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April 04, 2007
FROM THE COUCH
The Oil Press
He was crushed for our iniquities…
Isaiah 53:5
It has been said that before we can truly experience the light of Resurrection Sunday, was must walk through the darkness of that which came before. As I walk through the Scriptures that tell of our Lord’s suffering and death, I have to stop for awhile in an olive garden on the Mount of Olives called Gethsemane. The name Gethsemane literally means the oil press. It was here that that we begin to see so clearly the great cost of Jesus’ love. It was here that Jesus began to be crushed in the oil press of suffering on our behalf. It is a place where we should stop for awhile and remember.
When I read the accounts of what happened in the garden that night, I can’t help but be overcome by Jesus’ agony. But I have to ask why? Why was He not immediately arrested? Why must we see Him wrestle in prayer as He accepts the cup of the Father’s wrath and waits to endure the unimaginable pain and separation that the cross will bring? Why couldn’t the writers of Scripture have taken us right to the cross and get it over with quickly? Even as I ask these questions, I think I already know the answer. At Gethsemane, Christ gives us a glimpse of something very important - His true humanity. Here I can begin to see how real His forty days of temptation was in the dessert. Here I begin to see how real the human experience of suffering was that He endured. He never ceased to be fully God through any of this, but at the same time He really suffered the punishment that I deserve. And He suffered it fully, just as I would have suffered it! The most overwhelming thing about all of this is that He did it willingly. “not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39). No one took His life, He laid it down in perfect obedience and love (John 10:14-18). The oil press of Gethsemane forces me to see how real all of this was. It brings a fullness of meaning to the great truth – God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
May each of you experience the great impact of Christ’s sacrifice in your life as you stop for awhile in an olive garden outside of Jerusalem and remember what He endured for You.
Pastor Couch
Posted by Jennifer Herrmann at April 4, 2007 11:14 AM