Then came Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and said unto the disciples,
Sit you here, while I go and pray yonder.
Read Chapter 26
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, &c. Gethsemane is the valley of oil or fatness, or more precisely, the oil-press, for pressing the oil from the olives which grew on Mount Olivet. It was somewhat more than half an (Italian) mile from the cÅ“naculum (upper chamber). Christ withdrew there—(1) for retirement and prayer, and to be free from distraction; (2) to show that He did not fly from death, but rather sought for it, for the place was well known to the traitor; and (3) to show that He suffered out of pure love and compassion for men. For oil is the type of compassion; and as oil was in that spot pressed from the olives, so in His agony was the Blood of Christ pressed forth, with which we are refreshed as with oil, are anointed and are fed. See Song of Solomon 1:3.
Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. That Isaiah , in the garden, about a stone"s throw distant. See John 8:1; Luke 22:41. Adrichomius describes the hut of S. Pelagia the penitent and the to...
Gethsemani. St. John tells us it was a garden, whither Jesus was accustomed to go with his disciples, which Judas knew. St. Luke says, he went according to his custom to the mount of Olives; i.e. where he used to spend part of the nights in prayer. (Witham)
Gethsemane is interpreted as the “very fertile valley” where the Lord ordered his disciples to sit down and wait for him to return while he prayed alone for everyone. .
Because they clung to Him inseparably, therefore He says, Tarry ye here, while I go away and pray. For it was usual with Him to pray apart from them. And this He did teaching us in our prayers, to prepare silence for ourselves and great retirement.
Wanting to show that he had genuine love, Peter contradicted the Saviour. He had earlier been freed of the fear that he himself might be the betrayer, and now Peter, with great love but also out of a desire for honor, began to rise up against the others and even to oppose Christ. But equally the other disciples, before they had experienced the trials, in ignorance made promises that they would not be able to keep. Jesus went away to pray in private, for prayer requires quiet and solitude.
