The Oil Press

A second garden mentioned in the Bible is Gethsemane.  I already talked about it previously, so I wasn't sure if I would go back to it, but I found something so interesting and inspiring when I was reading about these gardens that I had to share it.  I feel like I do this so much, but it cannot be ignored that names are important....the name Gethsemane literally means Oil Press.  It was a place where olives were taken, ground and crushed for oil.  That oil was (and still is) used for anointing, cleansing, preserving, and healing.  That was the place of the most intense PRESSURE for our Messiah where He experienced loneliness, abandonment, the anxiety of the cruel and cursed death He was about to face,betrayal and ultimately, the rejection He would suffer from His Father on our behalf.

He came to His own, and His own received him not. ~John 1:11

But, He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. ~Isaiah 53:3

We all face great pressures in our lives.  Even the word depression has PRESS in it and really is like a dent in our soul from having allowed our pressures to make a deep impact on us to the point where we start to believe the impact has ruined us.  But the Bible says:

We are hard pressed on every side, BUT NOT CRUSHED; perplexed, BUT NOT IN DESPAIR, persecuted, BUT NOT ABANDONED; struck down, BUT NOT DESTROYED. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that His life may also be revealed in our mortal body.  So then, death IS at work in us, BUT LIFE IS AT WORK IN YOU.  ~2 Corinthians 4:8-12 (AMAZING!)

Messiah literally means "Smeared One" in Hebrew and that title really had no sense of power or authority to the Greeks or Romans.  Jesus is our "Smeared One" to cover us for cleansing, healing, anointing and salvation...but there may have been another reason why God led Jesus to an Olive Press on that day.  Olive Oil was also used to anoint the next King.  It was ceremonially smeared on their heads and was a symbol of their God-given authority and power....and suddenly, "Smeared One" takes on a whole new meaning, right?!  LOVE THAT!

Anyway, be encouraged.  No matter what you face, you will never be crushed, in despair, abandoned, or destroyed.  Will you smell the stench of death?  Yes....it will always be near as long as we are breathing, but LIFE IS AT WORK IN YOU if you have decided to carry Christ with you.  Much like a garden, we will always see life and death all around us, but life is always stronger than death because of His great love for us.