The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young, Vol. 4: And His Life Depicted in a Gallery of Eighty PaintingsNewton, Richard
Religion
The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young, Vol. 4: And His Life Depicted in a Gallery of Eighty Paintings
Newton, Richard
Jesus Christ -- Art; Jesus Christ -- Biography -- Juvenile literature
And, in studying the history of our Saviour’s life, we may compare
ourselves to persons sailing over the ocean. The things that he did, and
the words that he spoke, are like the water over which we are sailing.
And when we try to understand the meaning of what Jesus said and did,
we are like the sailor out at sea who is trying to fathom the water over
which he is sailing, and to find out how deep it is. And in doing this
we shall find the same difference that he finds. Some of the things that
Jesus did and said are so plain and simple that a child can understand
them. These are like those parts of the ocean where a very little line
will reach the bottom. Other things that Jesus did and said require hard
study, if we wish to understand them. But then, there are other parts of
the sayings and doings of Jesus which the best and wisest men, with all
their learning and study, cannot fully understand or explain. These are
like those places in the sea where we cannot reach the bottom with our
longest lines.
We find our illustration of this in the garden of Gethsemane. Some of the
things that were done and said there we can easily understand. But other
things are told us, of what Jesus did and said there which are very hard
to explain.
In speaking about this part of our Saviour’s life, there are two things
for us to notice. These are what we are _told_ about Gethsemane, and what
we are _taught_ by the things that took place there. Or, a shorter way
of stating it will be to say that our subject now is—_the facts—and the
lessons of Gethsemane_.
Let us look now at the facts that are told us about Gethsemane. It is
a fact that there was such a place as Gethsemane, near Jerusalem, when
Jesus was on earth, and that there is such a place there now. It is a
fact that Gethsemane was a garden or orchard of olive trees then, and
so it is still. Everyone who goes to Jerusalem is sure to visit this
spot, because it is so sacred to all Christian hearts on account of its
connection with our Saviour’s sufferings. The side of the Mount of Olives
on which Gethsemane stands is dotted over with olive trees. A portion
of the hill has been enclosed with stone walls. This is supposed to be
the spot where our Lord’s agony took place. Inside of these walls are
eight large olive trees. They are gnarled and crooked, and very old. Some
suppose they are the very trees which stood there when Jesus visited the
spot, on the night in which he was betrayed. But this is not likely. For
we know that when Titus, the Roman general, was besieging Jerusalem, he
cut down all the trees that could be found near the city. But the trees
now there have probably sprung from the roots of those that were growing
in Gethsemane on this very night.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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