Daily devotion – Wednesday 30th June 2021
As we walk down the Mount of Olives, we make our way to the Garden of Gethsemane. The Olive Garden, where Jesus, the night of His betrayal and arrest, prayed the following words… Mat 26:39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
Gethsemane, the place of “crushing or pressing”, literally the olive press. During our visit to Nazareth, we learnt the process of crushing or pressing olives. They undergo a three-phased crushing to produce the most refined oil firstly and then oil for other purposes with the final press leaving the oil to be burnt in their little clay lamps.
Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane; He was being crushed by the weight of the world’s sin, as He was preparing to take our sins to the cross and pay the enormous penalty for each one of them.
The Garden of Gethsemane takes your breath away as you walk the paths that run between the ancient olive trees that were of certain shoots from the olive trees that were there at the time of Christ. It is indeed a very solemn place for a Christian pilgrim to pause and reflect.
To walk in the footsteps of Jesus at this site is one of the great highlights of our entire tour through the Holy Land.
Gethsemane always brings me to my knees, to the realization that Christ did it all for my salvation. That all my life weighed up in the balance only contained sin and judgment for my sin.
How wonderful is God’s grace as we see Jesus forgoing His life of innocence and exchanging it for mine, a life of selfishness, greed and guilt?
After Jesus had prayed to His Father, remember He returned to His sleeping disciples, torches could be seen coming closer in the dark of the night, soldiers marching toward this garden of crushing, and Jesus was about to offer Himself as our sacrifice.
This week, will you give Him the glory and praise due to His name. His love for you is something that should drive you to serve Him and honour Him every day and second of your life.
Gethsemane is a place I urge you to know; if you cannot visit it physically, you can certainly understand it and walk through it as you read God’s precious Word.
The place of crushing, the press…..!
Due to the four-day Covid lockdown, our usual gathering for prayer on Wednesday evening is curtailed to some degree. The Church is closed to public attendance once more due to the lockdown. It is disappointing for I consider this time of prayer when the Church gathers as the essential service of the week.
However, we will provide our teaching still via our live streaming service. I encourage you to join us through this media service as we continue our journey to know Christ evermore in our overview study through the Gospel of Luke.