GETHSEMANE
JOHN 18:1-2,
LUKE 22:39; MARK 14:32-35
After
the last supper, recognizing that he would soon be betrayed by
one of his own, Jesus leaves the banquet room and John says in
chapter 18 that he headed out over the brook Cedron.
Now Cedron was a small rivulet about 6 or 7 feet wide in
a deep ravine about 200 yards from the wall of Jerusalem. Cedron was the sewer
outlet for the city but was dry except for the rainy season. Luke lets us know that Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. The
steep slopes of the Mount of Olives began just on the other side of the brook Cedron.
To reach the top of the Mount of Olives Jesus would have
to climb a minimum of 200 feet up a steep incline. But Matthew and Mark both let us know that Jesus
finally reach his destination, Gethsemane. Gethsemane was a large enclosed space that was
part of an olive grove. It
is believed to have been privately owned.
We know that it was a large space because Jesus left 8
of the disciples at the entrance of the garden, taking with him
further into the garden Peter, James and John.
He then leaves these three and progresses even further
into the garden alone. Now
the garden was not a new place to Jesus and the disciples. Back in Luke 22:39, the phrase “as he was
wont” is translated “as was his custom”.
It was a custom for Jesus when he was in Jerusalem to go up to the Mount of Olives.
MATTHEW
24:1-3
It is from the
Mount
of Olives
that Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and taught His disciples about the
coming end-times recorded in Matthew 24 and 25.
LUKE 19:37-41
It was from the
Mount
of Olives
that Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Matthew
records that the people laid their garments and tree branches
along the route and cried out as Jesus passed, “Hosanna,
blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.”
But the clearest evidence that the garden of Gethsemane was no strange place to Jesus and his
disciples is recorded in John.
JOHN 18:1-2
Judas knew exactly
where to find Jesus because they often went to the garden of Gethsemane. Now
I asked myself why would Jesus pick this place to spend so much
time. This garden was no
easy place to get to. Mount Olive was no easy climb. For even today buses carrying tourist can only
reach the top if they travel very slowly and in low gear. Why
did Jesus pick this garden? Surely
when he was in Jerusalem he could have found lodging with Nicodemus
or Joseph of Arimathaea. Why
this place?
Well I thought,
“Mount Olive is probably named for the olive trees
that grow there and since the olive branch is a symbol of peace,
maybe Gethsemane means something like place of peace
and that would explain why Jesus would go there so often. However, there is nothing about Gethsemane that implies that it was a place of
peace or comfort. The name
Gethsemane means “oil press”. Though it was called a garden, Gethsemane was the place in the mist of the olive
garden where the olives were taken to be pressed into olive oil. This was not a place of peace but rather a place
of crushing, a place of molding, a place of conversion, a place
of surrender and yet Jesus went to Gethsemane often. Why go to Gethsemane? Let’s
look at the process of converting olives to olive oil and see
if we can glean some insight into the behavior of Jesus. But before I go there I want us to remember
one important fact about Jesus.
He was a man (Romans 8:3, I Timothy 2:5-6).
It is easy to think of Jesus as the Son of God and thus
as God and then to attribute all that he did to His divine abilities.
But we must also remember that he was also a man with feelings
and emotions like ours. It
is Jesus the man who we want to look at in Gethsemane.
There are five
stages in olive processing.
1.
Cleaning - This process separates the olive
from any leaves and dirt. The
cleaning stage represents to me separation outside influences
that might cause pollution.
MATTHEW 26:36-39 - When Jesus went to Gethsemane he took the disciples with him but
then he separated from them. What
had to be accomplished in the garden that night and in the coming
hours did not require their opinion nor did it require further
discussion with them. Though the sacrifice that was about to be made
was for the disciples and all mankind, the impending struggle
was not about them. This
night Jesus would have to fight with himself and he did not need
the disciples whining and begging him not to go.
Not only did he separate from the main bunch of disciples
but he also separated from his inner circle, those who were his
closest friends. Many times
when we are confronted with doing a work for God we feel the need
to run it past someone else and to an extent that is okay. But when we do so looking for an excuse not
to carry out what God is asking us to do then we are in error. When we know what it is that God wants us to
do, we should avoid outside influences that will hinder our progress,
not run to them seeking a way out.
We know not to run to the world, but sometimes we don’t
recognize that other believers can be a hindering influence as
well. The truth of the
matter is that it does not matter what other’s opinions are,
we are responsible for carrying out the will of God for our lives. (James 4:17 -- Therefore to him that knoweth to
do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.)
Jesus separated himself from outside influences that might
hinder his completing the will of God.
2.
Milling – Milling grinds or hammers the
olives with its pit into a paste.
Let’s think of the olive as a three part being; it
has a skin, it has a pit and it has a meaty section between the
skin and pit, all three containing oil. If you are going to get the maximum output
you must unite the three. Jesus
entering the garden, though he is God, he is also man.
He is a spirit that has a soul and lives in a flesh. Though his spirit, soul and flesh are sinless,
He is still a three part being and the three part being called
Jesus was alive and wanted to continue to live.
