Joseph Prince - The Garden of Gethsemane Where Jesus Prayed
Matt Crouch: Garden of Gethsemane. This is kind of the traditional place when you’re on a tour, pastor. We come here, the church of all nations, and there is a very interesting place that I wanna take you on this expedition that’s just across the street and down. We’ll go there in a second, but your thoughts as we’re kind of here where a lot of people, think it really happened, you know?
Joseph Prince: We are looking at the descendants of those trees that probably saw him crying here, and this is the vicinity of the area where he prayed that prayer, «Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done». Therein lies the destiny, our eternal destiny, just based on that prayer prayed here. See, we look at all the trees. You can see there are definitely more than 1,000 years old, and probably some of them go all the way back to the time of Jesus because the olive tree has the ability to perpetuate itself, you know? And the Bible says, «Your children shall be like olive plants». That means you’re gonna have a perpetual generation.
Matt Crouch: It feels like this episode on «Expedition Promised Land,» the Gethsemane is really a place that’s pivotal to our faith. It’s where Jesus made the decision to go. It was really here that he said, «Not my will, but thine be done,» and I think that speaks to a lot of people who are dealing with a tough situation, whatever that might be, tough decision, let’s say, a tough road ahead as it were: «I’ve got this tough road ahead,» «I’ve got a long situation in front of me,» and Jesus made the choice to tough it out, and he made that choice right here.
Joseph Prince: He made the choice right here, yes, where he sweat blood that dropped to the ground here, and by that, that means the ground that was cursed has been redeemed. We stand on grace ground, brother.
Matt Crouch: Of course, we do. «Expedition Promised Land: Walk Where Jesus Walked,» Joseph Prince. I’m gonna show you somethin', a place you’ve never actually been. Let’s go this way.
Joseph Prince: No, I’ve not.
Matt Crouch: We found this location, and there’s another church just on this side here, and there’s a little courtyard, and we’ll go down in there, but it was a number of years ago that I walked in for the first time, and there’s a plaque on the wall that says that, in about 1956, there was some excavations happening kind of in this area, and this area, this courtyard and whatnot and that they found the remains of an actual olive press. I’ll read you off a piece of the plaque here, but let me show ya. Down this way, when we get inside, I don’t think we’ll be able to, kind of, chat about it, but let’s see. We won’t talk. The remains of the olive press that was named for this entire area. The olive press, «Gethsemane» and the «Olive press». So this area right here where we just were, the little grotto, is where the oil was stored, where the oil was pressed, and obviously, we’re right here in the…
Joseph Prince: This whole area is Gethsemane?
Matt Crouch: Yeah, the whole area is named for Gethsemane. We’ll go back up, and you’ll see that, when we hit the top of these stairs and the modern street that’s just above us, we’re right at the base of where the Eastern gate…
Joseph Prince: Watch where you step.
Matt Crouch: Yeah. The stairs are a little bit slippy, and garden of Gethsemane. The rest of the episode that we’re gonna do, pastor, is just right up there. We’re gonna be right up there, but I wanted to make sure you could see where we were. So the area of Gethsemane, and we’re gonna kind of climb back up on the hill this way and get the entire teaching from Gethsemane.
Matt Crouch: So there was a moment in Jesus' life where he climbed this same hill, garden of Gethsemane, asked his disciples to watch and pray, and, hah, won’t you pick the story up from there and kind of go wherever you wanna go with this? It’s a beautiful, beautiful location.
Joseph Prince: That was the beginning of this passion, his suffering, and we never see the Lord like that where, you know, the Bible says, in Hebrews, «With strong crying and tears, he prayed,» in the garden of Gethsemane, and the Bible says he began to sweat drops of blood, a condition called, in medical terms, «Hematidrosis,» which is when you’re under great emotional stress or physical duress, extreme, extreme physical duress, your capillaries burst and mingles with your sweat, and the blood comes out as sweats of blood, and the Bible says the blood of sweat fell to the ground. Now that is amazing because what happened in the garden, all right, is now being consummated in another garden. So, when Adam fell, God said, «By the sweat of your face, you will eat bread». In other words, bread was always there. Adam was provided for. The only difference is «Because of your sin, by your stress, by your mental, you know, toil and labor and physical labor, you will get your bread». Thorns and thistles will come forth from then on. So what did Jesus do for us? He took our stress. The first area that he took for us is this mental stress, these mental worries and cares, this depression that… I see the world, you know, is like they have more than they could ever have in terms of possessions and all that. Even the younger people, they have access to things that we don’t have access to, yet we don’t see people, like, you know, they’re more joyful and don’t have so many mental issues and things like that, but I think today is worse than ever, all right, people suffering from depression, even young people. But Jesus took all that. In the garden of Gethsemane, he bore our stress, okay, and he sweat drops of blood because God says, «By the sweat of your face, you will eat bread». Now, that curse, he bore that curse because, when his blood… And his blood has a redeeming quality. So when his blood mingled with sweat, our labor, our mental effort and worries and cares to accomplish something that is otherwise given by God freely, when the blood mingled with sweat, he redeemed us from the curse of human sweat, toil, worries, cares, and that’s why, later on, he wore the crown of thorns on his head so that you and I can wear that peace that passes understanding. That’s what we have available for us.
