The
Essence of Gethsemane
by Mathew G. Daniel
(Continued from last edition - Part 3)
In Aramaic gat shamanin means oil press from which Gethsemane is
derived (see how apt the name of the place is). Getting extracted, the essence of a seed which is the actual base of a new generation.
God uses the word seed in the garden of Eden in Genesis 3:15,"...thy seed...and her
seed". Peter elucidate it clearly in his letter,
1 Peter 1: 23 : "Being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and
abideth for ever."
Here the word of God which lives and abides for ever is going to be trampled to get the elixir of life. The trampling or crushing of the living seed extracts life which on the other hand bruise the head of the betrayer. I would like to give special emphasize on the word betrayer in this lesson.
Christ reminds us to watch and pray to overcome temptation; we have already examined it in detail. Now let’s go back to the opening scene in the Garden of
Gethsemane. He instructs the three to spend an hour of meditation with him in his agony.
Christ then moves a little ahead, a stone’s cast distance, and falls on his face,
"And he went a little farther, and prayed, saying, O, My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."
(Mathew 26:39)
The most important part in this verse that perplexed me is the prelude of His prayer. He addresses God as his father and
asks if it be possible. I feel it a bit controversial to his teachings. In
Matthew 17:20 we read, "And Jesus said unto them, 'Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.'"
Here comes the cardinal point: if nothing shall be impossible to his disciples once they believe, why it shall be impossible to their
Savior and the Son of God.
In the same scenario as explained by Mark he himself affirms, "And he said,
'Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me, nevertheless not what I will but what though wilt.'"
(Mark 14:36)
Moreover, Arch-angel Gabriel, when speaking of his birth - as a man - to the Virgin, confirms the Lord as omnipotent by telling nothing is impossible to God. "For with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37)
Thia statement or assurance was the base of the belief of the Virgin Mary.
In the whole Book we see this fact that nothing is impossible to God, to make a dry land in the Red Sea, or to set forth water from a rock,
or shower Manna from the highest for about 40 years, or even resurrection of the decomposed corpse of Lazarus.
But here at a crucial juncture of the master plan of the Lord we see that the Son of God himself doubts, though it is not a doubt at all;
we shall see it in detail.
This major incident forces me to think that the cup about which he prays is not of the suffering that he was prepared to undertake.
Prophets Moses and Elias poured out the impending master plan of the salvation of mankind, and we see him transfigured, at Mount Tabor, 1929 feet high above the sea level.
There the father declares that he is well pleased with his son, in his
mission (Mathew 17:5).
If he was prepared and strengthened for the sufferings for the salvation of Adam and his re-entry to the Paradise, what was
it that put him into such an agony that he feels his soul sorrowful unto death? He was thoughtful of that hour about which he speaks to his
disciples several times. Mark 14:35 – "And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from
him".
He was surely thoughtful of that particular hour. Remember, his sufferings endured for more than 12 hours since he has been betrayed into the hands of sinners at the
Garden of Gethsemane in the last quarter of the night on the eve of the Passover. This duration cannot be considered
an hour.
Let’s see his prophecies about this hour when he was with his disciples. John 16:32,
"Behold the hour cometh, yea is now come that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the father is with me."
He was aware of that hour, when his chosen ones shall get scattered, leaving him alone.
But God is with us, so whom shall we be afraid of? Christ was assured by the prophets at the time of transfiguration of the everlasting presence of his Father with him. So, surely he was not scared of the outcome.
We can know this by reading John 17:1 – "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up the eyes to heaven, and said,
'The hour is come, glorify thy son, that thy son also glorify thee'".
What was so significant about that hour? Matthew 26:45, ". . . the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of
sinners". This was exactly what has concerned him, that he was going to be
betrayed. That is why he calls this hour as the hour of the power of darkness. The Devil has succeeded in injecting toxin onto the root of the very first race of mankind itself in the form of disobedience at the Eden of Garden, resulted in the death of man.
In Luke 22:53, he reveals it to the sinners itself, “When I was daily with you in the temple ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness." Here he submits himself into the hands of sinners; that’s why he tells Peter to put back the sword into the sheath.
To signify the importance of the hour let’s see John 7:30, "Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet
come". Again John 8:20, "These words spake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple: and no man laid his hands on him; for his hour was not yet
come".
