📖 Biblical Definition
Gethsemane is the garden on the Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed in agony on the night of His betrayal. Here the Son of God wrestled with the Father's will, sweating drops like blood, and said, "Not my will, but yours, be done" (Luke 22:42). Where Adam in a garden chose his own will over God's and plunged humanity into sin, Jesus in a garden chose the Father's will over His own and secured humanity's redemption. The oil press of Gethsemane crushed the Anointed One so that the oil of the Spirit could be poured out on all flesh. Judas betrayed Jesus here with a kiss (Matthew 26:49), Peter cut off the servant's ear (John 18:10), and the disciples fled (Mark 14:50). Gethsemane reveals both the full humanity of Christ -- who genuinely dreaded the cross -- and the full obedience of Christ, who submitted to it anyway.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
A garden near Jerusalem, at the foot of the Mount of Olives; the scene of our Savior's agony.
expand to see more
GETHSEM'ANE, n. [Heb. oil press.] A garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem, where our Savior endured His agony and was betrayed by Judas.
📖 Key Scripture
• Matthew 26:36 — "Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to His disciples, 'Sit here, while I go over there and pray.'"
• Luke 22:42 — "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done."
• Luke 22:44 — "And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Gethsemane is sentimentalized or treated as a mere biographical detail rather than the decisive moment of obedience that reversed Eden's fall.
expand to see more
Gethsemane is often sentimentalized in passion plays and devotional art, reducing it to a touching scene of Jesus praying under olive trees. The theological depth is missed entirely. Gethsemane is the anti-Eden: where Adam chose self-will in a garden and brought death, Jesus chose the Father's will in a garden and brought life. The agony was real -- the Son of God genuinely recoiled from bearing the sin of the world -- and the submission was real. Modern therapeutic Christianity wants a Jesus who understands our struggles; Gethsemane gives us a Jesus who endured what no human ever could and chose obedience unto death.
Usage
• "Gethsemane means 'oil press' -- and the Anointed One was crushed there so that the oil of salvation could flow to the world."
• "In Eden's garden, the first Adam said 'my will.' In Gethsemane's garden, the last Adam said 'not my will, but yours.' That reversal is the gospel."