Gethsemane
August 26, 2022
The name Gethsemane stems from the Hebrew Gat-Semen which means olive press factory. The kidron at the far end of Gethsemane is called “Brook Kidron” and according to the Christian tradition it is the place of God’s last judgment. Another name of the kidron is “Josaphat’s valley”. The name Josaphat comes from the Hebrew words Jahve-Sophot, meaning “God judges”; this was a name given from Prophet Joel (3:2).
According to the New Testament, the path of the Christ’s martyrdom began from Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:36-57, Mark 14:32, Luke 22:39, John 18:1). There, Christ prayed before His Passion, received the kiss of betrayal from Judas, was seized by Pilatus’ soldiers the crowd and the Pharisee’s servants. Entering the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go yonder and pray.: Taking with Him Peter, James, and John, He went deep into the garden, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then, He said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here and watch with Me.” And going a little farther, he fell on His face and prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will but as you will.”
Having prayed thus, Jesus Christ returned to the three disciples and found them sleeping. He said to them, “So you could not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Again, for the second time, He went away and prayed. And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy, and they did not know what to answer Him.
So, leaving them again, He went away and prayed for the third time saying the same words. And there appeared to Him an angel from Heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling from His brow to the ground.
And when He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come; the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”
While He was still speaking, Judas, the betrayer, came with a great crowd with lanterns, and torches, and weapons. It was a band of soldiers and some officers sent by the chief priests and Pharisees to seize Jesus Christ. Judas spoke with them, “The One I shall kiss is the man; seize Him.”
He came up to Jesus at once and said, “Hail, Master!” And he kissed Him.
Jesus Christ said to Him, “Friend, why are you here? Would you betray the Son of man with a kiss?” These words of the Saviour were for Judas the last appeal to repentance.
Then, Jesus Christ knowing all that was to befall Him came forward to the throng and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”
From the crowd they answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
The Saviour answered, “It is I.”
From these words, the soldiers and officers drew back and fell to the ground. When they had recovered from fear and rose, they tried in confusion to seize the disciples of Christ.
The Saviour again said, “Whom do you seek?”
They said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
“I told you that I am He,” answered the Saviour. “So, if you seek Me, let those men go.”
So the band of soldiers and the officers seized and bound Jesus Christ. The apostles wanted to defend their Teacher. Peter having a sword drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear.
But Jesus Christ said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath, for all who take the sword shall perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? How then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so? Shall I not drink the cup (of suffering) which the Father has given Me (for the salvation of people)?”
Having said this, Jesus Christ touched the ear of Malchus, the wounded servant, healed him, and voluntarily gave Himself into the hands of His enemies.
Gethsemane from the 4th century onwards the mapped relation of the place with the above mentioned events made it a holy Christian shrine. It is not only related to Christ’s Passion but also to Holy Mother Saint Mary’s burial. The designation of Saint Mary’s’ tomb was made in the mid 11th century. Almost at the same period the first church of the Dormition was built, possibly at the time of Emperor Markinianos (450-457 A.D.) and the Patriarch of Jerusalem Iouvenalios.
The Holy Shrine of the Mother of God in Gethsemane
The hearts of the faithful Orthodox Christians are filled with reverence and appropriate devotion towards the most pure Mother of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Consequently from the time of Christian antiquity the Church has been honouring Saint Mary accordingly, while the mother of Churches (Jerusalem), hosts as a most precious pearl her Holy and Sacred Tomb and guards it like the pupil of an eye. The Apostles carried the sacred body of Theotokos from Zion to this Tomb for the burial after her Dormition, and from the first Christian years a cross-shaped Church was built around it with a modest and unsophisticated cubicle surrounding the Holy Tomb.
The most venerable Church of Saint Mary is in Gethsemane, in Josaphat’s valley or Brook Kidron, between Moria hill and the Mount of Olives. Nearby is the stoning place of the first-martyr Stephen as well as the site of the Lord’s prayer in Gethsemane, where He was captured after Judas’ betrayal. It is an underground cross-shaped Church reminding a catacomb, with forty-eight wide steps leading down to the Tomb of the Mother of God. The Tomb is carved inside a monolith rock, surrounded by a two-entranced cubicle which enables the pilgrims to enter the Tomb from the west entrance and exit from the north.
Source: Jerusalem Patriciate News Gate. King James Bible New version