Matthew 26:53, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" (One legion is 3,000 to 6,000 foot soldiers in addition to the supporting Cavalry men)
If he was prepared for an ultimate submission, what was his concern over this incident? What might have been the thorn that had pierced his heart?
In his preaching he told the parable of a Shepard and the lost sheep where he reveals his love towards the lost one.
Luke 15:4, "What man of you, having an Hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, dost not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost, until he find
it?"
The same chapter again tells the distress of the woman who lost one coin. She never leaves a single leaf unturned to find the lost coin. A coin is not a piece of metal or alloy. The significance of a coin is that it has some value. It is valuable to it’s owner. Jesus says that even our hairs also are being counted by the father. A hair is a dead cell of our body. If the father counts even the dead cells how much he may be concerned of the living cells. (See Mat
10-29:31).
The third parable in that chapter is of the prodigal son. The father runs forward to embrace him and kisses on the neck, who was dead as he himself give affidavit to his elder son. Yes, Christ can’t afford to lose even one, which were given to him by his father. If he lost one, he remains accountable for that lost one. Imagine, what shall go through your mind when you find that one of the sheep is lost when you bring back the flock from the meadows into it’s shelter in the evening. Will your father embrace and kiss you good night? Of
course not, for you are accountable for the whole.
Leave it and think of your primary class, how sad we remain when one out of the ten words in your dictation was wrongly spelt. We may pray all our way back home that our father shall not be
present as we reach there.
Jesus is obviously alarmed of it, for in John 6:37-40, it says: "All that father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will no wise cast out.
For I come down from heaven, not to do mine will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day."
He being Omniscient knew the destiny of the betrayer, so he expressed his grief on that man several times. In spite of all these warnings, Judas turned a deaf ear to his
Master. This is the reason why Jesus told them to watch and pray, for spirit is ready but
flesh is weak. Please try to remember the definition of Autism in this connection. Judas was being lead by his worldly apprehensions.
Let’s see the story of a mischievous boy. He was the only son of his parents, who was a headache to the class and the neighbors.
We can call him a spoilt son.
Once he told his mother, “Mamma, next week is my 9th birthday anniversary, I need nothing but a motor bike this time.”
She was upset of his activities by this time. So she wanted to bring him in the nearness of God, which was the only solution that she expected to make him obedient and gentle. So, she told him, “My son, You know God is the father of us all and he never hesitate to refuse anything that is urged to him. Therefore you write a letter to God to send you a
bike on the eve of your birthday”.
“Okay! I will write but where will I post it?” He asked. “In the church! where else?” she replied.
The boy took a sheet of paper and wrote "Dear God, You know I am a good boy...."
He erased it because he knew that he was not a good boy. Then he wrote and erased several times and finally he made the draft :
"Loving God, I know you are the father of us all. Though I am not a good boy I will lead the life of a good boy hereafter. But you have to help me, please send me a bike on my
birthday."
He enveloped the letter and ran towards the church to post it in the treasury. His mother was
extremely happy to see the change that has taken place in the nature of her son. After a few minutes the
boy came running back to his room and wrote some thing else which reads: "Dear Mr. God, You know I am not a good boy, I am sorry, I have kidnapped your mother from the church.
If you love your mother and want to see her back in her place over there, send me a motor bike as ransom on my birthday this
time"
See what happened to the boy, he wanted to lead a good life on the advise of his mother, but the situation and the incapability to overcome temptation forced him for the foul play. When he
saw a small statue in the church he stole it and ran back home to write the above warning to God.
We can also see Judas in such a situation, his master wanted to save him from the sin of betrayal, which ultimately leads him to the total destruction of the flesh as well as the body.
So his heart was crushed as seeds in the oil-press. He was the Shepard who lost the sheep, he was the woman who lost the
coin. He wanted to be the father of the prodigal son eagerly awaiting with a ring for his finger, shoes for his feet and cloak for his body,
ultimately the return of his dead son.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was sorrowful unto death, like the mother of the
mischievous boy. He wanted to reform him, but failed so he urges his father to help him if
possible that he shall not cast one out.
His father who is the all merciful made a final attempt to help his son in his
prayer! Is God willing? We shall see in the next edition.
