The Garden of Agony Gethsemani

     According to one of the earliest accounts from a Pilgrim of Bordeaux around 333 AD there were as many as three churches that had claimed and built their churches, walls and fences around the Garden of Gethsemani (or Gethsemane). The Aramaic language tells us the translation of Gethsemani  is  ”press oil” and I also think it may be wrong to call it a garden. I think, most likely, it was an Olive orchard with an oil press for the olives.  The Garden of Gethsemani was said to be located near or at the foot of the Mount of Olives. These three sites are well within walking distance of each other and, more than likely, in my mind, were all part and parcel of the same olive orchard at one time.  This site in Jerusalem was said to be the meeting or gathering place of Jesus and His disciples. It was a place of refuge for Christ and His disciples. 

      It seems to me that we tend to return to the places that we enjoyed and felt safe with our family’s as we grow older. I wonder if this was a place that Jesus had enjoyed in His earlier life with His family and that’s why He returned to the Garden of Gethsemani to refresh His mind and spirit and help His disciples to refresh themselves in mind and spirit.  The Garden of Gethsemani was said to be a place of prayer and nourishment for our Lord and His disciples.  Unfortunately it was also the place were Judas betrayed Christ and gave Him up to the Roman soldiers as it’s known as the Agony of Christ. It is nearby where the Holy Mother was laid to rest. 

       When one walks through Jerusalem, one gets the feeling of history, mystery and sadness, even though I’ve always been one to celebrate the facts of Christianity, walking the Via Dolorosa gives one pause and a feeling of sadness for it was our Savior’s last walk to His crucifixion, even though the stations of the cross may have been added to give pilgrims or tourists a reason to stay in the marketplace and purchase the vendors wares. It is still a Holy walk

that every Christian should make in their life.  You must remember the burden which Christ would’ve walked with knowing He was about to die and carrying the object of his demise, a heavy wooden cross, any distance would be horrifying to any one of us.  It is astonishing how close all of the Holy sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem really are.  I always thought they would be great distances from each other but the area is not as large as any small modern city and, as a matter fact, it’s probably smaller by quite a bit.  The site of Jesus’ crucifixion and His burial and resurrection locations are probably less distance than a football field apart or, at least, it seemed that way to me as we walked all of this in what seemed to be less than a couple of hours. We then drove to Bethlehem just a few miles away on the same day with no problem.  It is one of the few places in our travels that I would give anything to return to one day.  I am sure that all three of the locations that are now claimed by the three different

denominations, Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and  the Roman Catholic Church are, in fact, all on the same site that the apostles described as the Garden of Gethsemani.