Why our congregation is named Gethsemane

“And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

In the Garden of Gethsemane on the night he was betrayed, Christ our Lord, in His true humanity, recognized the cup He must bear was full of God’s wrath on all man’s sin. He experienced the full weight of dread at the thought of His coming suffering, but despite His bitter agony Jesus submitted perfectly to the Father’s will and went in obedience to His impending suffering and death on the cross, so that in His true divinity He could pay the penalty for all man’s sin and reconcile us to the Father.