Joel M Bradshaw

36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” 40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”42He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”43When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”–Matthew 26

Gethsemane translates the Hebrew words for “a press for oils” and was the place where heavy stone slabs would crush olive oil out of olives. This was the night that Jesus would be crushed in his soul.

I journey alongside many who are depressed. Depression is my journey, as well. Everyone who has this story has felt the crushing of depression as those heavy slabs of grief, regret, guilt, pain, bitterness, or betrayal weigh them down. Jesus is never more relatable to the depressed person than in the garden of crushing. Jesus did five things on the night he was crushed.

1. Jesus repeatedly went to God in prayer.
2. Jesus relied on his friends and wasn’t alone.
3. Jesus was genuine with God regarding his feelings.
4. Jesus based his story on God’s story, not his own.
5. Jesus trusted God and submitted to him.

It’s a different Hebrew word, but I like the translation. Jesus fulfilled Isaiah 53.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities…Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief. (Isaiah 53:5, 10, with emphasis)

Put 1-5 into practice, my friends.–JMB