Your Own Personal Gethsemane

Matthew 26:36

"Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder."

The word Gethsemane is Greek in orgin; in Hebrew, gat shemanim. It's an ancient oil press; that's the meaning of the name. And a garden bears its name. You could even say that the milling stone that was used to press the oil out of the olives was the Gethsemane Stone. The garden was located on the Mount of Olives across the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem. It is here that Jesus prayed on the night before His death.

In the Garden, Jesus struggled, knowing His impending crucifixion meant separation from His Father. At no other time in the Gospels do we see the Son of God more brokenhearted than in these last few hours of freedom before He is seized by the Temple guards. In fact, Christ was at the point of physical exhaustion in the Garden of Gethsemane. He cried out until His sweat became like drops of blood in the agony at Gethsemane.

Try to imagine the great, immense pressure on the Christ. The weight of the world's sins would soon be consummated at Calvary. And the worst part of Calvary (ie, Golgotha) is that Jesus knew what would happen there; He'd be separated from God.

In anguish, Jesus would cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). As the full weight of humanity’s sin fell upon Christ, the Father withdrew His presence, since He does not remain in the presence of sin. Jesus had never known a moment of separation from the Father, until that very moment when Jesus took on our sin. That rejection was agony for Jesus.

Jesus was willing to be forsaken by God in order that we could be accepted by Him. Talk about the Passion! Who else could loves us to the point separation from the Father and dying a horrific death? No one but the Son of God!

But in Gethsemane, the Son did not plead for release from the pain; instead, He prayed three times that the Father’s will be done.

Have you ever prayed with a brokenness for His will to be done in your life? Giving up your desires and willful ways brings turmoil and pressure to resist because the flesh is at war with the Spirit (Gal. 5:17). But, whatever besetting sin is causing a break in your walk with Christ, take it to Him in prayer.

If we follow Jesus’ example and release ourselves to God’s will, then inner turmoil is calmed by a sense of peaceful contentment. External circumstances may be unchanged, they may even worsen, but in our inward Gethsemane, we have a peace that surpasses all understanding because a loving Father gives it to us (Phil 4:7).

Jesus promised in John 16:33, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Jesus left the garden a prisoner, but at the same time He walked out triumpant because He had submitted to His Father's will.

What about you, Reader? Have you experienced you own personal Gethsemane lately?

I'd like to know more about Jesus: The Plan of Salvation

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.
Refrain

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

From Gabbatha to Golgotha: The Awful Sentence at The Pavement

John 19:13

I became interested in the passage in John 19:13 after watching the movie, The Gospel of John (Buena Vista Home Entertainment/Disney, 2005). In the movie scene, Pontius Pilate is in the courtyard sitting in the judgment seat as Jesus is brought out to him and the angry crowd. It is here that Christ was sentenced as Pilate had already made his politically expeditious judgment in the inner chambers of his palace.

Gabbatha is an Aramaic word that means elevated, or platform. In the Hebrew, it was also called "Pavement," where the judgment-seat (or bema) was placed, from which Pilate delivered our Lord to death. It was a place paved with a mosaic of colored stones and stood on an eminence, so that the judge sitting on his throne might be seen and heard by a considerable number of people. The modern-day bema is the judge’s bench, which is typically elevated and located at the head of the courtroom.

Interestingly, for hundreds of years, scholars used the “myth” of Gabbatha to reject John’s record of Jesus and the trial by Pilate, because there was no historical record of a court called Gabbatha or “The Pavement” in Jerusalem. However, famous archaeologist William Albright revealed that this place was in fact the court of the Tower of Antonia, which was destroyed by the Romans in 66-70 AD. It was left buried when Jerusalem was rebuilt in the time of Hadrian, but it was uncovered during excavations there [William Albright, The Archaeology of Palestine, Penguin Books, 1960].

So, when Pilate had sat down in the judgment seat, in the place that is called the pavement, the decision had been made. All that was necessary was to make it official. It may have been the seat of judgment, but it was not the seat of justice. It may have seemed expedient to hand down the sentence but it was certainly not the seat of equity. There is often no justice and equity in the judgments of men.

