The Crushing of the Christ
John tells us that Jesus “went
forth” with His disciples across the Kidron Valley into a garden. Luke places
it at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Matthew and Mark give us its name: Gethsemane
— the oil press. The place where olives were crushed under weight, UNDER
PRESSURE until oil flowed.
Stand with me as we read our
focal passage.
John 18:1–2 1 When Jesus had
spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where
there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. 2 And Judas,
who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His
disciples.
Father, bless the reading of Your
Word. Lead us into the places where You press us, even crush us, as You did
Your Son. Teach us to respond in prayer, in surrender, and in obedience. In
Jesus’s Name, Amen.
1.
The Place of Crushing (John 18:1–2)
Jesus chose Gethsemane
deliberately. He wasn’t hiding. He wasn’t running. He intentionally and
willingly went to the place where the Father’s will would press Him.
The olive press crushed olives
under enormous weight until oil flowed. In the same way, the weight of divine
wrath pressed upon Christ until His blood flowed, first in Gethsemane and then
on the cross, where He would experience the judgment that our sins deserved.
Gethsemane is not punishment.
Gethsemane is preparation. It is where God crushed Jesus’s self‑will so that His
will might ultimately flow through us.
Just days earlier, Jesus walked
down the road beside the Mount of Olives to shouts of “Hosanna” and “Blessed
be the Name of the Lord”
On this evening, He walked up the
same mount, through Gehenna, a 24-hour a day burning pit of trash and refuse,
reminding Him of the reality of Hell that would be experienced by those if Jesus
succumbed to His own will of letting this cup pass.
The ancient olive press had three
pressings: The first produced pure oil VIRGIN OIL for anointing,
reserved and used only for Priestly Service.
The second pressing produced
oil for food and daily use.
The third was the hardest
pressing, getting the last bit of oil, but also the most impure of oils, which
was really on good for soaps, or for cleansing, and also for burning in lamps,
or used for light.
Jesus prayed three times.
And on the third, He sweat great drops of blood. Three pressings — holiness,
sacrifice, cleansing, and light for the world.
Slides / then Show Video
Christ went to Gethsemane, the
place where the Father pressed Him. Where is your Gethsemane? Where is
God pressing you to fall on your face, surrender your will, and obey Him?
Is it forgiveness? Purity? Pride?
Greed? Fear? A relationship? A habit? A calling? A sin you’ve excused?
GracePointe
#1 —
Gethsemane teaches us that in God’s hands, the place that crushes us releases
our transformation.
The Place of the Crushing does not make us useless, it’s where God converts us
to become useful.”
Maybe it is an obedience
you’ve delayed and that leads us to point #2
2.
The Purpose of Obedience Matthew 26:36–46
Gethsemane reveals the purpose of
obedience: to bring our will into submission to God’s will.
Three times, Jesus prayed, “Not
My will, but Yours be done.” THIS second Prayer is the hinge of
redemption.
The One crushed in the garden
would conquer in the tomb. The garden of pressing empowered the endurance of
the cross. Only the garden of Gethsemane could lead to the garden of
resurrection.
The first pressing was the
beginning of the Priestly service, His initial surrender, the second prayer and
the second pressing was the food of obedience. Your remember in John 4:34 Jesus
said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His
work.”
GracePointe
# 2 — Obedience is not the death of our will; it brings our
will into alignment with God’s
will. The path may be
hard, even humanly impossible, it is the path that leads to true joy in Him.
Our will bows to God’s will.”
3. The Prayer of Submission
Luke 22:41–44
Matthew says Jesus was sorrowful
and distressed. Mark says He was troubled unto death. But only Luke says He was
in agony.
Only Luke records the medical
reality of hematidrosis blood vessels bursting under extreme stress,
mixing blood with sweat.
Only Luke records the angel who
strengthened Him — just as angels ministered to Him after His forty days in the
wilderness.
Jesus asked His disciples to
pray. But they slept.
