The word “Gethsemane” means “Garden of the olive press” in Hebrew (gat = press, shemen = oil).
The Garden of Gethsemane lies at the foot of the Mount of Olives.
The way olive oil was produced was very significant and symbolic.
First, you had to crush the olives with a huge stone wheel, a millstone, that turned the olives into a pulp, like a mush. Large woven bags were then filled with the mush and placed one upon the other. A beam was placed on top of the last bag, and large stones were used to weigh down the beam, pressing upon the mush bags. The oil that came out was collected in a container, had a brownish/red color as blood.
There were three pressings:
The first yields virgin oil, the finest oil for anointing and cooking.
The second pressing (another large stone was added to hang to the beam) would yield oil used for lamps and light and combined with other ingredients for medicines.
The third pressing (the third and the last stone added to the beam) would yield oil used as a cleansing agent. It was used to make soap.
The night before He was crucified, Jesus came with His disciples to the garden of Gethsemane. Three times, He left them and went by Himself to pray.
Just as the olives were pressed three times in the garden, so was the Lord.
“And being in agony, He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22: 44).
The first oil symbolizes – Jesus is the King of Kings, the anointed Messiah, and our nourisher.
The second oil symbolizes – Jesus is the Light of the world and the one who heals and restores.
The third oil symbolizes – Jesus died on the Cross and washed away our sins.
