This Easter I am excited, because God has given me a deeper insight into the significance of the Garden of Gethsemane, and a deeper understanding of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. It is not only for the remission of sins, and life eternal, but it is about God empowering us to live a Godly life, in an increasingly ungodly world.

The events that took place in the garden of Gethsemane are noteworthy, because our frailty as human beings, and the mercy and power of God are so beautifully displayed. Peter, James, and John were apostles of a high calling, yet they slept for sorrow (Luke 22:45), and a whole band of soldiers fell backwards when Jesus said, “I am he”. John 18:3-6 says that when they came with their torches and weapons to take Jesus, when he said, “I am he”, they went backward and fell on the ground. Mathew 26:47 speaks of this same occurrence. Those young men were actually a great multitude of men, with swords and staves (wooden clubs) (King James Version; James Strong,1992).

Of the four gospels, Mark is the only one who records the appearing of the naked boy. I can only speculate that as the apostles fled the garden of Gethsemane, Mark witnessed this event, (Mark 14:51-52).

“And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth, (fine, bleached linen) cast about his naked body: and the young men laid hold on him: (James Strong, 1992)

And he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.”

I have read many commentaries on this “certain young man”, and there are many speculations as to who he could have been. Some think that he may have been one of the apostles, or someone who lived nearby. Some think that he could have been the proprietor of the garden who was awakened by the noise and threw on a night shirt. Some people even think that he could have been Mark himself. One point that is commonly shared is that, this “linen sheet” or sindon, was especially used for the burial of the dead. According to Matthew Poole’s Commentary, “It was a kind of light cloak frequently worn in hot weather, and in every other place in the new testament where it was used, it refers to the garment or shroud used to cover the bodies of the dead (Poole, 2018).

Since John 18:18 tells us that it was cold, and they made a fire to warm themselves, I seriously doubt that this sindon was a light cloak. I believe that when Jesus said, “I am he”, not only was it so forceful that it knocked his opposition off their feet, but his resurrection power called this young man out of a nearby tomb.

Not only were the events that took place in the garden noteworthy, but the garden itself holds it’s own significance. The word gethsemane comes from two Hebrew words: gat, which means, “a place for pressing oil (or wine)” and shemanim, which means “oils”. In those times an olive press was used to squeeze the juice out of the olive pulp by placing the olive baskets under a very heavy slab of concrete. It drained off into a pit below, where the water and oil were then separated, and the oil was placed into jars of clay (Lann, 2018). He is the potter, we are the clay (Isaiah 45:9; Job 33:6).

I can see the parallel to Jesus and the olive, as the weight of the sins of the world pressed upon him, as he was ultimately crushed, the oil (the Holy Ghost) could now be poured into us. I am also reminded of the words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 9:17, “Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the new wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.” We must become as new, born again. We now live under a new covenant, not under the old law. The prophet Jeremiah foretold of this new covenant, which is displayed in the book of Hebrews 8:6-10. Verse ten is a depiction of the infilling of the Spirit, “ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days; saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.”

The 8th chapter of Romans gives a very explicit picture of God’s amazing love for us, and this redemption plan.

Romans 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Grace is not a cloak to sin, but through the Spirit we are empowered to live godly.

By this reasoning, he (Paul), has shown that the gospel has accomplished what the law could not do, which is to sanctify (purify) the soul, the destruction of the corrupt passions of our nature, and the recovery of man to God (Henry, 2018; Strong, 1992).

Romans 8:13

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify (put to death) the deeds of the body, ye shall live (Strong, 1992).

If you do not kill sin, it will kill you (Jamieson, 2018).

In the book of Exodus 3:14-15 God said,

I AM THAT I AM:

And God said moreover Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob hath sent me to you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial (remembrance) unto all generations (James Strong, 1992).

John 5:43

I am come in my Father’s name,

John 6:35

I am the bread of life:

John 8:12

I am the light of the world:

John 10:7

Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

As I pondered on these things, my mind went to the Tabernacle of the old covenant, and the second veil. It was torn from the top to the bottom at the death of our Lord and Savior. According to Edersheime, (1912, p.906) it was sixty feet long, thirty feet high, and as thick as a man’s hand. It excites me to think that as they pierced through his hands, he was piercing through the vail. It did not stay closed like an ending, but it was opened to signify the beginning of a new and a better covenant (Hebrews 8:6).

Hebrews 10:19-23

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.

By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

And having an high priest over the house of God;

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled (rendered) from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed (the whole person) with pure water (James Strong, 1992).

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

References

Henry, M. (2018, March 28). biblehub.com>commentaries>8-10-17. Retrieved from Bible Hub: biblehub.com

James Strong, S. L. (1992). Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible. World Bible Publishers, Inc.

Jamieson, F. (2018, March 28). biblehub.com>commentaries>8-10-17. Retrieved from Bible Hub: biblehub.com

Lann, R. V. (2018). Gesthemane and The Olive Press. Retrieved from That the World May Know: http://www.thattheworldmayknow.com

Poole, M. (2018, March 28). biblehub.com>commontaries>8-10-17. Retrieved from Bible Hub: biblehub.com

Rev. Alfred Edersheim, M. A., & PH.D. (1912). The LIfe and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Volume 2. New York: Longmanns, Green, and Co. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=VJUHAAAAQAAJ&dq=edersheim+life+and+times&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=RFC7S_yqI4TcM4eauM0H&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBUQ6AEwBA#v=snippet&q=of%20the%20thickness%20of%20the%20palm%20of%20the%20h