This is third and final prayer was
one of submission and ultimate surrender. Like the third pressing was the
heaviest in weight, squeezing out the last ounce of oil from the olives, This
is the prayer of submission was the prayer that made Calvary possible.
And now the question comes to us:
Are your prayers simply asking God to change your circumstances? Or are they
asking God to change you? Or are you praying at all? Are you sleeping?
Gethsemane teaches us to pray
until our will bends. Until our desires yield. Until our hearts say, “Father,
Your will be done.”
Prayer is not trying to change
God. Prayer is surrendering to let God change us.
Gethsemane was not an accident.
It was the place where the Father allowed the weight of the world to squeeze
the Son until His obedience flowed like blood.
After months and even years of
reflecting of the Gethsemane’s Place, Gethsemane’s Purpose, and Gethsemane’s
Prayer, I wondered when Simon saw when The Savior as The Son of God was crushed
into obediently surrendering to become The Sacrifice of the Son of Man.
Gethsemane rose ahead like a dark
silhouette. The disciples followed, unsure of the destination but certain of
the Leader. Peter had proclaimed Him the Messiah months earlier, yet tonight
the Rabbi felt like an enigma wrapped in sorrow.
Jesus stopped. Eight disciples
sat. Peter, James, and John followed Him deeper into the grove. Miracles often
happened when the four of them were together, but tonight felt
different—charged, trembling, holy.
Jesus lifted His hand. “Wait
here… while I go and pray.” He stepped into a small clearing, knelt, and then
collapsed to the ground. The Son of God—face in the dirt.
Peter tried to pray, but
exhaustion pressed him like a weight. The Master’s voice drifted through the
trees, strained and trembling: “Abba… Father… take this cup from Me… yet not My
will, but Yours.”
The moon broke through the clouds
and lit Jesus’ face. Peter had never seen such agony—eyes lifted, jaw clenched,
body shaking under invisible pressure. It was as if the whole world was
squeezing Him.
Peter whispered the same prayer,
but his eyelids betrayed him. Sleep stole over him like a thief.
A voice thundered near him.
“Simon… are you sleeping?” Not Peter. Simon.
The name cut deeper than any
rebuke. Jesus’ eyes were not angry—only sorrowful. “Could you not watch one
hour? Watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation. The spirit is willing… but
the flesh is weak.”
Jesus returned to the clearing.
Peter sank to his knees, then to his belly, trying to pray, trying to stay
awake, trying to be the Rock Jesus said he was. But memories flooded him—his
calling, his failures, his bold promises at supper, his insistence that he
would never deny the Lord. Never.
He pressed his face into the cold
earth. “Is this my crushing?” he wondered.
Suddenly Jesus’ form blurred in
the darkness. Something—someone—stood beside Him. A figure not human. An angel.
Strengthening Him. And still Jesus writhed, trembling under a burden no man had
ever carried.
Then Peter saw it—dark drops
falling to the ground. Not sweat. Blood. The crushing had begun.
The weight of the world pressed
the Son of God until His pores burst with agony. The sin of humanity squeezed
Him like olives beneath a press, and the oil that flowed was blood.
Peter tried to move closer, but
terror froze him. He felt swallowed by the night—fear, sorrow, wine,
exhaustion, prophecy, failure—all swirling like a storm inside him.
Then a command shattered the
darkness. “Get up.”
Jesus stood, resolute now,
strengthened by surrender. The disciples gathered around Him—except one.
Judas approached. With soldiers.
And the crushing of the Christ
moved from the garden to the cross.
GracePointe
# 3 — Gethsemane and the prayer of submission teaches us to
push past physical weariness and spiritual sleepiness to pray until
resistance surrenders to submission.
“Heavenly Father, I confess to You that my prayer life needs to be more passionate and even agonizing as Jesus’s was. I also lay my requests before You, knowing that the greatest desire is that Your will and not mine be done. In Jesus’s Name. Amen.”
