From Gethsemane to Calvary

Gethsemane is often thought of as a place of anguish and pain. It is most famously known as the place where Christ sweat drops of blood as he prayed to his Father and spent the final moments of His physical lifetime preparing to bear our crosses and take on the sins of you and me.

While Gethsemane is famously known as a place of Christ’s anguish and pain, it is often overlooked that Christ went there to pray regularly. The New Testament shows that Christ frequented Gethsemane numerous times. It is a fair assumption that Gethsemane was not so much a place of anguish and pain as it was a place of comfort for Him. Gethsemane was probably among His favorite places to pray, possibly even His most favorite place.

Christ’s comfort zone was Gethsemane. This was the place where he felt secure and safe, evidenced by the things contained in His final prayer there. He let go of all inhibition, allowing Himself to feel such anguish that He sweat drops of blood. Not only this, but it was in Gethsemane that Christ prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Luke 22:42 NLT). Gethsemane was where Jesus felt comfortable, safe, and secure. However, Jesus knew that He would not be able to remain in Gethsemane all of the time. He knew He had to leave His comfort zone to fulfill His purpose. Eventually, leaving Gethsemane to fulfill His purpose meant that He had to go to Calvary. Calvary was His real place of anguish and pain, not Gethsemane. At Calvary, I wonder if Christ only wished He could be back in Gethsemane, safe and secure, resting in His Father’s arms, instead of hanging on a cross where His Father had to turn His back on Him. Christ had faith that doing His Father's will was the right thing. And as a result of going to Calvary, He was resurrected.

Christians tend to get stuck in comfort zones. We all have our own Gethsemane’s. We all feel comfortable in our own bubbles, in our own places, and around our own friends. Having a Gethsemane is a great thing. Christ had His. And we should have a Gethsemane too. We need a place where we can lose all inhibition and go to our Father in prayer, knowing we can say and ask anything that is on our heart. But we can’t expect to remain in Gethsemane. We, like Christ, have been called to fulfill a greater purpose.

How do you leave your gethsemane and go to your calvary? The answer is self-denial. We, like Christ, have to go to Calvary. For Christ, that meant a physical death on the cross. For us, that means that we have to die to our old selves daily by leaving our comfort zones and fulfilling God’s purpose for us. When you really want to do something, but shouldn't, you deny yourself. You go to calvary. When you really don't want to do something, but you should, you deny yourself. You go to calvary. It could be a particular sin, or it could be something that isn't sinful in and of itself, but can be turned into sin due to lack of self-control or an attempt to fulfill a need in an illegitimate way. One thing is for sure: every single day, Christians are confronted with a multitude of opportunities to make the choice to deny self in some way, small or large, and live for Christ. The right choice is easy to discern, but hard to make without the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in Christians and He provides all of the power that raised Christ from the dead in all of us. Just as God resurrected Christ after Calvary, we can trust Him to resurrect us when we go to calvary by denying ourselves daily. As a result of living for Him in self-denial, He will resurrect more of Christ in each of us as we become more like Christ by living for Him instead of for ourselves.

 There are a lot of things we don’t do (but should) because they make us uncomfortable or we do (but shouldn’t) because they make us comfortable. But the calvary’s we face daily are nothing compared to the Calvary Christ had to face in the end. What is your excuse? When will you follow in Christ's footsteps and go from Gethsemane to Calvary?