Matt Crouch: I love days when I get to think about going on an expedition in the promised land with Joseph Prince. This is an amazing opportunity, pastor, to just take your liberty, pray for people. Of all the places that you think of the moment when Jesus said, «No, not my will but thine be done».
Joseph Prince: Yes.
Matt Crouch: This was the beginning of the end for him for us, so Calvary is amazing, all this, but there was really a decision made in this garden to really go and start the process of redeeming mankind forever. What a beautiful place. What a beautiful day. This is a bucket-list thing for me to be standin' here in the garden of Gethsemane with you on a beautiful day like this, seeing what we’re seeing and knowing what happened here.
Joseph Prince: Mm, and, you know, everything hinges on that, «Not my will». Imagine if he says, «Father, I’ve had enough. Bring me home. We’re all done». But just thinking about him saying, «Not my will, nevertheless». That «Nevertheless» means everything. Everything hinges on that. One of the benefits of coming to places like this, Matt, is, like, every time I’m here, and I hear something the guide would share, and they would share things that are factual, that are natural about the trees, the olive trees that we see behind, all around us here, and they will say something, and then the holy spirit will turn that water into wine in my spirit, you know? And a case like this was when I was listening, one time, about the olive tree, and over down here, the slope over here, and he was talking about the tree pressings of the olive, of the tree crushings of the olive to produce oil, different qualities of oil, and it says, the first pressing, at that time, was for the temple menorah, for the candelabra, to light the candelabra in the temple. It’s for light. Then it says, the second pressing, the crushing, is for ointment and medicinal purposes, okay, for medicine. Now, keep that in mind. So I’m listening to all these, and the third pressing is for cleaning. Like soap today, it says it’s for cleansing. And, man, the holy spirit just showed me that that’s what the sequence. That’s what happened to our Lord in Gethsemane, which is «Gat» «Shemen». «Shemen» is oil, and «Gat» is the press. Literally, he was pressed, and the first oil is for light in the temple. In the place of his darkness, he stepped into our darkness so that the light of the world was crushed here so you and I can always be in the light. Even the world gets darker and darker. We get brighter and brighter. And the second pressing, he was pressed again, crushed again, where? When he was scourged. His body was crushed. He was scourged. Literally, the word, «He was bruised for our iniquities», you know, what’s a bruise for us today? It’s like a blue, you know, blue-black mark, but in the Hebrew, the word «Bruise» is «Crush,» like an olive press, by his crushing, right? «He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed». The second pressing is for medicine. So you have the next sequence, right? He was crushed for our healing. It’s provided for today. We don’t have to earn healing. We don’t have to qualify for it. We don’t have to be good to get it. It’s provided for. It’s the children’s bread. And the third one is for soap. Remember that? Cleansing at the cross. He was crushed totally, amen, to cleanse us from all our sins. So, coming here and listening to what is natural, but unless you are here, you won’t be able to see or, all right, or experience the trees, the topography and that. That’s the thing about why God designed it like that. The mount of olives having so many olive trees, God knew that he’s gonna speak to us through the trees. And every time I come here, you know, it’s like my eyes just open, and I know that I go back full. It’s not like any other holidays, you know? You go to a vacation, or sometimes you just relax and oh, you know that better than me, Matt, you know? I need to take a holiday after this. But, you know, you come back from Israel, full, and our people love it when I come back from Israel because there’s so much to pour into them, and I feel like, for those that are watching, perhaps, when you heard that Christ was crushed, he was scourged for your healing, literally. If you look at the Jewish matzah bread that they use for Passover, it’s unleavened, it is striped, it is pierced, and it is burned. That’s the body of our Lord Jesus, and they break the matzah bread, and there’s one of it that they call it a «Afikoman,» where they wrap it in linen cloth. Now, when you think about it, all right, that the fact that Jesus took your diseases upon himself, that’s the only place in the word of God that says, «Surely he has borne our diseases and carried our pains». The word «Surely» was there in the first place. God put «Surely» is because he knew that of all the areas that people would doubt, it will be the area of healing. «I know God will save me, but will God heal me»? You know? Different denominations have different beliefs and all that, but the word «Surely» is there. God wants to surely heal you, and I feel that someone, right now, you had been given a bad diagnosis, and I think it’s cancer, and you just received that news very recently, perhaps just two days ago, and right now, you’re watching this, and God is already healing you of that condition. In Jesus’s name, receive your healing, receive your miracle, hallelujah. Right now, place your hand upon your afflicted area. Now, in the name of Jesus, I command the disease to die right now. You will not die, but you will live, but that disease will die. In the name of Jesus, I command that foul spirit of infirmity to loose you and let you go in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for by his stripes, by his scourging, by his pressing, healing flows out to you. Receive it in Jesus' name, amen, from Gethsemane.
Matt Crouch: Mm, beautiful. You know what comes to mind, pastor, when we’re here is the moment that we kind of started our discussion, there’s a moment when it was «Not my will but thine be done». There’s, when you think about what was going on in Jesus' life right then, right there, he knew what was about to come.
