Day 7: Gethsemane – The Oil Press
Ken Fitzsimmons (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46)
At the foot of the Mount of Olives, there is a garden where the olives are taken to be crushed to release their precious oil. It is called Gethsemane, the oil press.
It all began in a garden, long, long ago. Slipping into disobedience, breaking trust. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, blessing and calamity. A longing for what is forbidden – knowledge of evil. They already experienced good, so why? A lie is planted and believed that God is holding something back. There is now no thought of the danger, the consequences. And the world has been paying for it ever since.
But now God Himself will pay for it, holding nothing back, not even His beloved Son.
The three scriptures, taken together, describe how Jesus arrived at Gethsemane to pray, knowing that He was about to be arrested and crucified. I can’t imagine His mental torment. He knows it must happen, and yet, like Adam, He has a choice. But, as He has done all His life, Jesus chose the will of His Father.
Three times He went forward alone into His Father’s presence to pray, leaving the disciples to keep watch. He knows soldiers are on their way. The disciples fall asleep. Jesus is on His own. The third time He went to pray, His agony was so intense that He sweat drops of blood.
Every year, on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the high priest went alone into the Holy of Holies, the presence of God, in the Temple. Three times. The first time was to offer the blood of a bull for himself. The second time was to offer the blood of a bull for all the priests. The third time He took the blood of a goat for the sins of the people. Atonement.
At the same time, the sins of the people were laid on another goat, the scapegoat, that was sent into the wilderness.
Three times the high priest went into the presence of God. Three times Jesus went into His Father’s presence to pray. The third time He sweat blood. Jesus is going forward to the cross, and the first blood has been poured out. He alone is worthy. Atonement.
Response
Read Hebrews 12:1-4
Consider the incredible struggle that Jesus, in His humanity, went through. Compare that with any struggles or conflicts you are facing, and see where it puts your struggles in the context of what Jesus went through.
Consider also how Jesus was motivated by the “joy set before Him.” What joy is set before you in any struggles you face?
Consider what Jesus went through for you. Tell Him how it makes you feel.
Declare out loud to the atmosphere around you how awesome Jesus is and how complete His work is in you.