Luke 12 Matthew 26 Luke 22
The garden of gethsemane is really a garden of olives. A humongous olive press actually remains intact in the garden. The Holy Spirit gave me two interesting things to think about before writing this lesson.
First, I thought about how all of the kings, priests, and prophets of God were anointed with anointing oil, and today, a very common anointing oil is extra-virgin olive oil. Therefore, Jesus spending his very last moments of freedom in the garden of Gethsemane, coincides with this notion of him being the anointed one.
The second thing that the Holy Spirit gave me in preparation for this lesson was the thought of the meaning of the actual olive press. The olives actually had to be pressed with stone three times before the oil would be squeezed out.
Do you know the significance of three in spiritual terms? (Here are a few things…)
We have the Trinity. God is three in one: the Father (1 Corinthians 8:6), the Son (Colossians 2:9), and the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17).
There were three trials of the Jews that found Jesus guilty of blasphemy.
Jesus goes back to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane three times (Matthew 26:4).
God calls the prophet Samuel thrice (1 Samuel 3:8).
Jesus repeats the phrase “feed my sheep” to Peter three times (John 21:15-17).
We can’t talk three without talking about how Jesus rose after three days (1 Corinthians 15:4).
Therefore, the number three was used to put a divine stamp of completion on the subject.
The garden is located at the bottom of the Mount of Olives. A temple, that Jesus taught in and preached I. separates the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane.
Gethsemane actually means to press. Below, I have included an image that only describes what the process looks like in Israel today.
As we have previously studied, Jesus and his disciples were in the Garden of Gethsemane on Thursday evening. Friday was Passover, and the day that Jesus was taken by the Jews, he was tried 6 times, and tortured. Saturday he hung on the cross, but Sunday he arose! It’s important to note that God darkened the earth at 3 o’clock (Luke 23:44). So, here in the garden it was just the beginning of Jesus 15 to 20 hours of torture.
Next, we need to look at Luke chapter 12, verse 50. This is where Jesus prayed.
“50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!”
It was here in the Garden of Gethsemane, that Jesus prayed, and prepared for his trials and crucifixion. Next, lets rediscover Matt. 26:36.
Matthew 26:36 (New International Version) “36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
I can picture, this happening, in my mind. I could see the olive trees, the olive press, the temple, the disciples, and Jesus going ahead in the garden to pray to the father. I can see Jesus coming back to the group of disciples and waking them to pray.
Jesus asked his disciples to pray three times. Jesus said that he understood the flesh is weak, but the spirit is willing (Matthew 26:41).
Christ gave us an example in the Garden of Gethsemane, because when things were ere weighing on his spirit, he went to talk to God. So many times, we try to deal with our problems, all by herself; instead of, taking everything to God in prayer. God is our way of escape. God is our answer. God has our best interest at heart, because he loves us. Why do we go continually to worldly counsel instead of going straight to the father?
Instead of you giving into temptation, and giving into our circumstances, we should go to God in prayer. Scripture tells us to come boldly, because Jesus cares and is willing to listen (Hebrews 4:16).
Now in Luke 22:43 This Scripture confirms that Jesus was praying for strength, because God sends an angel to comfort him. Below is recorded what the scripture says:
Luke 22:43 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
We see here, according to scripture, that he was continuous in his prayer to God. It denotes those three times he checked with his friends, but God is the one who gave him what he needed. It is here in the garden and Jesus, sweats, because he was in agony! He knew what was about to occur in the garden.
The gospels contain an account of the time the disciples and Jesus spent in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before Jesus was arrested. In the garden Jesus prayed to his Father three times, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will”—the KJV says, “Let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). A little later, Jesus prays, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (Matthew 26:42). These prayers reveal Jesus’ mindset just before the crucifixion and his total submission to the will of God.
The spirit wants us to stop and talk for a moment about suffering and the cup. God is not the source of our suffering!
Remember, in the garden of Eden; which, by the way, Eden means the delight and joy. God created everything and said it was good.
Genesis 1:18 (New International Version) 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.
Then, he created man and woman, and said it is very good.
Genesis 1:31 (English Standard Version) “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
Then sin entered into the world because they ate of the tree of good and evil. Quickly, everything became defiled. Man separated themselves from God. Everything began decaying and dying, because of sickness and disease. Now, suffering becomes the norm for Christians and for people in general. It’s not the way that God set up the world, but it is the way of the world. God is not the cause, but it is what we experience.
What is Jesus speaking about here in Matthew? The cup is God’s wrath! See we hate sin, because sin is evilness, and it caused a rift between us and God.
But God hates sin more and he calls it wrath. All of the sins of the world are in this cup. Your sin and my sin, the sin of Adam and eve. But also, war, genocide, murder, rape, abuse, and on and on. Every sin for billions of people is in this cup. Every big sin and every little sin. Every time you lied, you cheated, you stole, or you gossiped. Each sin is a drop in that cup. It is filling up and storing up for the day of judgment.
On the day of judgment, God will dump his wrath out on the world. And one day someone is going to have to drink that cup. The fact is that you can drink that cup, or you can accept that Jesus drank the cup for you. Scripture says that Jesus did not want to bear the weight of the cup.
Can you imagine how much weight that was for Jesus to carrying? The full amount of wrath, the wrath of God. Jesus said if this cup could pass from me, let it be so, but Jesus was the only one that could be the sacrifice for our sins.
The truth is that we only have two choices in this life. Either you drink a cup of God’s wrath, or you allow Jesus to drink it for you. You either pay the penalty for your sin or you allow God to accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for you! See Jesus Christ has already paid the price.
Christians listen to the Holy Spirit for a minute! Jesus, in the garden was preparing to drink the cup for you; so that, when you stand in judgment, your cup will be empty. Therefore, we hear good faithful servants enter in.
Matthew 25:23 “His lord said unto him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.’”
Or we could hear depart from me I never knew you. Check out the following scripture:
Matthew 7:23 “23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
Now, when God pours out his cup, there is no wrath for you! Glory! Hallelujah! Finally, when we suffer, as Christians, God is not punishing us. It would not be just for God to punish you and Jesus for the same crime.
Next, we see, Judas, betraying Jesus with a kiss. The kiss was the signal to arrest him. Then, ear is cut off, and Jesus restores and heals. Next, he is carried away to his trials. Following the trials was his beatings, his scourging, and his Crucifixion. Then, we see the removal of his body, his burial, his death, and his resurrection. Read with me now. Matthew 26!
“47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.
48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.
49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.
50 And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus and took him.
51 And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear.
52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
55 In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.
56 But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.”
In the last scripture, that we read there in Matthew, Jesus refers to the reason why he must go to the cross, and that is the fulfill prophecies (56). It’s important that he fulfills all of the prophecies, because these actions reassures us that Jesus will return! Fulfilling all the Scriptures lifts our faith. Therefore, Jesus must do exactly as scripture for-shadowed.
Wow! What a lesson from the Holy Spirit today! Let us now, pray a prayer thanksgiving!
