While in Israel, with two of my good friends, back in May of 2011 I was impressed by the amount of olive presses in all of the the ancient ruins we came across. The presses are tall square pillars about 6 feet tall with a channel on each side for the oil to run down. It makes since that you would find these everywhere, because olive oil played an intricate part of life during biblical times.
The way they would press olives happened in stages. First, the olives would be pitted by a mill stone. Then the olives would be put into burlap style bags that would act as filters. The bags would be placed on top of theses columns, and the pressing would come from a large beam laid across the columns. They would then begin to add weights to the end of the beam to increase the pressing.
The first pressing produced the the best, extra virgin, oil which was used for anointing oil, cooking and lamp oil. For the second pressing more weight was added. This pressing produced oil that was used for making medication...a healing balm. The third pressing required even more weight, and was used for making soap.
The word "Gethsemane" means "Olive Press", so it would be fitting for the Mount of Olives to have a place to press olives...The Garden of Gethsemane...The Garden of the Olive Press. This was a favorite place for Jesus to rest and relax with his closest followers.
Jesus, on the night before going to the cross, went to the garden three times to pray. Each time He was pressed; each time more pressure was applied. Each time more weight was placed upon Him...the weight of our sin, shame, and guilt. By the third pressing, under the heavy weight of the cross, He sweat great drops of blood. Jesus was and still is our Anointing, our Healing, our Cleansing. Because of what Jesus went through on our behalf, we now can stand boldly before the throne of Heaven...anointed, healed, and cleansed because He chose to endure the weight that we could never bear.
No comments :
Post a Comment