Gethsemane - The Olive Press
In Gethsemane the holiest of all petitioners prayed three times that a certain cup might pass from Him. It did not. C. S. Lewis
Jesus’ greatest and only desire when He was on earth was to do the will of His Father. His desire was a purely unselfish one. He knew that the ultimate will of the Father was for Him to lay down His life for all of mankind. And yet, in His humanness, He struggled with this. Before His arrest and crucifixion, He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, where He was overwhelmed with sorrow. He was sorrowful because of sinful humanity and the awful weight of that sin He had to carry on the cross that awaited Him. In Gethsemane, which means olive press, the tension between Jesus’ desire to do the will of His Father and the agony of the cross that awaited Him was so excruciatingly palpable and agonising that His sweat became like great drops of blood (Luke 22:43-44).
Abba, Father
He pleaded three times in the garden for the cup He knew only He could drink, to be taken from Him (Matthew 26:39-42). Mark 14:36 says,
“And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Jesus addresses His Father as Abba. A term of endearment that signifies the deep intimacy with His Father. An intimacy that goes beyond any earthly intimacy. The intimacy He needed at that time of intense sorrow. An intense sorrow that only His Abba Father could soothe. But this “soothing” was really doing the will of the Father – drinking the cup of the cross. His Abba knew the intense agony He would suffer, but He did not allow the cup to be removed from Him. His great and awesome love for mankind, His creation, prevented Him from removing the cup. The Father’s “No” and Jesus’ “Yes” became the most magnanimous and magnificent gift that was bestowed upon us. A gift that gave us life, abundant life. Eternal life with our Abba Father.
There may be times in our lives when we’ve prayed earnestly for something specific, and we trust God to say “yes” to our requests. But when God says, “No,” we struggle to accept this. We struggle to understand why he doesn’t say yes to something that we feel we need. Something we feel would be good for us and perhaps for others as well. God sees the bigger picture and knows what will ultimately be good for us. He has ordained the path that we should follow from before the foundations of the earth. When we understand this, we can say, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Do you continue to go with Jesus? The way lies through Gethsemane, through the city gate, outside the camp; the way lies alone, and the way lies until there is no trace of a footstep left, only the voice, 'Follow Me. Oswald Chambers
Reflection
Take time to reflect on your “Gethsemane” moments. If you are going through that “Gethsemane” moment now, will you release them to Jesus? Will you submit to His will for your life?
Prayer
Abba Father, You see my needs, my desires. You see the agonising decisions I need to make. I lay everything at Your feet. I surrender them to You. Have Your way in my life, so that only what You desire for me will be done. Not what I will, but what you will, in Jesus’ name, amen.
