Olive Oil Press

Olive Oil Press April 10, 2011

Luke 22:39-46

Verse 39-Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him.

Gethsem’a-ne (an olive oil-press)

The fall of man is in a garden and the victory for man is in the garden!

A garden and we think of this place where there is peace and tranquility but on this night it would be a place…..A place of pressure. A place of stress. A place of squeezing.

Just like they had to squeeze and crush the olives to receive oil from it, now Jesus was feeling the pressure of what was facing Him!

Judas knew where to find Jesus because they had been there many times before!

Verse 40-When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

In the other narratives it tells us that the disciples that Jesus took with Him was Peter, James and John.

It is interesting to note that in their time of temptation Abraham took two people with him and Jesus took three people.

Luke 4:13-Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

The temptation of Jesus didn’t end in the wilderness, just like it doesn’t when we have a victory in our life.

Is just lets us know how important it is to have people around you in your time of need!

Verse 41-42-And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

Not as I will, but as thou wilt”……What stubborn wills we have!

Romans 7:14-15-For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.

Jeremiah 25:15, Isaiah 51:17, Rev. 14:9-10

This cup was not His to drink. He did not earn or deserve this cup. This should have been my cup. It should have been your cup. This cup that caused our Lord to stagger and fall to the ground should have been ours.

Verse 43-Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.

Peter said that he would die for Him and yet three times Jesus finds them sleeping, he can’t stay awake long enough to pray for his teacher, his leader, his friend, and so God has to send a angel to strengthen Him (In the wilderness the angels ministered to Him).

I wonder how many times God has to send an angel to help, to strengthen, to minister to a person or persons that was our duty to be there for them!

In other words I wonder how many angels are having to do our job!

Verse 44-And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Silence – He Prays Three Times And Each Time He Is Met With Silence

“Listen carefully to a very familiar verse for the first time. God so loved the world…that He was silent when the Savior in His sinless humanity appealed for an alternative.

God so loved sinners like you and me that He was silent. There is no alternative. There is only one way to realize God’s holy hostility to us in our sin and to reconcile us in our wickedness to a Holy God. There is no alternative.”

Verse 45-46-When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”

We’re just like the disciples, aren’t we?

Lord, I know you ask me to keep watch, but you don’t always find me aware of my weaknesses, my failures; you find me sleeping.

Lord, I know you ask me to be alert to danger and temptations, but you don’t always find me awake!

Lord, I know you ask me to be active in serving you and others with my talents, but you don’t always find me doing; you find me sleeping. (JUST LIKE PETER)