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Introduction
It is my understanding that the Lord
left the upper room and began the
walk to Gethsemane. As they walk
the Lord continues His messages to
the disciples on the pathway of
holiness, telling and illustrating
to them the union of His people with
Himself (Jn. 15:1-17:26). This
union with Him meant there was to be
oneness among them (Jn. 17:11, 21,
22); a love for each other (Jn.
15:12); hatred from the world (Jn.
15:19); then it appears He stops.
It is all so natural because a
praying person will speak to others
and then (if possible) pray with
them. This He does (Jn. 17:1-26).
Having prayed together, they move
together over the Cedron or Kidron (Jn.
18:1) into the garden called
Gethsemane.
The words of John 14:30-31 are words
which, when appreciated, cause
wonder and worship. Gethsemane was
to be the beginning of the Lord’s
darkest hours. The Lord says, “This
is your hour, and the power of
darkness” (Lk. 22:53). There is the
approaching conflict and it was
going to be focused on Jesus. I say
“Jesus” because it is Jesus who
comes into the garden for the
conflict (Matt. 26:36). At the time
the Lord was with the eleven
disciples and going to Gethsemane,
the prince of this world, like a
mighty army of one, was preparing
for his attempt to turn the Lord
away from the cross. It is not the
prince of Grecia or Persia (Dan.
10:20), nor is it the government of
principalities, powers, and rulers
of darkness (Eph. 6:12), this is the
prince of this world personally
coming. Full well he knows that if
Christ fulfills the work the Father
gave Him to do, and is raised from
the dead, then ultimately he, this
evil Prince, will lose dominion of
the world, be shown for what he is,
lose many of his earthly adherers,
and that he will not allow to happen
easily. Soon would come the hour of
darkness in intensity, but not yet.
The Lord’s Going Out To Gethsemane
In the Old Testament, one of the
animal illustrations of the Lord is
that of the Ram. It is a rich
picture in which we see a male,
maturity, and dogged determination.
The Hebrew word translated “Ram” is
also translated mighty men in (Ex.
15:15; 2 Kgs. 24:15; Job 41:25;
Ezek. 17:13, 39:18). The ram is
associated with God's Covenant (Gen.
15:9); substitution and sacrifices
(Gen. 22:13); consecration (Ex.
29:15-33); the burnt-offering (Lev.
8:18); the peace-offering (Lev.
9:4); the trespass offering (Lev.
5:15); and persistence (Dan. 8:4).
Christ had spoken of the
inauguration of His kingdom, the
sharing of His government with those
who were like Him in not accepting
the gentile perception of greatness,
the love He had for the Father, and
since these purposes must be
fulfilled, then the time had come
and He would move out to meet the
foe. This King will not stay at
home in a safe place when others
stand for His kingdom. They will
flee, but He will not only stand
alone, but go out to meet them,
confront them, and demonstrate His
greatness over them. Precious
partial fulfillment of the prophecy,
“He shall not fail nor be
discouraged” (Isa. 42:4). The
Hebrew word “fail” is translated
“restrained” (1 Sam. 3:13) four
times. It is connected with the eye
(Gen. 27:1; Deut. 34:7; Job 17:7;
Zech. 11:17). The word
“discouraged” is literally “broken,”
that is, checked in zeal by
discouragements. His eye was
undeviatingly fixed on the purpose
of God, the sufficiency of God to
meet the need, and consequently, His
zeal for the fulfilling of divine
purposes could never be restrained,
neither could His faith in the way.
He will not wait for them to come,
He will not hold back. In the power
of God and filled with zeal for the
glory of God and the fulfillment of
His purposes, He says, “Rise, let us
be going” (Matt. 26:46; Mk.
14:42). It is after we read those
words that the next clause says,
“And immediately, while he yet spake,
cometh Judas” (Mk. 14:43).
Now the Lord says dark words, “This
is your hour, and the power of
darkness” (Lk. 22:53). The hours of
satanic venom being vented on the
Lord, the all out attempt to have
Him recant from fulfilling the will
of God has now begun in earnest.
Gethsemane
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Gethsemane, the garden, this was His “closet” where nights had
been spent in communion with God before the next day’s
activities. |
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a) |
What depths of glorious fellowship He and the Father had enjoyed
together in that place. |
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i) |
“And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night
he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of
Olives” (Lk. 21:37) |
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ii) |
“And every man went unto his own house. Jesus went unto the
Mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the
temple” (Jn. 7:53-8:2). |
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b) |
Into His closet the Lord comes, but not now as on past
occasions. |
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i) |
This had been the place where He taught His disciples of things
to come and having a right perception on things and events
(Matt. 24:3-31). |
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ii) |
In the then future, it was to be the place where He would ascend
back to Heaven (Acts 1:12). Ultimately, this is the place where
His feet will touch when He comes to the earth to reign (Zech.
14:4). |
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1. |
However, this time was different, tomorrow there would be no
going to the temple. His ascension and glory were a long way
off, and a deep dark chasm would take place before those
wonderful days could be known. |
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It was a “garden”, and being such, minds automatically go to two
other gardens, the garden where sin entered, (Gen. 2:8) and the
garden where our Lord was buried (Jn. 19:41). |
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a) |
Putting the persons and events of the Garden of Eden and
Gethsemane side by side, there is first presented to us the
first and last Adams (1 Cor. 15:45), but what a contrast. |
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i) |
It was in Eden that Adam exalted himself to be as God, acted in
defiance against God’s will, and set personal glorification
above the glorification of God (Gen. 3:5-6). In Gethsemane the
Last Adam (Christ, 1 Cor. 15:45) is revealed as the one who was
in complete fellowship and yieldedness to God (Matt. 26:42).