And bearing His cross, Jesus went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha. The skull has been a symbol of death. This spot was outside of the gates of the city on the side of a hill, which has the appearance of a skull. It was a sad but needful reality: Had not Christ been rejected of men, we would have been forever rejected of God. So, Jesus was delivered into the hands of wicked and unreasonable men and nailed to the cross as the necessary Sacrifice to reconcile men to God.

Consider the cross from five viewpoints:

1. From the viewpoint of God, the cross was the propitiation for sin. There the full holiness and justice of God was satisfied. Now God can forgive man’s sin without violating His justice.

2. From the viewpoint of Jesus, it was an act of obedience unto the will of the Father. Becoming a sin offering and giving Himself as a sacrifice for man's sin.

3. From the standpoint of the believer, it was substitution. He was there in my place, dying the death that I deserved.

4. From the standpoint of Satan, it was a "victory" as he bruised the seed of the woman, but it also became his ultimate defeat as through Christ's death, He destroyed him that had power over death.

5. As far as the world is concerned, it was an unjust, brutal murder.

Christ’s death means life, eternal life for you (John 3:16)! Gabbatha, the Stone Pavement, is a Place of Decision. It is a place mentioned in the Bible where Pontius Pilate judged Jesus. Gabbatha is where the question was first asked and it is the the one Question we must all ask ourselves, "What will I do with this Jesus, called the Christ?"

Just One Commandment

Genesis 2:16-17

The Garden of Eden is described as created the Garden specifically for Adam, the first man, whom God had formed (Genesis 2 and 3). The Garden of Eden was perfect. It offered both beauty and sustenance, being home to every tree "that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, "and a source of freshwater from the river to drink. As for man, God "put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. " (Genesis 2:15)

Genesis 2:16-17 states that the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

Now comes along the wily serpent and logically trips up Eve by twisting words around and asking, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" From that point forward, it is all downhill for humanity.

And with a single act, both are tossed into darkness. It was just one Commandment: Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve had their pick of trees: grapefruit, apple, peach, mango, lemon, coconut, you name it. Instead, they chose to go to the tree of forbidden fruit. Isn’t that just like human nature: self-willed and prideful.

By obeying just one Commandment, man could have had eternal life in the garden of earthly delights. Think about it: Just one Commandment!

Just to get an idea of what Adam and Eve were going to be missing out on, Ezekiel 28:13 gives further detail of the garden: “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.” Talk about the model of ideal loveliness. Talk about the marvelous light arrayed through these precious gems and jewels, bedazzling and brilliant!

As a race, humans have not fared any better because of our sinful nature. We have remained in darkness. Indeed, our heart is dark. Consider the state of world affairs to get a taste of how low and ugly our nature really is.

So, by the time the Lord summoned Moses in Exodus 19:3, God wanted to take the Israelites into a close and peculiar relation to Himself. This blessed Sinai Covenant was granted out of God's own free grace. The conditions God made on the people were that they must obey His voice and keep His covenant, which are the Ten Commandments. They are the Divine Standard:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or likeness of heavenly or earthly things to bow down to them.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

5. Honor thy father and mother.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness.

10. Thou shalt not covet.

The purpose of the Law was not so that the Israelites could use it as an instrument to make them righteous, but to show what righteousness is. Once the Law is violated, it can only condemn us. And that’s the problem. If we couldn’t keep just one Commandment, how then can we hope to keep ten?

Enter Jesus Christ.

His advent brought forth a new covenant, which was sealed with His holy blood when Christ was crucified on the cross for our sins. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man (i.e., Adam), how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! (Rom 5:15)

So, the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law (Galatians 3:24-25).

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ (Rom 5:17). It is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam (i.e., Christ), a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45).

The only Mediator is Jesus Christ; (1 Tim. 2:5); For there is one God and one mediator between God and men. That man is Christ Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life! No one approaches the Father except by Him! Won’t you come to Him and accept Him as Lord and Savior? He is ready to receive you!