Gethsemane

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 7
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Name of the garden on some part of mount Olivet to which the Lord often resorted with His disciples. It was here He spent a part of the night after the last Passover, and where He was in intense agony in prospect of drinking the cup of wrath due to sin. How significant is the name, which signifies “wine-press”! Angels came and ministered to Him. Here also He was betrayed by Judas with a kiss, and arrested (Matt. 26:3636Then 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); Mark 14:3232And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. (Mark 14:32); Luke 22:3939And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. (Luke 22:39); John 18:1-21When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. 2And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples. (John 18:1‑2)). A spot, now walled round and preserved as a European flower garden, on the N.W. of the slope of Olivet, is the traditional site of Gethsemane. It is nearly opposite the St. Stephen’s gate. There are in it some venerable olive trees; but as Titus, at the destruction of Jerusalem, cut down all the trees near the city, these must be of more recent growth, and there is no certainty as to the site. A more retired spot would seem more fitting.