Jesus became like the olives, crushed and pressed.
On the night Jesus was betrayed, he went to an olive garden. No not that Olive Garden. (Note to reader: A picture of the restaurant Olive Garden was shown.) Mark 14:32 says that Jesus went to a real olive garden, to the Garden of Gethsemane. In Hebrew, gethsemane means "oil press", as in an olive oil press.
In Jesus' day, the farmers would grab the branches of an olive tree, tap them with a stick, and let the fruit fall to the ground. The olives would be carefully picked up in order to avoid bruising, and were placed into a large stone basin. A large millstone would be rolled over the olives to extract their precious oil. The oil would flow out of the basin into a special container and would be used for lighting lamps, making cosmetics, cooking, and holy anointing.
Now, all this may sound like meaningless detail, but let me assure you, there isn't a single meaningless detail anywhere in the gospel of Mark. It's here that Jesus becomes like the olives themselves. Mark 14:33 says that Jesus becomes deeply distressed and troubled. In Mark 14:34 (NIV) Jesus says to Peter, James, and John, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." This is a remarkably graphic description of Jesus' emotional state. Luke 22:44 tells us that how being in anguish, Jesus' sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Isaiah the prophet gives a vivid portrait of what Jesus was going through. Isaiah 53:1-3 (NIV) says, "Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
Have you ever felt like Jesus must have felt in the garden?
I wonder if you have ever felt like Jesus? Distressed. Troubled. Overwhelmed. Filled with sorrow and a sense of loss. I've had countless moments in my life when I've felt these emotions. Like in high school, when I had failing grades, and felt that I could never measure up to my parents' expectations.
Or in gym class, as a freshman, when I was bullied every day by upperclassmen, and mercilessly harassed. Or one day when I saw my brother hauled off to jail in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs. Or when I began my first ministry, and felt so isolated and alone and ill-equipped to make peace with critical church members. Our lives are flooded with moments like these. These are moments in which we feel pressed down, beaten down, crushed, squeezed, and as if every ounce of our life is being poured out.
Jesus lived it too. He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. He wasn't beautiful, he wasn't attractive, and he wasn't desirable. No, he was despised, he was rejected, and we esteemed him not. Do you ever feel like Jesus? Do you ever feel unwanted? Unloved? Unattractive? Overlooked? Unesteemed? Taken for granted? Expendable? Invisible?
Let's keep it real. Maybe you are in so much debt that bankruptcy seems like the only option. Maybe your health has deteriorated so much that you've given up hope. Maybe you lost your job recently and wonder if you're too old to restart your career. Maybe you've been trying to win the favor of an overly critical mother or an emotionally absent father. Maybe you're grieving the choices that a loved one is making, or that you yourself are making.
Do this one thing. Right now on the prayer card, identify one thing that is crushing you and beating you down. What is it? Maybe it's a relationship going wrong. A family crisis. An employment crisis. Personal loss. An addiction. A character defect. Depression. A fear. Here are some practical things that I noticed in our passage for today.
Jesus had a Gethsemane.
Gethsemane was a solitary place where Jesus could be alone with God. We all need our own Gethsemane where we can withdraw, reflect, meditate, pray, rest, and renew our strength. It doesn't have to be a garden! For some, it's their garage. For others it's their back porch. When I was in high school, I would go into my closet and cry out to God. The bottom line is that you need a Gethsemane. Moms and workaholics, this includes you too.
Jesus also had community of twelve.
The Son of God had a small, intimate community who he could mobilize in prayer. These are not people who had all the answers, had their act together, or had impeccable character. These were people who could be present with Jesus during the darkest moments of his earthly life.
So let me ask, who prays for you? Who are your twelve? Who sticks closer to you than a brother? Who really cares? Who follows up? Who notices you? Jesus instructed his disciples to be with him, stay with him, and pray with him. We die without such relationships!
Lara stays and prays for me whether I want it or not. Her parents care about me to a fault. Our elders tell me that they love me and pray for me. My staff team, Mark Gannar, Jason Ground, David Humke, and our Wednesday night life group pray for me.
Within the twelve disciples, Jesus had three close confidants.
