It was late evening when Jesus and the disciples left the Upper Room, where they had eaten the Last Supper. Tradition tells us that the room was west of the Old City of Jerusalem, so they crossed the Kidron Valley that separated Herod’s Temple from the Mount of Olives. Luke wrote that this was Christ’s usual place to stay overnight, sleeping under the stars. Even though Jesus knew that Judas was about to bring the temple guards to arrest Him, He still went to the place Judas knew He would be.
The arrest was no surprise to the Lord; He knew how much time He had to pray and had no intention of escaping or avoiding what was coming. Matthew and Mark tell us the location was Gethsemane, while John calls it an olive grove. Luke states that the place was the Mount of Olives. Passover always coincided with the full moon, whose light allowed the disciples to see Jesus praying. The Mount of Olives was named for the many olive trees growing there. The name Gethsemane means “place of the olive press.” Olive oil was used for lighting, and perhaps Gethsemane was the source of the four large candelabra that lit up the temple and surrounding Jerusalem at night. The oil was made by crushing olives in a press, possibly the same press in the Garden of Gethsemane. Here’s Luke’s account of what happened:
39Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." 41He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." 43An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 45When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46"Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation" (Luke 22:39-46).
What was happening there on the Mount of Olives? That’s the big question we want to answer with our meditation today. In this passage, we see Jesus confronting His crucifixion. In the Garden, we get a picture of Christ's mind as He prayed to His Father. It seems significant that He, who called Himself the Light of the World (John 8:12), would go through a crushing and pressing experience there in Gethsemane, the place of the olive press. The Lord said that we Christians are also lights of the world (Matthew 5:14). As followers of Christ, we desire to shine brightly and be used by God, so don’t be surprised if the Holy Spirit takes you into a Gethsemane-like experience. We all have to struggle in our minds with whether to hold onto our self-life or decide to follow the Lord Jesus wholeheartedly. Some of you reading these words struggle with this very issue.
Many of us have come to Christ through difficult, pressing experiences that have led us to reflect on the meaning of life. Has the Spirit of God made you wonder why you are going through dark times, what happens after death, or what your purpose in life is? The Lord permits a Gethsemane-like pressure in our lives to awaken us to His love and purpose. In Gethsemane, we face the temptation to yield to our flesh and pursue what pleases us or brings us "happiness." We might succumb to our fears and desires, or we can choose a higher path.
In situations like this, we face a crossroads in our lives. We can choose the easy road, or we can choose the "Christ road." The Christ road will sometimes bring us pain, but it is the path of fruitfulness. The road to maturity is the way of the Cross. These choices seem counterintuitive when viewed in light of self-preservation. In our Gethsemane experiences, the Holy Spirit will reveal the options that honor God and keep us faithful. The Lord will give us the strength and ability to choose the right way if we desire to walk in His ways through the darkness of the way of the cross. Help many today, Lord Jesus, to take the cross road into fruitfulness in You. Amen! Keith Thomas
Taken from the Gospel of Luke study in the life of Christ, Study 60, Jesus at Gethsemane
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