Sunday, August 8: Oil Press

In 2006, I was blessed to go to Israel, and while the entire trip was something I never will forget, the most memorable aspect was the city of Jerusalem. It’s amazing to walk where Jesus walked, and even though centuries have passed since then, in some ways it’s as if time stood still. Having never been to Israel before, it still felt like home, and I wasn’t alone in that feeling. New-agers would refer to that as “déjà-vu,” but the truth is, it feels like home because the One living inside of us was born there! God loves Jerusalem so much that He cannot take His eyes off it. Of all the places on the earth He created, He chose Jerusalem!


5 ‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel. 6 Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
2 Chronicles 6:5-6


For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.
2 Chronicles 7:16


Just outside the city walls at the bottom of the Mount of Olives is a magnificent garden, filled with incredibly old, olive trees. It is called the Garden of Gethsemane, which comes from the Hebrew word Gat-Shemanim, meaning “oil press.” Jesus and His disciples spent much time in this garden, and were there the night before His crucifixion. In fact, this is where Judas brought the guards when he betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Jesus prayed three separate times that if it was the Father’s will, to let this cup pass from Him. Anticipating the events to come, our Lord sweated blood.

In the Bible, olive oil is emblematic of the Holy Spirit. We are to keep oil in our lamps to keep those lamps lighted (Matthew 25). Even the process of making olive oil points to our Lord, as when the olive is crushed, the oil remains. When Jesus was crushed, beaten and bruised, He left the Holy Spirit in His place. We never should lose sight of what our Savior endured for us, accepting His Father’s will to suffer in our places by becoming a man, for God cannot suffer. Though the physical pain was great, it was the separation from His Father that pained Jesus the most. He didn’t just carry our sins, He became sin for us. If you find yourself in a troublesome situation and feel alone, know that Jesus will join you in your Garden of Gethsemane. He will never leave you, nor forsake you. How much oil is in your lamp?


For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21