Gethsemane="olive press"The Garden of Gethsemane was the "olive press of Christ.
It is said that harvesters beat the tree until the olives fall to the ground and then after they are gathered they are taken to an olive press and placed in a circular basin with a heavy round stone on top and are ground around and around until a reddish-hued liquid flows out.
Christ, in the Garden of Gethsemane faces such a press. It was here that he asked his father several times to "let this cup pass" from him. It is also hear that during his agonizing prayer, he sweat as if great drops of blood.
After the process of pressing the olives until all the liquid flows out; the harvesters then take the remaining paste of the olives and place it on burlap mats. This is called a smear. Smear in Hebrew - means Messiah.
Anything left is then made into soap for cleansing.
From now on I will never look at pure olive oil in the same way as I have so many times. I will have a greater appreciation for the process of the pressing out.
Christ was pressed out. His blood was poured out for our salvation and he as our Messiah will come again and receive us unto himself.
Do you feel as if you are in Gethsemane? Being pressed more that what you seem able to bear?
Remember, Gethsemane's agony became Calvary's victory! Sometimes we may need to stay in prayer all night long in order to behold the victory in our lives.
