The Garden of Gethsemane
The Garden of Gethsemane For nearly sixteen hundred years this Garden of Gethsemane, in the Valley of Kedron, has been fixed by the devout as the place of the prayer of our Savior at the time of his “agony” just before his death. John says: “ Jesus went forth with his disciples over the brook Kedron, where was a garden into which He entered with his disciples.” Mark says: “And they came to the place which was named Gethsemane, and He said to his disciples, Sit ye here while I shall pray .” Since the days of the visit of the Empress Helena to Jerusalem, in the fourth century, this garden has been identified by tradition. The Valley of Kedron (Jehoshaphat) is here deep and narrow, and Gethsemane occupies about an acre of ground, to the north of which are rugged and barren heights in which the kings of Jerusalem are buried. To the west are the massive walls of Jerusalem. To the east, and rising directly above it about three hundred feet, is the Mount of Olives. The Valley of t...