“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me.”
Matthew 26:36-38 (NAB)
The garden is where we see the pure humanity of Jesus in raw form. Emotional pain reveals what we value most, from a human perspective. In the garden, Jesus was overwhelmed with emotional pain and desperately sought the support of His closest friends, but they were unavailable since they could barely stay awake.
The word Gethsemane, in Hebrew means, olive press. An olive press crushes the olives, to squeeze the oil out of them. In the garden, Jesus had everything squeezed out of Him, being crushed mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
We may experience a Gethsemane in our own lives, either through some type of sorrow, affliction or a tragedy that we have no control over. It makes us feel helpless, crushed and squeezed. Jesus knows exactly what it’s like to be squeezed like olives in a press. We cannot control these events, but there is always some insight to gain through our pain. The oil squeezed out of us can become a healing balm to share with others.
My Gethsemane experience occurred when my adult son, Jon, suffered a traumatic brain injury from a motorcycle accident at the age of 43. His life came to a crushing halt, by being physically and mentally disabled, living in a Nursing Facility ever since.
He’s made some progress since his accident, but the entire event was a Gethsemane experience for both him and me. If Jon is ever able to talk about it, he will have a good story to tell. The oil produced in our garden has a twofold effect. It’s a healing balm that soothes the wounds in our soul, but it also drips onto others that we meet, who share a similar tragedy.
At the Nursing home, I met the parents of a young man about my son’s age, who has been there just as long as Jon has. It seems that God brought us together, since we both had in common, adult sons in their early forties, who nearly died and sustained serious brain injuries. Both our sons have made some progress in their recovery, but still require long term care. We share a special bond as parents, having been in the mutual olive press, through similar circumstances.
Meeting Martha and Ray, Andy’s parents, made me aware that God is so fully invested in our lives, that He would intentionally connect us with others who share a similar tragedy. Jesus can empathize with every kind of pain known to man, and He finds a way to let us know that He feels our pain, by sending people to us who suffered a similar Gethsemane.
One healing effect of the oil that is pressed out of us, is the peace in knowing that God loves our children more than we do. It helps me to accept the circumstances, trust God for further healing, and know that this is only a chapter in our lives, not the whole book.
Remembering that Jesus told us to “let the children come to Him”, there’s a hidden mystery of wisdom in His words. He is saying to all parents, that it’s always best to entrust our children to Jesus, at whatever age they are. In the infinite wisdom of God, He uses every Gethsemane situation to draw us and our children closer to Him.
Whether we are parents or not, strength comes through times of adversity if we submit all our anxieties to God, who loves the members of our family more than we do. His oil of healing gives us the strength to meet every challenge in the garden, as we learn to trust in His love.
Someone once said that our pain can either be our prison or your platform. Our platform is used to share our faith with others, by networking with those who share a common suffering. When we are pressed like olives, our oil of healing is poured out onto others as well.
Jesus asked Peter, James and John to “remain here and keep watch with Me.” We all have a gift of empathy that we can offer. It’s the gift of keeping watch with others while they are going through an olive press. We do it by being there and upholding them in prayer. The Lord assured us that one day the veil of all suffering will be removed and we will see everything clearly.
Lord, bring your healing balm to all who are pressed or grieving today, and strengthen us with your love, so we can empathize and comfort others who are also suffering. Amen
