The Garden of Pressing
Read Mark 14:32-42
He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” –Mark 14:33-34
The name of the garden in which Jesus took his disciples to pray was Gethsemane, which means “oil press” in Hebrew. If you have never seen an ancient olive press, you can see a picture of it above. When olives were harvested, they were first ground together in a mill to create a pulp. The pulp would be loaded into large, cylindrical baskets and placed under a press. A long lever would extend from the press, to which weights could be added to squeeze oil from the pulp.
The first “press” of oil was the most pure; this oil was used primarily in religious ceremonies or for the finest ointments and perfumes. (This is what we might call today “extra-virgin” olive oil.) Weights were then added to the lever to produce a “second” pressing—this oil was slightly less pure, but could still be used in cooking or for medicinal purposes. The oil from the “third” press (with the most weight) was of the lowest quality; it could be burned in lamps or used for cleaning and making soaps.
It is significant that Jesus withdrew from his disciples three times in order to pray. Each hour of prayer represented an additional “pressing.” We can only imagine how great the weight upon Jesus’ soul—He faced not only the cruelty of the cross, but also took on the full weight of the world’s sin. Luke’s gospel tells us that Jesus’ anguish was so great that he sweated drops of blood. “If it is possible,” he prayed, “let this cup pass for me. Yet not mine will, but the thine be done.” Note how Jesus’ prayer led him to a place of yielding. By the end of his “pressing,” Jesus was completely yielded to the will of his Father and ready for the purpose for which he had been sent.
Have you ever endured a season of pressing, a time when more and more weight was being placed upon you, to the point that it felt like more than you could bear? It is not pleasant to endure a season of pressing, but as with Jesus, the “pressing” forces us into prayer. We can find peace–even in the middle of pressing–by following Jesus’ example of surrender.
There are times when we are “pressed” by circumstances beyond our control, and there are also seasons in which we are “pressing”—when the pressure we feel comes entirely from a burden we’ve placed on ourselves. When I am pressing—pushing myself or pushing others around me—it is usually because I’m trying to control something that I’m not meant to control. So perhaps this is the reason God puts us through seasons of pressing, so that we can learn to let go of those things we’re trying to control. So that we can pray: Not my will, but yours be done.
Perhaps there’s something in your own life that needs to be yielded to God today. Examine whether you are pressing, or if you are feeling hard-pressed by others. Within that pressing, what might God be asking you to release and entrust into His hands?
O Suffering Christ, teach me to pray as You prayed in the garden. To release from my grasp those things I cannot control, to entrust into Your hands the purposes and plans of my life. Not my will, but Yours be done. Amen.