He was enjoying life. You
see you don’t have to sin to enjoy life.
We have been deceived by the enemy into believing that
the greatest joys of life are wrapped in sinning, but that is
not true. The greatest
pleasure in life is in knowing and fulfilling God’s plan
for your life. Though Jesus’
spirit desired to follow after the will of God, he had to contend
with his soul and flesh. It
is in the Gethsemane that Jesus has to yield his will to
that of the father. In
Gethsemane he prayed three times “let this
cup pass from me, but never the less not my will but yours be
done”. Yielding start first in the mind. The spirit knows what the will of God is and
desires to carry out that will, but the mind and flesh often desire
something different. To
yield the mind must first make the decision to surrender to the
will of God. This process of yielding to God is often very
painful, for it requires that we release our own desires, stand
against our own fears and discount our own shortcomings.
To yield we must step out of self and deeper into God. Paul says to us in Romans
6:13 “Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves
unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members
as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
Because of Old Testament prophecy Jesus
knew what was about to happen to Him.
The human part of Jesus was in great agony.
Luke 22:44 – It is a recognized fact that
under extreme mental pressure, the pores maybe so dilated that
blood may issue from them, i.e., bloody sweat.
Jesus is experiencing a war between spirit and flesh leaving
his soul torn and in great anguish.
3.
Malaxation – Malaxation is the slow mixing of the paste which
allows the oil-water mixture to grow together.
In Malaxation tiny microscopic oil droplets join together
into larger droplets and then in to drops and finally in to small
pools of oil and water. (Ice cube example). In Gethsemane I see this stage as a joining of the soul and spirit
of Christ to team up against the flesh.
His determination to carry out the will of God must be
greater than any pain his flesh will endure.
As they beat him and his flesh cried out for relief his
soul and spirit must keep his flesh under control.
I can hear the flesh screaming at him to fight back, after
all he had more than 12 legions of angels at his disposal (12
legions @ 6000/legion = 72000 angels). The spirit and the soul had to join together
to suppress the flesh. This
is no different from us as believers when we are called upon to
work for God. Our spirit is willing and we make the decision
to surrender to the will of God.
But then our flesh jumps up and wants to do anything it
can to hinder us from acting on God’s will.
In fact the flesh often becomes an even greater hindrance
to us carrying out the will of God.
The enemy tries to use our flesh to discourage us.
He reminds us of how hard it will be and of all of our
shortcomings. He reminds
us of past failures. He
points out to us desires that will have to go lacking. Our soul and our spirit must join together and
be a greater influence than our flesh.
4. Pressing – In pressing the olive juices
and water are squeezed out leaving behind a fibrous paste. In Malaxation we had the joining together of
the spirit and soul, but in pressing they over-ride the desires
of the flesh. The flesh
then becomes a non-factor. It is not the controlling influence that determines
our success with God or for God.
In Gethsemane, Jesus’ desire to continue living,
the enjoyment he was having became a nonfactor.
Selflessness took over and his joining of soul and spirit
in the decision to submit to the will of God made null and void
any desire for continuing physical life.
This is where we as Christians often fail. Though
our spirit wants to do as God request and we make the decision
to submit to the will of God, we often fail squeeze out or suppress
the flesh.
I CORINTHIANS 9:24-27 – As Christians we are in a race
and in this race there are spiritual, mental and physical challenges. If we are to be successful we must align our
soul and spirit and strengthen them so that they will be able
to hold our flesh in subjection.
Paul says he keeps under his body, meaning that he keeps
control on it. How does
he do this? He does so by a joining of the spirit and soul to
negate the influence of the flesh.
5. Separating – Here the oil is separated from
the water so that only the pure oil remains.
This would be similar to the draining of that last bit
of hope that you are still going to get your way.
Sometimes when we submit to God and determine to do as
he ask there is that last bit of hope that it is all just a test
and that God was just trying to see if you would submit to him;
that last bit of hope that you will not really have to go through
with it. It is at this
point that God’s will really prevails in our lives. In Mark 14:41 after returning and finding the disciples
asleep for the 3rd time Jesus says it is enough as
if to say okay this is really going to happen.
This is the will of God and I surrender.
I believe that Jesus went to Gethsemane to prepare himself for the death that
he would have to face. While
there he had to separate himself from outside influences. He had to empty himself of all his desires and
submit to the pure will of God.
He had to strengthen his spirit and soul so that they would
be able to suppress the desire of the flesh for relief.
I think that Jesus went often to Gethsemane for the same reasons. It
helped him to keep himself separated from worldly influences,
to remain yielded to the Spirit of God, and to keep his flesh
under control. In other words Gethsemane helped him to maintain his focus and
accomplish the will of God for his life.
Today we may not have a place called Gethsemane, but as Christians we are all faced
with the Gethsemane experience. We are at various times in our Christian walk
asked by God to sacrifice ourselves, submit to his will and go
beyond ourselves to carry out his will.
It is at these times that we too become the olive, submitting
to God to become precious oil.
It is at these times we should apply Phil. 2:5-8 to our
lives.
PHILIPPIANS 2:5-8, 9-11
