EDITORIAL
Leading Mission | Steve Carter
After the Last Supper, Jesus heads straight to the Mount of Olives to pray. This choice has always fascinated me. A garden called Gethsemane, which is best translated as “the place of the olive press.” In the Hebrew culture, olives would be crushed by a millstone connected to a donkey by a large horizontal beam. These olives would then be taken to the press where a massive stone would squeeze them until oil oozed out.
With the weight of all the sins of humanity on Jesus’ shoulders, Luke says, “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44).
When olives are pressed, the oil oozes. When Jesus was pressed in the place of the olive press, his blood fell.
Sometimes we miss the humanity of Jesus and the struggle of knowing what he would endure on our behalf. The last few lines of his prayer, “Not my will, but yours be done,” (Matt. 26:39) are so honest and human.
Everyone who has been willing to put their life or reputation on the line for the sake of the kingdom has experienced weight like the Gethsemane prayer, that exhausting tension as the stakes get progressively higher and higher.
The Bible is littered with examples of people that God raised up and put in a position of influence only for them to face a seemingly crushing challenge. Joseph, sold into slavery by his brothers, found himself second in command in all of Egypt. Moses was charged to liberate the entire Hebrew nation. Queen Esther was perfectly placed to stop a genocide that would have destroyed her people.
But it often begins with just one person for such a time as this. And when it feels like people are with you, you sometimes find them sleeping when it matters most.
This is where many leaders give up. We run to unhealthy escapes or, as Tim Keller calls them, “counterfeit gods.” We run to something to numb us because it’s harder to sit in the tension.
At Gethsemane, Jesus could have walked away. Instead, he cautioned Peter, “Watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41).
The Spirit wants to strengthen and sustain you. The Spirit wants to comfort, advocate and intercede. Yet we often listen to our flesh, and our fears paralyze us so we miss the grander invitation.
To those who are pastoring, leading and serving the bride of Christ, I know how ministry can be its own olive press. Yet where we go in these difficult moments reveals something much deeper. Jesus leaned into the tension with honest and vulnerable prayer.
What’s your Gethsemane moment? Where do you feel pressed right now?
When we are in these pressing moments, never forget God is at work. We can stay the course, choosing the harder right choice, and bring our full honest self before the Lord.