gospel invites us to contemplate Christ in His Passion as our Savior from sin. The Law is also presented as a model for Christian living. Each stanza concludes with a final command that presents a lesson to be learned from critical moments in Jesus' life from Maundy Thursday to Easter.

1 Go to dark Gethsemane,
All 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 from Jesus Christ to pray.

2 Follow to the judgment hall,
View the Lord of life arraigned;
Oh, the wormwood and the gall!
Oh, the pangs His soul sustained!
Shun not suff’ring, shame, or loss;
Learn from Him to bear the cross.

3 Calv’ry’s mournful mountain climb;
There, adoring at His feet,
Mark that miracle of time,
God’s own sacrifice complete.
“It is finished!” hear Him cry;
Learn from Jesus Christ to die.

4 Early hasten to the tomb
Where they laid His breathless clay;
All is solitude and gloom.
Who has taken Him away?
Christ is ris’n! He meets our eyes.
Savior, teach us so to rise.

Text: Public domain

See also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIFUJFj833k for an instrumental version of this hymn.