There was the dread of that which lay ahead but never
rebellion. The Lord is not just verbally submitting to the will
of God, but His prayers reveal His hearts response to the will
of God. In these aspects, our blessed Lord is totally opposite
to the first Adam. |
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ii) |
Furthermore, in Eden one sees the ease and conscious deliberate
disobedience with which Adam sinned (Gen. 3:5-6; 1 Tim. 2:14),
whereas in Gethsemane, we see the agony of a man who lived life
devoted to God and dreaded being forsaken by Him. In Eden, man
is seen willfully forsaking God, not through any wrong God had
done. In Gethsemane, a man was seen willing to be forsaken by
God, not for any wrong that He had done. |
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iii) |
In Eden, when Adam sinned, he could not have foreseen the
personal and universal consequences by that one sin. Adam
opened the door for sin to come into this world, followed by
death spiritually and physically (Rom. 5:12-19), and the giving
of the government of the world to Satan (Lk. 4:6) who is now the
prince of this world (Jn. 12:31). In Gethsemane, the Son of God
began the last steps in ultimately giving a world where sin
would never again raise its distorting head, humanity would have
life spiritually and physically, and the government of this
world would be given to He who is the Governor among the nations
(Psa. 2:6; 22:28; Zech. 14:9) |
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iv) |
In addition, Adam was ignorant of that which his sin would bring
to others. Christ was fully understanding of that which His
sacrifice would bring to others (Rom. 5:12-19). |
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v) |
In Eden, Adam took the offered fruit (Gen. 3:6) which seemed
gain, but in actuality, it meant loss. In Gethsemane, when the
Lord displayed His readiness to take the cup (Jn. 18:11), it
seemed loss, but it was actually infinite gain. |
The Word “Gethsemane”
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The Holy Spirit tells us three things about the place: |
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It was a “garden” (Jn. 18:1) |
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It was called “Gethsemane”, which means “the oil press”. (The
evidence for this is explained in the next paragraph.) |
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It was the Mount of Olives (Matt. 26:30). |
It was called “Gethsemane”. The
Hebrew word, “Gat shmanim”
translated “Gethsemane”, means “the
oil press”, and the Hebrew word
comes from the two Chaldean words,
“gath” and “shemei”. “Gath”
indicates pressure, and “shemei” is
often translated, “oil or ointment”
(Lev. 2:4; Psa. 133:2), in which the
context is fellowship. Thus, by
it’s name it indicates a place of
pressure, a place of fellowship (Psa.
133:2), and the holiness of the
Lord’s own spirit, soul, and body,
as typified by the fact of no leaven
in the meal offering (Lev. 2:11).
This is the place where eternity and
the glory of God hinged, a place of
crisis, the place where the
“official” acceptance of the
receiving of the cup and the hour of
the power of darkness began. In
this garden the Lord prepared
Himself for the darkness that lay
ahead by reaffirming devotedness to
God and prayer. What a truth this
is, hours before the storm clouds
burst He prays. Man had before
sought to take Christ but His time
was not yet come (Jn. 7:30), but now
the hour is come (Jn. 17:1; Mk.
14:41). He had finished one work
the Father gave Him to do (Jn.
17:4), that was glorifying God and
giving the disciples God’s word. He
had instituted the Lord’s Supper (Lk.
22:19-20), thus indicating the
ending of the old dispensation and
beginning of a new.
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When Gethsemane is set beside the garden where our Lord was
buried and rose again, what a glorious contrast we discover. In
chronological order: |
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Gethsemane was before His sufferings began, the other was after
His sufferings are forever over. |
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Gethsemane was the place of manifested weakness; the
resurrection garden was the place of the manifested might. |
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Gethsemane was the place of distress, the garden where He rose
from the dead was the place of victory. |
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d) |
Few saw His agony in Gethsemane but many, including Mary (Jn.
20:11-17); the women who were returning from the tomb (Matt.
28:9-10); and Peter and John (the disciple whom Jesus loved)
went and saw the vacated tomb (Jn. 20:2-8). Many saw Him alive
but there is no mention of them seeing the tomb. Some of those
were the other disciples, the five hundred, and Thomas (Jn.
20:19, 26-28; 1 Cor. 15:6). These all bore evidence that Jesus
had risen from the dead. |
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With what exuberance of joy we sing: |
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“It’s past the dark and dreary
night, and Lord we hail Thee now
Thy path on earth, the toil the tears, Thy
sufferings all are ore.
And oh sweet thought, Thine eye shall weep
Thy heart shall break no more” |
Beautiful are the truths for us, for
how many are the storms we face in
life and temptations on every hand.
Prior to, and in those storms, let
us learn from the Master the
necessity of getting alone with God,
to pray and bow in true devotedness
to the will of God. In Gethsemane
the Lord knew that He was going to
meet God in His moral perfection of
holiness, and as the representative
substitute for sinful man. It is to
this
extent that we appreciate the
preciousness of the sacrifice of our
Lord, seeing there the holiness of
God and the total corruption of self
that we in truth will plead the
blood of His Son for our
acceptability. Gethsemane will at
least teach me that there is no
place for a casual attitude, a
little indulgence, a nonchalant
attitude when it comes to sin, for
my sin caused the Lord agonies in
Gethsemane, but these never matched
the sufferings of Calvary.
. . . Rowan Jennings |
