Page 6 - Holyland Magazine - 2021 Edition
P. 6
time that is recognized by many Christians as to the visitor who understands the Hebraic trees we see today the actual witnesses to
the most significant and dramatic prayer vigil and biblical meaning associated with the the agony of Jesus on the night of His arrest?”
recorded in the Bible. production of olive oil. Experts tell us that while the Gethsemane
trees we see today were not standing in that
Soon, He will be betrayed and abandoned The entire process is based on applying garden at the time of Christ, they are probably
by His own disciples, arrested by the Temple increasing pressure upon the harvested olives related to those trees.
Guard, judged as a common criminal before by adding more and more weights. Each
a biased court, condemned to death by an additional weight extracted more oil from The three oldest trees of the eight, standing
idol-worshiping Governor, and nailed to a the crushed olives until they were completely in the center of the garden today, were
Roman cross. exhausted and drained. scientifically studied and proven to date back
to the 12th century AD. All eight trees are
Blood, Sweat, and Tears According to tradition, there were four believed to be cuttings from a single “parent
successive “harvests” of oil from the crushed tree” which could have been the tree Jesus
According to Luke’s account of the events, olives as the pressure gradually increased. leaned upon during His agonizing prayer. The
Jesus’ agony and deep sorrow during His The first pressure produced the purest, virgin fact is that Israel has many ancient olive trees,
prayer vigil in the Garden of Gethsemane oil, which was used for anointing in the Temple with some believed to be over 3,000 years old!
were so intense and exhausting that His courts and sacred services. The second
sweat drops were mingled with blood. stage of additional pressure produced oil for Each year, a fresh harvest of olives is gathered
cooking; the third for lighting, and the fourth from these ancient Gethsemane olive trees,
Luke, who was a physician, was describing an for cleaning. their oil is pressed and used for the lamps in
actual medical condition called Hematohidrosis the nearby prayer chapel, and the pits make
in which a person literally sweats drops of Keeping these facts in mind, the visitor beautiful rosary beads for the pilgrims. The
blood. This rare condition can stem from to the Garden of Gethsemane can better Garden of Gethsemane continues to serve
various causes, including high stress and understand, and perhaps appreciate, the as an “Oil Press” as it welcomes visitors
exertion, causing the person’s blood to press agony of Jesus as He submitted to His from all over the world to come and taste the
through the membrane of the blood vessels Father’s will. It was in this garden that His past, today.
and penetrate through the skin. life’s calling and mission came crashing down
upon Him, just as the successive weights Reuven Doron, director of Ministry Relations,
Hebraic Meaning of the Oil Press come down upon the olives to extract the SAR-EL TOURS
at Gethsemane precious oil.
In the original text, the name “Gethsemane'' How Old are the Trees at
is made up of two Hebrew/Aramaic words, Gethsemane?
“Gat Shemanei,” which literally means “Oil
Press.” The fact that these events took place A question many are asking is: “were the
in the “Oil Press Garden” is very significant
A view of the Mount of Olives
6
