Easter is the most important festival among Christians. On the first Easter Sunday, our good Lord was raised from the dead, which symbolized his victory over death. Easter reminds us that we have joy, life and hope because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a joyful moment which Christians from all over the world celebrate. Yet, sometimes we would forget and downplay what had happened before Easter – Jesus’ passion and his journey to the cross. The hymn “Lead Me to Calvary” reminded us not to forget Jesus’ suffering before His cross and urged us to follow his example of self-sacrifice.

The chorus of the hymn reminded us “Lest I forget Gethsemane, lest I forget Thy agony”. Where was Gethsemane? What had happened in Gethsemane? After the Last Supper, Jesus led Peter, James and John to the garden of Gethsemane for prayers. Knowing what he was going to face, Jesus felt extremely stressed, and he suffered a lot. As the son of God in human vesture, he shared full humanity with you and me. He did pray that God would take away the cup of agony but He put God’s will before His own desire. After he finished his prayers, he found that the three disciples had fallen asleep. After that, a group of servants coming from the High Priest arrived and were about to arrest Jesus. One of the disciples took out a knife and cut out the ear of a servant. Instead of resisting, Jesus touched the servant’s ear and he was healed.

One of the messages the events in Gethsemane teach us is a heart of compassion. This can be revealed by comparing what Jesus and his disciples did in the garden. While Jesus was struggling out of fear and loneliness, his disciples left him alone. They did not stay alert, nor did they pray with him. While Jesus decided to follow His Father’s will to sacrifice himself for the salvation of humankind, his disciples fell asleep due to their tiredness. When facing their enemies, his disciples chose to confront them with weapons. Jesus, on the other hand, out of compassion, healed the wound of the servant of the High Priest. I always wonder how the servant and his immediate family felt after the incident – the one he was going to arrest healed his wound! If I were the servant, I would be deeply touched.

Boys and Girls, being compassionate does not mean we have to do something as great as Jesus did. We could show our compassion in our daily school life. We could try our best to keep our environment clean, knowing that it could save our janitors' effort in cleaning. We could try our best to keep our classrooms tidy and silent during recess and lunch breaks to provide a comfortable environment for our classmates. We could take good care of the public facilities since we know that other people may need to use them as well. We could show our care and concern to those in grief and in need. Indeed, we can show our heart of compassion through something little and simple.

The teaching of the Bible is in line with our Chinese culture in terms of compassion. The School of Confucianism reminded us that having “Benevolence, righteousness, etiquette and wisdom” is what distinguishes mankind from other creatures. Compassion, which forms part of the idea of “Benevolence”, is therefore inherited in all human beings. It is mentioned in the Bible that humankind is created in the image of God. God is a compassionate God and therefore in His image, we all possess a heart of compassion. This is human nature. However, if we are used to forgetting our compassionate nature, we will eventually become numb and lose our inborn nature of compassion.

Lest I forget Gethsemane – may we all reflect on Jesus’ compassion – to the servant and mankind and follow His example in our daily lives!

復活節是基督徒最重要的節日，因我們的主戰勝了死亡，從死裡復活。復活節正正提醒我們，由於耶穌基督的復活，我們擁有歡樂、生命和希望，亦是全世界基督徒共同慶祝的歡樂時刻。然而，有時我們會淡忘了耶穌復活前的事情受難和十字架之旅。聖詩《領我到髑髏地》提醒我們不要忘記耶穌在十字架上的苦難，並敦促我們效法祂犧牲的榜樣。

詩歌的副歌提醒我們「使我莫忘客西馬尼，莫忘我主痛苦受死」。客西馬尼在哪裡？當年在客西馬尼園裡到底發生了甚麼事？最後的晚餐後，耶穌帶領彼得、雅各和約翰到客西馬尼園祈禱。耶穌知道自己將要面對死亡，感到極大的壓力，並且遭受了許多的痛苦。作為道成肉身的上帝之子，祂與你和我一樣擁有完全的人性。他祈求上帝拿走祂將要承受的苦杯，但最後祂把上帝的意志放在自己的願望之前。祈禱完畢，祂發現三個門徒已經睡著了。隨後，大祭司派來一隊差役，要逮捕耶穌。一個門徒拿出一把刀，割掉了一個僕人的耳朵。耶穌沒有反抗，反而摸了摸僕人的耳朵，僕人的病就痊癒了。

比較耶穌和祂的門徒在客西馬尼園裡所做的事情，我們應明白一個道理：就是要有同理心。當耶穌因恐懼和孤獨而掙扎時，祂的門徒卻離開了他。他們沒有保持警惕，也沒有和祂一起祈禱；當耶穌在禱告中決定遵從天父的意願，為拯救人類而犧牲自己時，祂的門徒卻因疲倦而睡著了；當面對敵人時，祂的門徒選擇用武器對抗。可耶穌則出於同理心，治癒了大祭司僕人的傷口。我總是猜想，事發後，那位僕人和他的親屬有何感受？祂竟然治癒要逮捕自己的人的傷口！如果我是那位僕人，我一定會深受感動。

孩子們，富有同理心並不意味著我們必須做像耶穌那樣偉大的事。我們可以在學校的日常生活中表現出我們的同理心。我們可以盡力保持環境清潔，因為我們知道這可以節省工友叔叔和嬸嬸的清潔的工序；我們可以盡力在小息和午息期間保持教室整潔和安靜，為同學提供一個舒適的環境；我們可以好好保護公共設施，讓身邊的同學可以使用；我們可以向那些悲傷和需要幫助的人表達我們的關心和關懷，讓他們心靈得一點慰藉與支持。這些看來微不足道的舉動，就足以表達我們的同理心。

聖經裡對同理心的教導，跟我們中國文化是一致的。儒家思想提醒我們，人之所以為人在其有「仁義禮智」，同理心就是「仁」的理念的一部分，亦與生俱來的。聖經中提到，人類是按照上帝的形象創造的。上帝既有同理心，我們是祂的形象，我們也應該擁有同理心。同理心是人的本性，然而，因外在環境影響而未能守住同理心，甚或變得麻木不仁，這豈非有違本性？

使我莫忘客西馬尼———願我們都藉著反思耶穌在客西馬尼園裡對僕人和世人的憐憫和同理心，並在日常生活中效法祂的榜樣！