At the foot of Mount Olives is a garden called Gethsemane. Gethsemane can literally be translated as ‘oil press’. This was a place where olives were pressed.
Matthew and Mark’s Gospel describe it as an ESTATE in the Greek but John’s gospel calls it a Garden.
Gethsemane was a place where the burden of the poor was evidenced as they were tied to the wealthy landowners. Many of the wealthy landowners of Jesus’ time were the Sadducees. Many of Jesus parables refer to these wealthy landowners. We know that the Sadducee party was very wealthy because of the homes that were excavated in Jerusalem that have 20,000 dollar vats of wine. They lived a very extravagant life off the backs of the poor. Remember last week we discussed how they were abusing the Temple to make money off of the poor. They also became wealthy off the backs of the common man that had to work in the vineyards and in the wine presses.
The Mount of Olives was one of the places where this would occur. Olive oil production was very necessary and common in ancient Jerusalem. Olive oil was a staple of the diet, was used in lamps for lighting, and was used to put on skin for the health of the skin in a dry and arid environment.
The Olive Tree was important in Messianic Expectations because one of the prophecies that the Jews anticipated was that the root of Jesse would be restored.
In an earlier sermon we explored how it seemed the family of David had been cut off after the Babylonian Exile but the OT prophesied that a shoot would grow out of the stump of Jesse. Olive Trees will grow for over 1000 years and many times they are cut down to the roots and will lay dormant for a time. Then all of the sudden, a live shoot will come out of the stump and will grow.
This is the prophecy of the Messiah that will come from the family of Jesse.
Isaiah 11:1
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
This is a direct image of an Olive Tree and the process of pruning and new growth.
The image of the very Messiah is tied to the Olive Tree.
It is interesting that when Jesus enters Jerusalem He will enter from the Mount of Olives – This image would not be lost on anyone. The shoot of the stem of Jesse will ride into Jerusalem and He is riding in from the Mount of Olives that was known for its olive trees.
IN the Scripture we see Jesus on Thursday night of His passion week going to the Mount of Olives and going to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Remember last week we looked at Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the Cleansing of the Temple on Sunday of this week. Now we have Jesus on the night he would be betrayed and the evening before His crucifixion going to the Garden for what is called the Watch.
Matthew 26: 36
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."
This was part of the Passover celebration in which you would stay up all night remembering how the Israelites in Egyptian bondage prepared to leave Egypt the night before Moses lead them across the Red Sea.
To understand why this location of Gethsemane is important in this story we need to understand what happened when Olives were pressed.
Remember that Gethsemane was the ‘place of the olive press’ and this is where Jesus goes on the night before He is crucified.
Olives were put into a circular stone basin with a huge millstone. This millstone would roll round and round and break the olives apart. This process is called the CRACKING of the OLIVE. Literally the Olives were crushed.
Once the millstone had crushed the olives they were gathered into burlap sacks and had large weights placed on top of the bags. After a period of time the oil would come seeping out of the sacks and would be collected.
This process would take some time but great pressure had to be placed on the olives to get them to release their oil.
Now consider how this factors into our story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is in the very place known for olive presses. This is where olives were crushed and their oil was released.
Now we have the Messiah- the shoot from the root of Jesse – the very image of this olive tree prophecy in the place where olives are crushed.
Imagine that Jesus growing up knew he would have to die for us. He knew His entire life and His life was shaped by the Scripture of Israel. Consider Isaiah 53
Isaiah 53 is about the suffering servant of God. This prophecy is about the suffering of the Messiah and how He would die for our sins.
Isaiah 53: 5
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities ; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
Three aspects of the Messiah come out of this passage – Pierced, Crushed, and Scourging
We all know that Jesus was pierced in His hands and His feet by the crucifixion and we know he endured the horrible Scourging of the Romans that killed some people by itself. But what about being Crushed?
I would propose that this element of Jesus Passion is often overlooked at our own peril. The passage in Isaiah 53 says that He will CRUSHED for OUR INIQUITIES.
I propose that is the taking on of our sin by Jesus and was probably the biggest burden of all. Jesus WHO KNEW NO SIN took on the penalty of OUR SIN.
We see this crushing weight of the sin of the world in the Garden of Gethsemane.
In Luke we find the parallel version of the account of the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26.
In Luke 22 we read his account of the Garden of Gethsemane.
Luke 22: 39-44
39 And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives ; and the disciples also followed Him. 40 When He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." 41 And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42 saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done." 43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently ; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.
