The garden of Gethsemane, where our Lord spend the last night before he was crucified, is called Gethsemane. It is on a hillside overlooking Jerusalem. Throughout his ministry Jesus and his disciples spent many hours there under the sprawling all of trees.My group had the privilege of one hour of private time in that garden. I was moved to the core about the meaning of Gethsemane: an olive press. It is here that Jesus was pressed to the core of his being, such that he wept tears of blood. Here the weight of the hand of Almighty God squeezed him and pressed him, as he wrestled with his flesh. After the pressing and grinding process, after the rich oil of his soul was extracted, Jesus submitted and said "your will be done." Minutes later the Roman soldiers arrested him and his horrific travail, his labor of love, started. For our sake, he took the arrest, the dungeon, the flailing, the thorns, and finally the nails so that we could have a love relationship with our God.

Shalom,