Gethsemane.

Through understanding the similarity between Jesus’ suffering  and the olive in the  Garden of Gethsemane one gains new insight into the message of  Jesus. 

At the foot of the Mt. of Olives there is a garden of olive trees, known as the Garden of Gethsemane. According to the Gospels this is the place where Jesus frequently met with His disciples and prayed and suffered bearing the sins of all mankind. According to the Gospel He suffered so much that He sweated blood.

The word “Gethsemane” is made up of two Hebrew words: “Gath” meaning Olive Oil press, and “Semane” meaning Olive Oil. Olives cannot be eaten straight from the tree, they must first be crushed and pressed to be used as olive oil or they must be pickled in brine or vinegar to be eaten.

One cannot escape the similarity of Jesus being crushed by the sins of Mankind as the olive was crushed to make oil, or that He sweated as the olive “sweats” giving out its valuable light giving oil. As oil illuminates, by the lamps that are lit by it, so does the message that Jesus brings to the world, by illuminating the darkness in man’s soul. Oil is a symbol of illuminating wisdom.

The oil produced from olives grown on the Mt. of Olives, however was not produced for the purpose of being sold to the general public for common oil lamps, it was produced for two  specific holy purposes: 1) To anoint the king and the high priest and 2) To kindle the holy candelabra, the Menorah, in the Temple.

The kings and high priests of Israel were anointed on the Mt. of Olives or on the Temple Mt. and for this reason the Mt. of Olives is known in Jewish literature as the Mt. of Anointing and later changed to the Mt. of Olives because the anointing was done with olive oil. People, in ancient Israel watched the anointing ceremony from the Mt. of Olives, because it was the best place to view the Temple and the beautiful ceremonies’ carried out there.

The events that took place in the Garden of Gethsemane were similar to the anointing of the king and high priest and are therefore a metaphor of these events. The kiss of Judas is part of the ceremony of homage to the newly anointed king and high priest, the escort of a cohort of soldiers is a sign of honor given to the king or high priest, He is installed in the house of the high priest and later taken to the palace of the king. Jesus in fact becomes the eternal king when He is finally crucified on Calvary