Imagine the image of this agony. IN Matthew 26 he tells us that Jesus prays three times to let this cup of agony pass from Him. This Cup would be the Cup of Consummation but also the Cup of Wrath against Sin.
Jesus is literally being crushed by this burden of the sins of the world that he will have to bear.
Just like the Olives being pressed, Jesus is being crushed and his blood is being spilled.
Just like the Olive oil that drips out of the bags being crushed, Jesus’ is in so much anguish that He is sweating blood. Medical science tells us that this happens when the capillaries burst near the surface of the sin because of a person under great stress.
This is an element of suffering of the cross that we loose sight of and that is the anguish of bearing the sin of the world.
Now to take this story of Gethsemane and really understand what it is saying to us we need to lay some groundwork on some very important Biblical Doctrines:
INCARNATION:
TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON AT GETHSEMANE WE MUST UNDESTAND THE TWO IMPORTANT DOCTRINES FOUND IN SCRIPTURE.
1) INCARNATION
John 1:14
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Shortly before the turn of the century, a young man from Ohio homesteaded in the wilderness of the Dakotas. He built himself a sod house, and the Indians were his only neighbors. In desperation for companionship, he wrote a lonely hearts organization requesting correspondence with some young lady. Down in the hills of southern Missouri, a newspaper man saw the plea, and as a joke, answered it in the name of his cousin. Without her knowing it, he carried on correspondence with the lonely man in the Dakotas. When the young lady found out about it, she was embarrassed and enraged. She finally consented to read the letters, and as the homesteader seemed to be a man of integrity, she then took up the correspondence. After some time, she received a letter announcing that he was coming to see her. One day, the man who had simply been a name, a phantom figure, arrived and introduced himself. The young people fell in love and returned to the sod house together. They had a long and happy marriage. Before Christ came into the world, God was real enough but seemed so distant, so intangible, and ill-defined. In Jesus, God stepped off the train, so to speak, and walked down main street for every eye to see and for every person to know.
Jesus came saying, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" Jn. 14:9.
JESUS IS GOD – THE WORLD WAS CREATED THROUGH HIM, THE FATHER, SON AND SPIRIT ALL HAD ROLES IN THE CREATION OF THE WORLD
Colossians 1: 15-16, 19
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -all things have been created through Him and for Him.
19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
When Paul said that Jesus was the image of the invisible God, he did not mean that Jesus was LIKE God. He meant that Jesus WAS God.
In San Antonio, there were identical twins whose houses were side by side. Shortly after they were married, one of the brothers took his wife to a beach resort for a brief vacation. When they returned, the other brother and his wife went to the same resort. The landlady at the resort was very bewildered and upset. Finally, she called the wife aside and confidentially told her that her husband had been there the week before with another woman. You can see how that would cause some confusion can't you? But, Christ was IDENTICAL with God NOT ONLY in the sense of SIMILARITY but also in SAMENESS. Christ and God are not twin beings, they are one and the same. In Christ dwelt all "fullness" vs. 19. In other words, nothing of God was missing in Christ.
We must understand that GOD BECAME MAN- JESUS IS THE GOD MAN
We cannot fathom the cross and what took place until we try to wrap our minds around this idea.
FLESH –
Jesus took on the rags of flesh to save us from our sin. Jesus took on our humanity so that we could become like Him.
One early Christian scholar said that Jesus became man so that we can become like God. He did not mean that we would have equality with God but that we could share in the Divine life. God became man so that we can have ETERNAL LIFE IN HIM.
A Roman servant, knowing that his master was to be put to death, clothed himself in the garments of the latter that he night be taken for him. He was taken and put to death, and his master caused a statue of brass to be erected as a monument of gratitude for the poor servant's fidelity and affection.
IN the same way that the servant took on the garments of the master, Jesus took on the flesh of humanity.
REPRSENTATIVE AND SUBSTITUTION
When we say that Jesus died for our sins we need to be sharp in understanding exactly what that means.
Paul states that one of the fundamental truths of the Gospel is that Jesus died for us.
I Corinthians 15:3
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures
To start down the path of understanding exactly what Jesus accomplished begins with understanding that Jesus became the Representative of Mankind and of Israel.
Jesus is the New Adam or the new Humanity.
Jesus was obedient unlike Adam. Adam was disobedient and brought sin to the world. Jesus was obedient even unto death and brought obedience.
