The Garden of Gethsemane

The Mount of Olives is East of the Temple Mount. Picture two hills with a very narrow valley between them. At the time of Jesus the whole hill was covered with olive trees. In fact it was not a "garden" of Gethsemane, but a grove. In fact "Gethsemane" means "Mount of the Olive Press." Today it is mostly a Jewish graveyard and some buildings. The Catholic Church has set aside a garden with very old olive trees at the traditional site of where Jesus prayed that the cup would be taken from him as his disciples slept. In the church we witnessed pilgrims sharing mass together and were able to take some incredible pictures of paintings from his time in the garden. Recall, after the last supper Jesus and his disciples went to the grove to pray. It was a place Jesus went to often with his disciples, because it looked directly at the east gate of the temple complex. On Palm Sunday he rode down from this area and entered the temple through the east gate where he then turned the tables on the money changers. The location would have provided Jesus a great view of the whole temple complex as he prayed and wept over Jerusalem. From the garden of gethsemane to the temple we are talking about a quarter of a mile walk downhill and the uphill through the eastern gate. This is where Judas brought the temple guard for his arrest.