The Glory Of Gethsemane

            Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane and saith unto the disciples, “Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder  ( Matthew 26:36 ).

There are many beautiful gardens in the world today.  Gardens burst forth with beauty and fragrance.  What lady doesn’t like a nice bouquet of roses?

The rose is the queen of flowers, it is the emblem of love.  The lily is the emblem of majesty.

I am told that the hanging gardens of Babylon were beautiful to behold.  I can imagine the beauty and splendor was seen everywhere.

I have seen the gardens of England, what beauty to behold.  I have seen the gardens of Scotland and Holland that would uplift the soul of any man.

Gardens are given for delight and inspiration.  Oh, the beauty, fragrance, and the glory.

Of all the gardens in the world, the garden that surpasses them all, is the Garden of Gethsemane.  There were events that took place there that day that is forever stamped upon the hearts of men.

Gethsemane is not noted for its roses.

Gethsemane is not noted for its lilies.

Gethsemane is not noted for its carnations.

Gethsemane is noted for the glory that was demonstrated there that day.
We read where Jesus took Peter, James, and John into the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus commanded the disciples to sit, while He went a little space and prayed.
It was the greatest hour facing the life of Christ.  He bore the burdens of the whole world upon His shoulders.  His time had come to die.

When your time comes to die, you will pray like you never prayed before.
The gospel of Luke says, there appeared an angel from Heaven and strengthened Christ.

Angelic glory was demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane.  The disciples never witnessed the angelic glory, they were fast asleep.  Angels of God are given for protection, comfort, and strength.

Your strength from God sometimes comes from angels of glory.  Don’t depend so much on those around you for comfort and strength; they may be unconcerned.  God is the source of our strength.  Flesh will fail every time, but God will never fail.

After Christ’s agonizing prayer, He comes and awakens His disciples, and warns them of their fleshly weakness.

Here comes Judas with the officers and men, to take Jesus by force, to slay Him.  Carrying  lanterns,  torches,  and   weapons,   they   enter   the   Garden   of   Gethsemane.

Jesus said unto them, “Whom seek ye?”  They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.”  Jesus said, “I am he.”  As soon as Jesus spoke, they all fell backward to the ground.  In the King James Bible, The word “He” was not in the original Greek manuscript.  It was added by the translators of the King James version.

In the original Greek, Jesus said, “I AM.”  This is the reason they all fell to the ground.  Jesus spoke the words of deity.  They were standing in the presence of deity.
The glory of deity was demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane by Christ.
Truly, Jesus was the “I AM” of the Old Testament.  He was the Jehovah God who spoke to Moses at the burning bush.

Scrambling to their feet, the men now realized they had been hit with the glory of deity.  Managing enough courage, they again answer Jesus, that they are seeking Jesus of Nazareth.

Simon Peter, sizing up the situation, immediately drew his sword, and cut off the ear of Malchus.  Peter was ready for a fight in the garden.

Human glory was demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane.  What an honor to defend Christ.  What a joy to be the first to draw the sword in combat.

Some today, are quick to draw the sword on their neighbor, to our rulers of the land.  Pulling the sword is not the answer.  Demonstrating the glory of the flesh, will never suffice, it will never bring revival to our land.

“Put up your sword Peter, those who live by the sword, die by the sword.”  Having an earthly fight in the garden, will not get the job done.

I suppose if I were there that day, I would have done the same as Peter.  I would have pulled my sword also, and we would have been in for a street brawl.

Jesus didn’t need Peter’s puny little sword to defend Him.  Unknown to the officers and men, there were more than twelve legions of angels with drawn swords, waiting on the command of Christ.  All Jesus would have done, was to  say,  “Go  get  em, angels.”

The greatest glory in Gethsemane that day, was not the angelic glory, it was not the glory of deity, it was not the human glory of Peter, but is was the submissive glory of Christ.

Submissive glory was demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Had Jesus not prayed, and come to the place that He was willing to submit His will to the will of the Father, we would not have salvation today.

This was the greatest glory in the garden.  This today, is the greatest lesson for man, to submit our wills to the will of God.

We need to humble ourselves like Christ, and come to a place of saying, “Not my will, but thy will be done.”  Yes, this is contrary to the flesh, but it is how we find favor with God.

The fall of Lucifer was due to his, “I will.”  He would not submit his will to the will of God.  He was the first rebel of the universe.  Unless we all submit our will to the

will of God, we will all be like Lucifer.

            Peter, James, and John were excited on the Mt. Of Transfiguration.  They said,  

“It’s good to be here.”  They never got that excited in the Garden of Gethsemane.  They

were interested in their sleep.  It’s good to be here, in the garden of humility.  They missed the greatest prayer meeting of all time.

We need a garden experience today.  Not an experience of picking roses, or smelling lilies, but an experience of submitting our wills to the will of God.

Some today, think they are the rose of Sharon, and  the  lily  of  the  valley.   Some think they are the best preachers that have ever preached.  Some think they are the best saints that ever lived.

All we are, is grass.  We are here today, and gone tomorrow.  We are blown by the winds, gone with the wind, if you please.

We need to get back to the old fashioned prayer meetings.

We need to get back to crying out to God for His will to be done.

We need to get back to submitting our wills to the will of God.

This is the answer to our generation.

This, and only this, will bring the glory down.

You can have your songfests.

You can have your banquets.

You can have your meetings.

I’ll take the glory of Gethsemane.