The Sorrow of Gethsemane

 

(These photos are not Gethsemane but maybe how I picture it to be a bit... :) )

Gethsemane - the pressing of the soul.  The meaning of Gethsemane is oil press. 

Gethsemane is where we see the agony of Jesus as He wrestled with what He was about to walk through.

We have the written account in Matthew 26:36-56 and Mark 14:43-52.

Jesus and His disciples went to this garden.  It was a garden often visited by Jesus.  He told His disciples to sit at a place while He went to pray.  Jesus took three of them with Him, further to the place where He wanted to be.

Jesus spoke to Peter, James, and John of the grief He was feeling.  It was a deep grief.  He invited them to keep watch with Him - to pray and then Jesus went a little further on from them.

Jesus falls on His face and wrestles with His Father about the cup that was His.

Jesus returns to the three disciples to find them asleep.   

Jesus wakes them up, disappointment etching His words, "What, could you not watch with Me for one hour?"  Remember - He shared His heart with them.  Again, He invites them to partner with Him in His grief.

And again, Jesus returns to find them asleep.  He lets them sleep and goes to pray a third time, wrestling with same cup, alone.

Gethsemane holds the moment of the time in our dark nights of our soul where it is just you and God.  As well meaning and unintentional people around us may be or not be, there is this space where we wrestle with our cup, alone with God.

Gethsemane is also the place of surrender.  Surrendering to the Father.  Surrendering to the possibilities that lie within the dark night of wrestling.  Surrendering to the love that God has for us and believing that that love will keep us through the hard and in the dark.

In some ways I'd love to know a bit more of the details.  Why did the disciples keep sleeping?  The Scripture tells us their eyes were heavy. Heavy with what??  Were they overwhelmed, scared and sleep seemed to be the way to calm their minds and fears?  Were they really tired?  

Jesus told them to arise and then He leads the way, stepping toward the one who would betray Him, giving Him away to a group of soldiers and onto the path that the cup held.

Have you felt this agony of the soul?  The darkness, the aloneness, the deep grief of crying out to God and wrestling with the moment that you find yourself in.  Pressed.  Wrung out.  For what? And why?

I too have felt the wrestling, wept the tears, and agonized for it to be taken away.   

And what about stepping toward the very thing that hurts - denial, betrayal, beatings, mockery, spitting, and even death.

Jesus went this way for you and me.  We go this way for Him.

Gethsemane - the place of the press.

Gethsemane - the surrender to the God who loves and believing that that love will keep you as you face your hard.