What is Your Gethsemane?

 

In the Garden, she is still standing. Known as the Ancient One, the east wind has blown through her twisted, hollow branches, and the feel of the cool, soft breeze has rustled through her leaves for over two thousand years. The secret keeper of all who have entered the Garden, she has continually taken note of the faces that have been cast downward and the knees that have bowed under the protection of her branches. She has been a shield, a place of solace and safety for many who faced the hard decisions that life seemed to hurl at them. She has listened patiently as others have sorted out the purpose of their lives beneath her branches. For some, she has offered empathy as some have come to her Garden to do nothing short of facing their own mortality.

It was no surprise the night she heard Him walking in the Garden. He had come so many times before with his disciples to escape the demanding crowds, to sit and teach them the purpose of His ministry, and to encourage them to pray. How the Ancient One loved to watch as the disciples began to follow the ways of their Master, but this night, it was very late for him to arrive. Things were different. She heard His voice as he drew near. It sounded urgent, yet weary. Instead of gathering them to His side, He left them at the entrance, taking only a few disciples. He insisted that they keep watch and pray so they would not succumb to temptation with what was about to transpire. The disciples were also weary. Lacking understanding about all that was to take place, they failed to heed his command. Still, Jesus left them there and went deeper into the Garden to be alone with the Father. 

Agony and grief were among his most rational feelings as He considered the investment He had made in His disciples. How He hated to leave them to face the chaos and despair that was about to be upon them. His fleshly nature at war with His Spirit, He so desired this “Cup” to pass from Him. He petitioned the Father to go another way, and He waited. The tree waited, too, hoping for resolve. In time, the Lord Jesus accepted the will of the Father and surrendered by taking the sinful weight of the world in His own body. The struggle is now over. The Father’s will would be accomplished that night before He left the Garden. The Secret Keeper, this Ancient One of the Garden, had witnessed the faithful surrender of Jesus that night for the sin you and I and all of mankind have committed. 

Why is it that what is often the most challenging thing is, at the same time, the right thing to do? We each have our own personal Gethsemane. Surely, Jesus understands our struggle as He experienced this very predicament that night in the Garden of Gethsemane. Ironically, the word Gethsemane means pressed. Jesus was precisely that. He was pressed on all sides as He considered what it would take to save the world and what would happen to us if He was not willing to do such. In complete surrender, He let go of the battle raging within His humanity and trusted the will of the Father. The Ancient One still stands in the Garden of Gethsemane, but never again; if she stands for the time the earth lives, will she ever hear a truer story or witness a sweeter sacrifice of love than the story of Jesus’ Gethsemane.

He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt, and prayed. Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.

Luke 22: 41-42

Note: Some research indicates that a mother tree exists or existed in the Garden of Gethsemane that has been grafted to produce other olive trees in the Garden, as these newer trees have the exact same DNA strand. 

Bell, Stacia. “Chapter 59.” When the Menu Is Manna 2 New Beginnings, First Edition ed., vol. 1, Outskirts Press, 2018, pp. 177–179.

Ryan, George. “The 2,000-Year-Old Olive Trees That Sheltered Jesus Christ.” uCatholic, 16 Sept. 2024, ucatholic.com/blog/the-2000-year-old-olive-trees-that-sheltered-jesus-christ/.