Joseph Prince: Yes.
Matt Crouch: He knew what he was facing. He knew what nobody else did, but he did. And from this place, there could be a lot of people viewing right now, yeah, a diagnosis, a bad diagnosis is oftentimes a very stressful, you know, the doctors, everything that you go through when that happens. I get that, but there’s a lot of people facing things that, from this place, he made the decision to carry on. We’re standing on the side of the mount of olives. The Gethsemane garden has changed over the millennia, but we’re standing among the olive trees in the same place, looking at the same view to the city that Christ would’ve been, and he made a decision to carry on. What about strength, a prayer for strength of somebody that needs to, they’re going through a situation, they’re feeling like they wanna give up? He didn’t give up on us from right here.
Joseph Prince: And that’s exactly what happened because, over here, he sweat blood, and I mentioned that blood touched the ground. So whatever it is, I want you to know that you are standing on grace ground today. You are standing on redeemed ground. His blood dropped to the ground, and the ground that God cursed is over your life. The ground that you’re walking on is no longer cursed because you’re a believer. You’re a child of God. You always walk on favored ground, amen? We walk on redeemed ground. So, when you read the papers, you read the social media, and, you know, it gets bleak and all that, just remember they are not on favored ground. You are, amen, and he redeemed us also from the mental stress, the worry, and the care. That’s the very thing that’s causing people not to have the strength to carry on. The Bible calls it hope, and hope in the Bible is a positive expectation of good. We think of hope like, «I hope it’s gonna happen». «Hope so,» you know, «Maybe so,» but that hope is not Bible hope. Bible hope is a confident, positive expectation of good in your future. So I invite you because of what Jesus did. He took your crown of thorns, of worries, cares, and the curse. You can receive his peace…
Matt Crouch: Thank you, Lord.
Joseph Prince: …And, in your mind, start to see the positive, the good that is out there that the Lord has for you, and stop looking around you and be distressed. Stop looking within you and be depressed. Look to the Lord Jesus. Be at rest, amen. That strength will carry you. It is not your own strength. It’s not a matter of gritting your teeth and saying, you know, «I’ll persevere through this, come hell or high water». It is a matter of resting in the Lord, and he will carry you through, amen.
Matt Crouch: Pastor, from this place, there, you know, speak, «Carry on,» speak, «You can make it over the audience from this location». Be beautiful.
Joseph Prince: In the name of Jesus, you can make it, this trial you’re going through, and you are going through. «Yea, do I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,» notice, you’re not camping there. You’re not staying there. You’re going through, but notice who is there with you. You are with me. All the while, he used the second person… Or, rather, the third person: «He restores my soul,» «He leads me». When you are going through the valley of the shadow of death, you need to talk to him directly: «When I go through the valley, you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me». My friend, I don’t believe it’s by chance that you are watching this. You might think it’s by chance that you just switched on this channel and you’re watching this on tbn, but I believe this word has come to you all the way from Gethsemane because you need to know that Christ has redeemed you from all that worries and cares and the mental oppression, and your future is bright, as bright as his grace is. I’m telling you right now, in the name of Jesus, I see great things in store for you. Your good days are still ahead, amen? Your worst days, listen, is not ahead of you. They have just passed. You are coming through and restoration. You’ve lost something. Restoration is on its way. It’s on its way to you. And when God restores, it’s never the same kind of thing. God restores greater in quality and quantity. It’s all paid for by the blood of Jesus, the one who sweat blood in this garden. In Jesus' name, receive that strength in Jesus' wonderful name.
Matt Crouch: Wow, what a beautiful afternoon here. «Expedition Promised Land». We’re walking through where Jesus walked. Joseph, thank you. This book is interesting because, in addition to a lot of your teaching in here, there are qr codes that you can scan, and there’s, you know, messages that are connected to this book, and only better is to come yourself to Israel, and we invite you to come. All the information on the screen about our next tour that we’re putting together, but, pastor Joseph, your final thoughts on this beautiful hillside, this beautiful place, the place where he decided to… Carry on.
Joseph Prince: Well, this is also the place where David, all right, ascended the mount. Somewhere just down here, he went up crying when his son Absalom, all right, rebelled, and he didn’t wanna fight his own son, so he went up. It’s a time of betrayal. He says, «My own familiar friend». I think about it when you just asked me about my final thoughts because I think that, perhaps, there are those also who have gone through betrayal and all that, and just nearby here, we find Jesus on the night that he was betrayed. The greatest son of David also crossed the Kidron and went up the mount of olives.
Matt Crouch: My goodness.
Joseph Prince: David went weeping with all his men. Jesus went down all the way through the Kidron valley, to the garden of Gethsemane here, and sweat blood to redeem. And the turnaround happened for David when he was right on top of the mount of olives, and there’s a song that’s recorded for us. It talks about this time in his life where he says, «Lord, how many are there that rise up against me? But thou, Lord, you are the glory and the lifter of my head». And a turnaround happened when he sang that song. So I believe that in this place, whatever valley you are going through right now, he is your glory and the lifter of our head. Look up. Your redemption draws near.