Luke 22:44 — The Anointed in the Oil Press

Olive oil does not flow on its own. The olive has to be crushed. The oil for the tabernacle lamp was “pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always” (Exodus 27:20).

Messiah means “anointed,” and anointing was done with that oil. “Elohim, thy Elohim, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows” (Psalm 45:7).

Gethsemane means “oil press.” On the night He was betrayed, the Anointed One went into the place where oil is pressed out, and there He was pressed. He prayed, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). He prayed it “the third time, saying the same words” (Matthew 26:44). The pressing came out of His body: “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44).

Isaiah named who did the pressing: “it pleased Yahuah to bruise him” (Isaiah 53:10). The Son did not crush Himself. He yielded His will to His Father’s will, under the weight of the press.

The olive gives its oil only when it is crushed, and the lamp burns only with oil that has been beaten. The Anointed was crushed in the place of the press so that the light would never go out.