The Press In The Garden

"My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." (Matt. 26:39)

"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow
to the point of death." - Mark 14:34

Gethsemane-
olive press.
A garden where olives were crushed
and oil flowed.

No wonder He went there.

It was His custom to go there (Luke 22:39).
He had prayed there (Luke 22:39-40).
He had slept there (Luke 21:37).
He had met His disciples there (Luke 22:39).

Judas knew it well (John 18:2).

But before Judas enters the garden,
Jesus enters the press.

His hour has come (John 17:1),
and so He walks into the garden.

Love on one side,
fear on the other.

The jaws tighten.

He kneels (Luke 22:41).
Cold earth.
Still air.
The night darkening around Him.

The press tightens again.

His face sinks into the dirt (Matt. 26:39)-
dirt turned to mud
by His own tears.

And He cries for Himself (Heb. 5:7)-
not for Lazarus,
not for Jerusalem,
but for Himself.

"My Father, if it is possible,
let this cup pass from Me;
yet not as I will,
but as You will." (Matt. 26:39)

It amazes me that He had faced storms,
demons,
crowds,
traps,
Satan,
and the threat of death-
all without fear.

This is important: All without fear.

So what was in the cup
more threatening than all of that?

The sewage of all human sin.
The wrath of God.
Isolation from the Father.
The betrayal.
The denials.
The crown of thorns.
The scourging.
The crucifixion.
The thirst.

All that was in the cup He did not want to drink.

The three hear Him in the dark-
"loud crying and tears
to the One who could save Him from death" (Heb. 5:7).

A Son entering the press.
Pleading with His Father.
Pushing away the cup.
But embracing the Father's will.

He rises from the ground
and finds them sleeping (Matt. 26:40).

He wakes them once.
He wakes them twice.
He wakes them a third time-
each time more alone (Matt. 26:40-45).

He returns to the press.

The pressure builds.
The press tightens.
The smallest vessels burst,
and blood seeps through sweat,
falling to the ground (Luke 22:44).

You may not know this about Jesus-
but at that moment an angel appears,
strengthening Him-
not to remove the cup,
but to help Him drink it (Luke 22:43).