JESUS TOOK ON DEATH AND CAME OUT THE OTHER SIDE VICTORIOUS. HE TOOK ON THE DEATH THAT ADAM’S SIN BROUGHT TO THE WORLD AND CAME THROUGH IT WITH THE RESURRECTION. HE CONQUERED SIN AND CONQUERED DEATH.
ISRAEL- Jesus dis what Israel could never do. God wanted to bless all nations through Abraham and Israel was tasked with being this blessing.
Israel failed miserably and all through the Gospels, particularly Matthew’s Gospel we are presented with Jesus as Israel. He is obedient in all things where Israel was disobedient.
He obeyed the LAW perfectly and did what Israel could never do. Israel was also under the Curse in that the Curses of disobedience were upon Israel. Israel would have to bear the Curse of the Law.
In the Law of Moses we learn that Cursed is anyone that hangs on a tree. The ultimate curse was to be hung on a tree for a Jew and crucifixion was the ultimate slap in the face for a Jew.
Jesus obeys the Law of Moses and then takes on the Curse of the Law on the Cross.
By doing this Jesus opens up the promises made to Abraham to all nations.
So in these images we see themes emerge.
ADAM- Disobedience, Death
Jesus – Obedience, Life – resurrection
Israel – Law breaking – Curse
Jesus – perfect Law keeping – blessing to all nations
How did this work:
2 Corinthians 5: 21
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
This passage displays this majestic doctrine that Jesus became sin on our behalf. He took on our sin in His flesh even though he was innocent.
Romans 8: 1-3
1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
The Law of Moses could not accomplish what God did in Christ: God condemned sin in the flesh. Particularly he condemned sin in the flesh of Jesus.
By the cross we are now lifted from the penalty.
Matthew 23: 37-38
37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling . 38 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate !
This image is found in the Barnyard fire, when a fire breaks out the hen gathers the chicks up her wings and when the hen is found dead the next day the baby chicks are found alive in her scorched wings.
The same is true for what Jesus says of Jerusalem. A fiery judgment would come on Jerusalem just a few years later from the Romans.
In the same way we will see God face to face and if we have been found in Christ we will be able to look upon God and have fellowship with Him.
Hebrews 12:29 tells us that God is a Consuming Fire
All through Scripture God’s presence is represented by Fire. How can we stand in the presence of God’s love that is like a consuming fire.
This passage from Christ tells us something. – We must be In Christ!
Just as Christ took on sin, he now gives us righteousness to stand in God’s presence. We have been declared justified if we are in Christ.
To be in Christ, means that we are saved from the wrath of a holy God that cannot have fellowship with sin in any way.
The way Christ work on the cross can be demonstrated by the following story:
In a book called 30 years in Madagascar by Thomas Matthews explains a custom of the natives of Madagascar.
Madagascar, where he was for thirty years a missionary, describes this native custom: The prisoners were kept in chains, but they had to earn their own living, and were confined to prison only during the night. On the days, however, on which the Sovereign appeared they were not allowed to leave the prison; or if allowed out on these days, at noon, before the Sovereign as to appear, they all had to return to prison, were counted, and locked up.
Why? Because if one of those criminals managed to hide himself, and then emerge from his hiding place to gaze at and salute the Sovereign, as she passed, wearing her diadem and beautiful in the glory of her royal apparel, he was a free man. Whatever his crime had been, his chains were at once struck off, for he had looked on the Sovereign in her beauty and saluted her, and no one could do that and still remain a prisoner.
In this story we can look at the people in chains in this story as us in the chains of sin. Without Christ that is what we have to look forward too. When we are put into Christ we no longer are consider condemned or lost.
We are now alive in Christ.
Galatians 3: 26-27
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
To be clothed with Christ is tied to the idea of Matthew 23
God gave us visible SIGNS to show us this lesson. Every time we see someone baptized it is a reminder of being clothed in the righteousness of Christ and without that righteousness of Christ we cannot be with God. If we want to live eternally with our Father, we will have to be clothed in Christ.
The other Sign that God gave us is the Lord’s Supper. In the Lord’s Supper we partake of the Cup which is the New Covenant in Christ’s Blood and the Bread which is the body that is broken for us. This is all about the ATONEMENT Christ brought on our behalf.
When we come to the Lord’s Table we are to remember the Altar of the Cross as well as the Fellowship in Christ’s Blood that we have at His Table.
When we are gathered around His Table we are experiencing a foreshadowing of the time when we are in the presence of God. WE are literally eating and drinking at Christ’s Table in His presence. WE should come to this Table in the right mind, realizing that we are in God’s presence.
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