There were three to whom Jesus completely revealed his deepest self, Peter, James and John. And even of these three, John knew Jesus the most intimately. Within your twelve, you need those two or three people with whom you can reveal your deepest self. If you're a man, you need two or three other godly men. If you're a woman, you need two or three other godly women. Hiding is what kills us. Confession, however, heals us! Who do you let in? I mean, who do you really let in? Who knows your struggle? Who listens to you? Who are your closest friends? Who stands in the trenches with you?
When Jesus invites you to take up your cross and follow him, he never intended you to do that alone! We are to do that as a community, supporting and encouraging one another. I have more than three close confidants. Lara knows Jon Morrissette. Don Green knows Jon Morrissette. Why he let me marry Lara, I'll never know. Jay Brooks knows Jon Morrissette. By the way, Jay and I have known each other 13-14 years. I wouldn't be in ministry without Jay. He stood in the trenches with me in my first ministry when I was vulnerable and under attack spiritually. Carl, Norm, J.D., Rick, and Glen, Mark, my partner in crime, and Jason, who understands ministry, are all my close confidants.
You need to cultivate a vibrant prayer life.
Now let me say this. It's not enough to have your Gethsemane, your twelve, and your three. In order to survive, you need to cultivate a vibrant prayer life. Your Gethsemane is useless if you don't pray there. Your twelve and your three are powerless if they're not eager to pray with you, really with you.
Jesus' invitation to his disciples is to keep watch and pray! He repeats this same admonition over and over. It is our responsibility to keep reminding people to pray for us. Ask, ask, and ask again. You take the initiative. You pursue. You keep waking up your three and twelve when (not if) they fall asleep.
Mark 15:32-42 (NIV) says, "They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, 'Sit here while I pray.' 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.' Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 'Abba, Father,' he said, 'everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.' Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. 'Simon,' he said to Peter, 'are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.' Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. Returning the third time, he said to them, 'Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!' "
Don't get disillusioned with your three and your twelve. Even the best grow weary in prayer and fall asleep. Keep asking. Remind people to pray for you. Ask them. Now here is what you need to know when you are praying. All of these things are right in our passage, as plain as day.
Know that God sees you. Mark 14:35
The whole premise of prayer is knowing that God sees you in your circumstance. He knows exactly what you're going through. No matter how you feel, you are not alone. Jesus wasn't alone in the olive garden, and neither are you alone in your present circumstance!
Know that God loves you. Mark 14:36
In his prayer, Jesus addresses the Father not as some austere, distant deity, but as daddy. This is one of the first words a child learns to speak! Nothing makes a father more proud than to hear that intimate, trusting word, "daddy". There isn't anything a daddy wouldn't do for his child, right? We pray to a perfect daddy who perfectly loves us. The posture of a child is to trust in daddy's love even when he/she doesn't understand. This is true of your prayer life. I cannot tell you why you're going through what you're going through, but I know that God loves you! I know that God sees you!
Know that God is powerful. Mark 14:36
Notice what Jesus says to his daddy, "Everything is possible with you." Say it out loud right now, to God. "Everything is possible with you!" Say it again. Keep saying it. Put this prayer in the context of Mark's gospel. Jesus repeatedly tells his disciples that he must suffer and die and be betrayed into the hands of sinners, but three days later he will rise. But he says this after healing the blind, deaf, mute, demon-possessed, sick, and lame. He says this after walking on water, raising Jairus' daughter from the dead, calming the storms, and walking on water. EVERYTHING is possible with God. Do you believe this?
Know that God's way is better. Mark 14:36
People get angry at God when they are being crushed in the olive press. Who are we to question God's ways? God knows us. He loves us. Everything is possible for God. It stands to reason then, that if God is leaving us in a particular circumstance, it's because he has something better for us. Notice how Jesus submits himself to God by saying, "Take this cup from me, yet not as I will, but your will be done."
It's a mystery, I know, but it's everywhere in your Bible. God accomplishes far more through our suffering and pain than he ever does through our comfort and ease. His ways are perfect and altogether mysterious. Do you believe Psalm 18:30 (NIV) which says, "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him."
Know that God is faithful. Mark 14:41
Here is what Isaiah 53:4-12 (NIV) says about Jesus. "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
I love Psalm 16:9-11 (NIV) which says, "Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."