The Garden's Only Victor

It began in a garden. The cool of the day was upon the righteous man, and perfection lay about him. He walked in harmony with God and was gifted all of creation and a perfect wife. This was truly paradise and there was nothing a man could desire more. Then on that cataclysmic day he was shown something he never knew when he and his bride were confronted with the desire to know good and evil. It was on this cool perfect day that the eternal fate of all men hung upon temptation of one man.

Yet the temptation was not fought, and they fell prey to its siren call and in an instant their pure hearts became as black as tar. They forsook a relationship with the one true God, to be a “god” themselves. Their desire for God was replaced with a desire for self. They had seen good, but now evil had become their brother and the serpent their father. Their perfection had been traded for damnation. Their harmony had been traded for war. Their love of God been traded for hatred for their Creator. They were tempted in a garden, and their failure damned the souls of every generation. They were cast from that garden, defeated and terrified. And God pronounced his judgment upon them all.

To the serpent, the devil himself, he said. Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." The Enemy knew that God’s words were true, and through the next 5,000 years he would roam the earth and learn of the coming Messiah which he saw create the universe. The words of God would echo in his mind yet all he would hear would be “you shall bruise him, you shall bruise him.” And he knew that the “Him” was God himself. Thus he worked to devastate his coming.

He fought the generations that would be his lineage, and even sought to have Christ himself killed upon his birth. For he did not want Him to make it to the cross. Yet as Christ grew up and at the age of thirty his ministry began. Yet the devil had a ministry of his own, to keep the cross from occurring. Yet after three years, there was still no failure or fault found in the God/man Jesus Christ. And the enemy knew that if he was going to be crushed, he would seek to make the bruise issued to him by God himself as painful and as torturous as possible. To keep Christ from the cross, he would put all of his evil attention and power upon the one who came to save the souls of many.

It ended in a garden. The public ministry of Jesus Christ had come to a close. There were to be no more healings, no more teachings to thousands, but one final command to obey. To die. Christ had just finished teaching the disciples and led the last legitimate Passover of all time. They had broken the bread, and drank the cup the first time and communed with God at their side. This was the only communion that took place which foreshadowed the cross, for in but a few hours the ransom for sins would be paid through his death.

Both Christ, and Satan saw the ordained time upon them, and Satan had asked for permission to sift the disciples like wheat in Luke 22:31. Though addressed to Peter the “you” is plural signifying he intended to do so to them all. In John 16:32 ³² "Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” Though Peter fought these words, this struck the disciples to a point of sorrow for they knew the words of the Lord to be true. Upon this, Christ, let them into the inner sanctum of his relationship with the Father, and prayed for His glorification and for their deliverance from the trial that awaited.

They left the upper room and walked in the night to the Garden of Gethsemane. This was more than likely a private Garden, for the disciples came here often with Jesus to escape the crowds and rest. It was a place to find retreat in the lushness of the olive trees that grew upon the mount, and isolation for prayer. It would have been lit only by the stars and the moon, and being Spring, the trees would be in bloom and the night air crisp. But Christ did not come here to hide from the public, rather he came here to be found. He knew Judas was currently plotting against him, and he knew he would find Christ in the garden.

Thus the hour had begun. The hour that would include his arrest, trial, beatings, crucifixion and the forsaking of His father was upon him. It was the most important hour in eternity and as the Christ entered into the Garden, so did the enemy, to tempt him for the last time.