Gethsemane's Dawn

perílypos 
​from 4012 /perí, "encompassing" and 3077 /lýpē, "sorrow") – properly, being sorrowful "all-around," i.e. engulfed in sorrow.1
​

     On the night Jesus was betrayed to be crucified by His disciple, Judas, Jesus spent the evening with His other disciples in the Garden of Gethsamene, a grove of olive trees on the Mt. of Olives near Jerusalem on the night He was arrested:
​

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.  “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Matthew 26:36-41
​

      The Garden was called Gethsemane because in Hebrew the word comes from two words, “gat,” which refers to a place for pressing oil or wine, and “shemanim,” which means oils.2 These gethsemane stones were used in three different pressings to extract the oils.3 Arlene Bridges Samuels details the process that the olives would go through to extract the valuable oils:
​

---

    "During Roman rule, olive presses numbered in the thousands—in groves scattered all over Israel and the Roman Empire. Large and small presses made of stone crushed the harvested fruit. The larger presses included stones suspended with ropes from wooden crossbeams—stones that weighed up to a ton. The pulp eventually underwent enough crushing that the precious commodity could be emptied into clay jars. The refined oil was used in cooking, anointing oil, and Temple lights.  
      In Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV) we read this compelling verse, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” Like the wooden beams holding the stones on the olive presses, our Savior Jesus bore the wooden beams of the crucifixion tree crushed under the incalculable weight of our sins." 4
​

Stay Here

​     Are you in a season of painful suffering? Perhaps your circumstances feel so calculated at times.  It will often seem that there is a specific intent by a corrupt force to produce the most pain.  The timing and effectiveness of the suffering these things produce for us is insidious and well planned.
​     In James 5:13, the word James used for trouble was “kakopathéō”  It combines the use of “kakós,” which means a malicious evil flowing out of rottenness, with “pathos,” or pain.
      As followers of Jesus, we experienced all-encompassing sorrow at times when we are walking in God’s will.  We ourselves face the crushing weight of troubling and malicious circumstances created by an evil and malevolent enemy who wishes to destroy any hope or future we have.  

---

​     For me, when pressure increases and life feels crushing, my reaction is often to long to get away.  I find myself googling places in sunny, warm locations, where I can feel freedom from the responsibilities, anxieties and pressures that come along with loving. Greece sounds particularly appealing right now, as the deceptive warmth of spring sunshine in Oregon darkens to another week of snow in April!      
     The Word of God teaches us that pain brings the temptation to come out from under the authority of God in order to do what is more pleasant to us.  We are tempted to think that we are smart enough to have a better way of accomplishing heavenly purposes.  We may believe that our alternate methods are more effective.
     In the story of King David, his son Absalom certainly believed this.  Absalom had experienced very painful and malicious suffering as a result of his sister Tamar’s rape by their half brother. This suffering was accutely compounded by the distinct lack of justice from their father David.
     Absalom believed he could do things better than his father.  His misguided actions are understandable, though wrong.  He staged an elaborate and extremely intelligent coup, first stealing the hearts of the people over to him.  He waited outside the judgement room for those who wanted justice from the king.  He asked those who came for their story, and always agreed with their perspective of the events. He said that if he was king, he would make sure they had justice.  He initiated doubt in the hearts of the people over whether their king cared about their situation and would give them justice in the end.
     At the height of Absalom’s military takeover, King David was exiled from Jerusalem and was fleeing with the people for his life.  It was at this very place, the Mount of Olives, that King David, the father, walked up the hills, weeping as he went for the great betrayal of his son and the loss of so many lives. 
     It was here too that Jesus’ submission to His Father, the King of the universe, became a stunning reversal of the story of Absalom with his father, the king of Israel. (2 Samuel 15:30-31). Rather than take things into His own control, rather than build His own kingdom in His own way, Jesus stayed in the Garden at a high cost in order to bring the Kingdom of God under God’s authority. 
     Jesus stayed, knowing that His own betrayer would be coming quickly.

---

Keep Watch

​       When faced with his impending suffering, Jesus knew what He must do.  Just as the olives are pressed three times, Jesus went three times to pray to His Father, humbling Himself to the point of death and submitting His own will to that of the will of His Father in prayer: 
​

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:
  Who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped,
but emptied Himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
   And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
and became obedient to death--
even death on a cross.
Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
and gave Him the name above all names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11

​     The only effective way to not enter into agreement and unity with the temptation we face under extreme sorrow is to first humble ourselves to acknowledge God’s sovereignty, authority and perfect plan.  In that humility we then have grace cast our anxieties upon Him and to pray for His grace to help in our time of need (Heb. 4:16). 
    It is by faith that we can continue to thank Him for His goodness and plan.  Even though we cannot see the outcome of our sorrow now, we can trust by faith that God has a resurrection waiting on the other side of the cross! 
     We each have our Gethsemanes.  Perhaps it is serving without honor.  Maybe those around you do not value your sacrifices for them.  Maybe you suffer with difficult finances, and things look like they cannot be resolved.  Some of us may be asked to serve with health problems, pain and disease.  Perhaps our place of ministry is small, insignificant and unnoticed by others. Maybe people around you try to even punish you or increase your problems in order to pressure you to stop serving Jesus.
     All the while the enemy whispers that our Father isn’t fair, doesn’t see, and won’t deal with the concerns we have.  He falsely promises that if we choose our own way that we will get justice, happiness, and glory.  He tries to make us believe that he has the power to give us the kingdom, when in fact that kingdom has already been won by Christ. 
     Jesus’ promise is something far better, and is based on reality rather than illusion.  Instead of the elusive happiness of a crumbling and decaying world, there is the sure hope of eternal life with no sorrow, no pain, no death and no evil.
     On the other side of the cross, there is a resurrection! 
     The new life that Jesus rose to is available to us in Jesus.  The very will of the good Father that we submit to is the same will that desires eternal life and resurrection for us:
​

---

​For my Father’s will is that everyone
who looks to the Son and believes in him
shall have eternal life,
and I will raise them up at the last day.
John 6:40
​

     So let’s stay and keep watch, friends.  There is a joy set before us!  He is risen!

1Strong's Greek: 4036. περίλυπος (perilupos) -- very sad (biblehub.com)
2That the World May Know | Gethsemane and the Olive Press
3Prayer: The Garden of Gethsemane - FaithGateway
4The Perfect Lamb Crushed in Gethsemane - CBN Israel
5Strong's Greek: 2553. κακοπαθέω (kakopatheó) -- to suffer evil (biblehub.com)
6Strong's Greek: 2556. κακός (kakos) -- bad, evil (biblehub.com)
​