The Hidden Truths In Gethsemane
Scripture Time. 'Intentionality' is such a buzzword lately, but how often do we apply it to scripture? There's so much significance in the details, such attention paid by its Author, that something as small as an olive can yield such a huge truth in the New Testament.
For example, did you know that the Mount of Olives is where the Garden of Gethsemane is located? We usually get fixed on the revelation of Jesus coming to a garden when we've been kicked out of one (ie, Eden), and yes, there's such beauty in that, but let's take it a step further. This garden, located in the Mount of Olives, was most likely bursting with olive groves. In fact, 'Gethsemane' even means 'oil press.' Olives have to go through three intense pressings to remove every ounce of oil before it's ready to be sold.
“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane,[v] and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
That in itself is significant, since I'm sure that all the weight of the world was pressing on Holy that night. But there's even more. Christ in Greek is 'Messiah,' which means 'Anointed One.' And how are kings anointed? Are are we anointed at baptism and confirmation? With oil.
And it wasn't just the Agony in the Garden that happened at the Mount. Where Christ was pressed so low, He was also raised up with His Ascension. Think of that for a moment. The place where He surrendered His will, the place of morbid intensity, was the exact place where He was raised up.
In spite of these thousands of articles that speak to the truth, we need to remember that we should always first go to the Truth...and let it speak to us. As St. Ambrose said, "We speak to God when we pray; we listen to Him when we read the Scriptures."