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www.truthworks.com 16 APR 03 devotion archive |
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GETHSEMANE I tell you the Truth, As always, I’m amazed when I find out the true meaning of words that I’ve heard all my life. Today, we’ll investigate the true meaning of “gethsemane.” When I hear the word gethsemane, I immediately think of the following.
Matthew 26: The story continues with Peter, James and John spending a sleepy evening in the Garden of Gethsemane. I’ve written about this incident before where the three disciples have a hard time staying awake. Today, I want to concentrate on Christ and what happened to Him in this Garden of the “Olive Press.” Yes, the word gethsemane actually means “oil press.” A gethsemane was used to press the oil from the olives. The process used to extract olive oil was a laborious one. Whole olives were put into a circular stone basin in which a millstone sat. A donkey or other animal was then harnessed to the millstone and walked in a circle, rolling the stone over the olives and cracking them. When considering the symbolic meaning of the gethsemane, it’s important to understand both the economic and religious importance of the olive and its oil in biblical times. Much of Israel was, and still is today, olive-producing. The olive was much more than food: Its oil was burned in lamps and served as a preserving agent and a lubricant for skin care. It had great value in daily life. The cracked olives were scooped up into burlap bags, which were then stacked beneath a large stone column - a gethsemane. The enormous weight forced the precious oil to drip from the fruit into a groove and on into a pit at the base of the gethsemane, from which it was collected. It is no coincidence that Jesus would enter the Garden of Gethsemane in his last hours. Gethsemane is located on the Mount of Olives, a ridge, one mile long, with four identifiable summits. As we noted in Matthew, Jesus took Peter, James and John with him to the Garden. But Luke probably describes the true effect of the gethsemane upon the body of Jesus.
Luke 22: Jesus Christ was about to endure more pain and suffering than any man before or since. He understood what must take place as He agonized over his final act in natural human flesh. The Father knew the agony of the Son and sent a comforter to strengthen Him. As Jesus began to pray more earnestly (I cannot fathom Jesus praying MORE earnestly), His sweat began falling to the ground as blood dripping from an open wound. The weight of the load He was beginning to bear was becoming evident at this point. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the gethsemane (or oil press) began to squeeze the life from the body of Christ. But like the olive, the result of the pressing would render new life for many. The life that was taken from His body, when the process was complete, would become new life for many, richer, more valuable and eternal.
Your Servant,
<*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< Prayer Requests (and Praises!): Please reply if you have prayer requests, comments or simply need an open ear. I always enjoy hearing from you. <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< Copyright © 2003 Truth Works Publishing. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise specified, all scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV.
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