Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
What happened in the Garden of Gethsemane?.
The garden at Gethsemane, a place whose name literally
means “oil press,” is located on a slope of the Mount of Olives just across the
Kidron Valley from Jerusalem.
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A garden of ancient
olive trees stands there to this day. Jesus frequently went to Gethsemane with
His disciples to pray (John 18:2).
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The most famous events
at Gethsemane occurred on the night before His crucifixion when Jesus was
betrayed.
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Each of the Gospel
writers describes the events of that night with slight variations. Reading the
four accounts will give an accurate picture of that momentous night in its
entirety (Matthew 26:36-56, Mark 14:32-52, Luke
22:40-53 and John 18:1-11).
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As the evening began,
after Jesus and His disciples had celebrated the Passover, they came to the
garden.
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At some point, Jesus
took three of them—Peter, James and John— to a place separated from the rest.
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Here Jesus asked them
to watch with Him and pray so they would not fall into temptation, but they
fell asleep (Matthew 26:41).
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Twice, Jesus had to
wake them and remind them to pray so that they would not fall into temptation.
This was especially poignant because Peter did indeed fall into temptation
later that very night when three times he denied even knowing Jesus.
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Jesus moved a little
way from the three men to pray, and twice He asked His Father to remove the cup
of wrath He was about to drink, but each time He submitted to the Father’s
will.
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He was “exceedingly
sorrowful unto death,” but God sent an angel from heaven to strengthen
Him (Luke 22:43)).
After this, Judas
Iscariot, the betrayer, arrived with a “multitude” of soldiers, high
priests, Pharisees, and servants to arrest Jesus.
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Judas identified Him
by the prearranged signal of a kiss which he gave to Jesus.
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Trying to protect
Jesus, Peter took a sword and attacked a man named Malchus, the servant of the
high priest, cutting off his ear.
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Jesus rebuked Peter
and miraculously healed the man’s ear. It is surprising that witnessing this
amazing miracle of healing had no effect on the multitude.
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Neither were they
shaken by His awesome display of power as described in John 18:5-6, where
either at the majesty of His looks, or at the power of His words, or both, they
became like dead men, falling to the ground.
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Nevertheless, they arrested Him
and took Him to Pontius Pilate, while the disciples scattered in fear for their
lives.
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The events that
occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane have reverberated down through the
centuries.
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The passion Jesus displayed on that momentous night has been
depicted in music, books, and films for centuries.
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From the 16th century,
when Bach wrote two magnificent oratorios based on the gospel accounts of
Matthew and John, to the present day with the film The Passion of the Christ, the story of this extraordinary night has been
told again and again.
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Even our language has
been affected by these events, giving us such phrases as:
- “he who lives by the sword dies by the sword” (Matthew 26:52);
- “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38); and
- “sweating drops of blood” (Luke 22:44).
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Of course, the most
important impact of this night was the willingness of our Savior to die on the
cross in our place in order to pay the penalty for our sins.
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God “made
Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness
of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
This is the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
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God the Father chose to send Jesus to the cross to show His love and the
seriousness of our sin.
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Jesus accepted to take
our punishment, to save all who would believe.
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Why not receive God's gift of
salvation and become His child?
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Open your heart and say this
prayer:
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“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and my sins
have separated me from You.
I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my past sinful
life and live a new life pleasing to You.
Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning
again.
I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my
sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to
rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Thank You that according to
Your Word, I am now born again.
Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You,
and to do Your will for the rest of my life. I promise to study Your Word - the
Bible.
Use me for Your glory.
In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.”.
"WHOSOEVER
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," (Romans 10:13).
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“Lord I Lift Your Name
On High”
Maranatha
lyrics
Lord I lift Your name on high
Lord I love to sing Your praises
I'm so glad You're in my life
I'm so glad You came to save us
Lord I love to sing Your praises
I'm so glad You're in my life
I'm so glad You came to save us
You came from heaven to earth
(To show the way)
(To show the way)
From the earth to the cross
(My debt to pay)
(My debt to pay)
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord, I lift Your name on high
From the grave to the sky
Lord, I lift Your name on high
“The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The
Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in
truth.” (Psalm 145:17, 18)
“I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness: and will sing
praise to the Name of the Lord most high” (Psalm 7:17)
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