"Jesus at the Gate of Gethsemane" draws on Matthew 26 and Luke 22, the night Jesus prayed in the garden and asked his disciples to keep watch. McClung paints them slumped and asleep in loose strokes of green, gold, and gray, while a lit gateway with standing figures glows in the background. The large dark tree on the right reaches into the foreground, where McClung uses it to foreshadow the crucifixion that lies ahead. The hazy, dissolving handling fits the moment, with Jesus about to be arrested and his disciples about to scatter.
They fell asleep while he agonized over the cross looming before Him. In the piece, the foreshadowing of the crucifixion is depicted in the tree in the foreground. He would shortly be arrested and all His disciples would flee.