Easter Is God’s Plan For Redemption Through Jesus Christ
WHAT WAS IN THAT CUP? SO LOATHSOME, SO TERRIFYING, YES, TERRIFYING BECAUSE YOU’RE GOING TO SEE THAT JESUS SHRANK IN HORROR FROM IT! WHAT WAS SO VILE, SO FILTHY THAT THE VERY SON OF GOD SHRANK BACK IN DREAD? WHAT WAS IN GETHSEMANE’S CUP? DO YOU KNOW WHAT WAS IN THAT CUP? THE SIN OF THE AGES WAS IN THAT CUP; MY SIN AND YOUR SIN WAS IN THAT CUP. THIS WAS NOT SOME CHARADE.
THIS WAS REAL. IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY HE SHRANK BACK, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT WAS IN THERE. [MUSIC] TO THE EAST OF THE CITY OF JERUSALEM, THERE’S A LITTLE MOUNTAIN, IT’S CALLED THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. IT’S ABOUT 300 FEET ABOVE THE CITY OF JERUSALEM, A LIMESTONE RIDGE, IT’S ABOUT A MILE IN LENGTH. IT’S ABOUT 2,700 FEET ABOUT SEA LEVEL, AND ON THE WESTERN SLOPE OF THE MOUNT OF OLIVES IS A GARDEN. IF YOU GO TO ISRAEL TODAY, YOU CAN VISIT THAT GARDEN. I HAVE VISITED IT MANY TIMES.
AND IN THAT GARDEN, THERE’S SOME BEAUTIFUL SHRUBS, PRIMARILY OLIVE TREES. AS A MATTER OF FACT, EIGHT ANCIENT OLIVE TREES STAND THERE, SOME BELIEVE THAT THEY GO BACK TO THE TIME OF CHRIST. THEIR MASSIVE TRUNKS ARE KNOTTED AND GARLED. AND THEY STAND, HUH, LIKE SILENT SENTINELS, WATCHING OVER THAT GARDEN WHERE JESUS CAME TO PRAY. WE BELIEVE THAT IT IS THE EXACT SPOT.
TRADITION, ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE SECOND CENTURY, SAYS THIS IS THE PLACE; IT’S GETHSEMANE. THE WORD GETHSEMANE LITERALLY MEANS “OIL PRESS”. BECAUSE IT WAS IN THIS GARDEN THAT THEY HAD A GIANT PRESS TO PRESS THE OLIVE OIL FROM THE OLIVES. JESUS WOULD OFTEN COME TO THIS PLACE AND HE WOULD KNEEL AND PRAY. BUT THIS NIGHT WAS LIKE NO OTHER NIGHT.
