Gethsemane

   

Garden of Gethsemane

      I sat and wept beneath the gnarled branches of an ancient olive tree in this garden where Jesus spent His last hours. I shed tears for my sins and the world's rejection of Him; He sweat His blood, a foretaste of the blood He would shed in a few hours to cover the sins of all mankind for all time. I said "I'm sorry"; He said "Not my will, but Thine." I looked at the stones beneath my sandals and wondered, "Did Your foot touch these very stones, my dear Savior?" He looked down on me and said, "I did this for you, my child."

      This peaceful garden, on a hillside overlooking the Holy City of Jerusalem, appropriately bears a name indicative of suffering. Gethsemane is a combination of two Hebrew words meaning "olive press." In order for the olives to bring forth their precious oil they must first be crushed, and then pressed beneath a heavy stone slab, forcing the oil to drain into a collection vat. What's left behind is a formless pulp, useful only as fuel for a fire. 

"Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned."  (John 15:6 NIV)

      Extreme pressure creates the golden oil, used not only for cooking and eating (nourishment), but also for making fuel for lamps (light), the anointing oil used by priests (healing), and even for soap and skincare (purification). But pressure is painful. I try to imagine the pressure Messiah Jesus felt as he bore the weight of all the world's sin, past and future, and I cannot. It was painful enough to make Him sweat drops of blood. Yet it was God's plan from the beginning: to come Himself, because there would be no other Perfect Lamb. 

      

      In his instructions for the first Passover, God through Moses directed,"Your lamb must be an unblemished year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats."  (Exodus 12:5 BSB) And so when John the Baptizer first laid eyes on Jesus alongside the River Jordan, he aptly declared, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"  (John 1:29 NKJV) Little did John know of the troubles that would follow for this Perfect Lamb before His mission could be accomplished.

      Do you feel crushed by pain and suffering-- your own or that in the world around us? Take heart, fellow pilgrim. Let the Solid Rock of Jesus Christ keep you strong yet submissive under the crushing weight of this fallen world. Let the pressure you experience bring forth nourishment, light, healing, and purification. Let's not give in to the pain of the process so as to be thrown with the pulp into the fire and burned up. With Paul, let us victoriously declare: 

"We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are

 perplexed, but not driven to despair." (2 Corinthians 4:8 NLT)

     I wonder, when I am pressed on every side, is it the oil of the Holy Spirit which pours out of me giving forth nourishment, light, healing, and cleansing?

"As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands." 

 (Psalm 119:143 NLT)

      PRAY WITH ME: Every pain I have is nothing, compared to yours, Lord. Every sorrow I have is nothing in light of yours. Forgive me, Lord, for taking Your sacrifice for granted. Give me grace to endure the "momentary light affliction" of this earthly life. In Jesus' name and for Your glory, Amen.

 "He must increase, but I must decrease"  (John 3:30)

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