A garden of Scripture
The Garden of Gethsemane
Gethsemane is a garden of olive trees across the Kidron brook, where Jesus went with his disciples on the night he was betrayed. Its name means oil press, and here the Son of God was pressed to the point of blood, agonized and sorrowful unto death. In this garden the last Adam faced the cup and chose surrender.
“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.”Matthew 26:36
The garden
The place sits on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, a grove where old trees were cultivated for their oil. To make oil, olives were crushed under heavy stone until they yielded, and the name Gethsemane carries that image of pressing. Jesus came here often, so it was familiar ground, a place of prayer and rest that now becomes a place of anguish. He takes Peter, James, and John a little farther in, then withdraws alone to pray, falling on his face. The hour is late, the disciples are heavy with sleep, and the torches of the arresting party will soon move through the dark. It is a quiet garden, but under its trees the weight of the world's sin begins to press down, and sweat like drops of blood falls to the ground.
What happened here
Three times Jesus prays the same prayer, that if it be possible the cup might pass from him. The cup is the wrath and judgment his people deserve, and everything in him recoils from it. Yet each prayer bends toward the same surrender, not as I will, but as thou wilt. He does not want the suffering, and he does not flee it. Between longing and obedience he chooses obedience, freely. His friends cannot stay awake to watch with him, so he bears the hour essentially alone. Then the betrayer arrives with a kiss, the crowd with swords and staves, and Jesus steps forward to meet them. He heals the ear a disciple struck, and lets himself be taken, the willing prisoner of a love stronger than his dread.
How it points to Christ
Here the two gardens meet most sharply. In Eden the first Adam stood amid abundance and grasped at what was forbidden. In Gethsemane the last Adam kneels in sorrow and lets go of what he might have kept, his own life and will. Eden's tragedy was three words, I will not; Gethsemane's triumph is three words, thy will be done. This is the obedience that reverses the fall, worked not in ease but in tears and bloodlike sweat. The cup he did not refuse he drained to the dregs, so that the cup his people receive is now one of blessing. Christ is the true and faithful Son who trusts the Father in the dark, and by his surrender the door Adam slammed is pushed open from the inside.
Questions people ask
What does Gethsemane mean?
Gethsemane comes from words meaning oil press, the place where olives were crushed under stone to release their oil. The name fits the night with painful precision, for here Jesus himself was pressed under the weight of coming sorrow until, Luke records, his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground. The garden of the press became the place of his deepest anguish.
Why did Jesus pray for the cup to pass from him?
The cup in Scripture often means the portion of God's judgment. Jesus was about to drink the wrath due to sin, and his recoil was real, not pretended, for he was fully human. Asking the cup to pass shows how dreadful it was. Yet he never demanded his own way; each prayer ended in surrender to the Father, so his sorrow became the measure of his love.
How is Gethsemane the opposite of Eden?
In Eden, amid plenty, the first Adam reached for the one thing forbidden and said, in effect, my will be done. In Gethsemane, amid grief, the last Adam surrendered the one thing dearest, his own will, praying thy will be done. One garden holds a grasp that lost the world; the other holds a yielding that began to win it back. Obedience answers rebellion.