Gethsemane and Your Shame

The place where Jesus prayed on the night of His betrayal was called Gethsemane, which means ‘oil press.’ Most likely, it was a garden of olive trees that also contained an olive press for pressing oil.

There’s profound meaning here in this alone. The word ‘Christ’ means ‘Anointed One.’ The Christ is the One who is anointed with oil. So oil symbolizes shining beauty and brightness. Oil was placed on the head for anointing, making the person ‘shine.’ The symbolic range for oil includes glory, royalty, and kingship.

But how would Christ gain this glory? He must be pressed, like an olive, crushed, in order to release His sublime beauty.

What would crush Him? He would be crushed by the weight of our sins. And His throne would be the press of the cross.

The beauty of our King shines forth to us from the cross where He died for our sins. When we look to Him, we enter into Gethsemane with Him, not to be pressed, but to be anointed by Him through His wounds.

When the weight of sin and shame crushes you, you must realize it crushed Him first, causing his glory to flow and drip onto you, turning your condemnation into coronation.

Friend, there is secret strength and beauty to be found in your weakness and shame, probably because it’s finally not the product of our good works, but His. Go to Christ and ask Him to turn it into the oil of gladness.