Jesus in Gethsemane–that’s where he spent the final night before his crucifixion.
But what does Gethsemane mean, and where was that garden?
In Hebrew, the word Gethsemane means “oil press.”
Some scholars believe it is an apt name for the agony Jesus endured while praying.
Mark told the story in 14:32-34:
32 Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane. He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. 34 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”
The disciples, of course, fell asleep despite Jesus’ plea for them to pray with Him.
The men were rudely awakened when soldiers came to arrest Jesus later that night.
2023 in Gethsemane
We visited in 2023 after walking down the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jerusalem’s Eastern Gate overlooks Gethsemane across the now-shallow Kidron Valley. (The Eastern gate is closed and sealed with concrete. A cemetery lies before it outside the Temple Mount.)
(Why? Because prophecy says Jesus will re-enter Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate when he returns. See Matthew 21:1-11 and Psalm 24:7-10. It’s also explained here.)
Visiting Gethsemane allowed us to see how close Jesus prayed to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
After the Last Supper, located west of the Temple Mount, Jesus needed to get away. He knew the crucifixion was coming and wanted to pray in a familiar place with his disciples.
That place was an olive garden.
Some believe it’s the place where the disciples gathered during their trips to Jerusalem.
Vineyards like Gethsemane often kept the wine presses inside caves. Certainly, the Mount of Olives is riddled with caves.
(We visited one further up the Mount of Olives before we arrived at Gethsemane.)
What’s Gethsemane like now?
It’s an ancient olive garden beside the Church of All Nations.
Three magnificent old olive trees grow in the garden beside the church.
They’re hollowed out inside their trunks, but obviously ancient and twisted.
Italian researchers conducted carbon dating tests in 2012 and found that the trees dated to 1092, 1166, and 1192 AD.
They’re among the oldest living trees known to science. Many assume they are descendants of the trees under which Jesus prayed in AD 33.
The church next door, today
The Church of All Nations was built in the 1920s on the foundation of two other churches.
After Constantine became emperor of Rome and a Christian, he sent his mother on a tour of the Holy Land.
Helena took this tour to Syria, Palestine, and Jerusalem from 326 to 328 AD.
She sought all the religious sites in the area — particularly anything to do with Jesus.
Shortly after Helena visited, the Byzantines built a basilica (a historic church) there.
About the time of Helena’s visit, the Garden of Gethsemane became a site for Christian pilgrims. The “Pilgrim of Bordeaux” visited in 333 AD and left a description of the garden.
People began to travel to Gethsemane to remember Jesus’ night of agony there.
The Church of All Nations focuses on the garden next door.
They believe the stone before the altar is “the bedrock where Jesus prayed.”
What’s it like to visit the Garden and the Church?
Surprisingly moving.
As we slowly moved past the olive grove, it was easy to imagine Jesus praying beneath the trees.
Only later did we learn they were too “young!”
But to think that garden was where he prayed made Jesus’ life feel so close.
Especially since he suffered there.
Entering the church and kneeling before that altar also left an impression.
Look closely. The small “fence” around the bedrock looks like a crown of thorns.
I touched the stone.
It was cool and smooth.
I knew it was unlikely that his blood spilled there (the same as in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher).
And yet.
I knew it happened not far.
And then the Temple Mount loomed above–where Jesus was finally arrested.
Was Jesus in that Gethsemane garden?
I don’t know.
But just being there brought Jesus, His death, and then His resurrection, so much closer.
We went away silent and emotionally moved.
But thankful that because of His sacrifice on the cross, we’ll be seeing Jesus soon.
Thanks be to God.
Blessings on your Lent.
Thoughts? Reactions? Lurker?