He Hath Trodden the Winepress Alone
December 22nd, 2005 by BrandonChrist hath trodden the winepress alone. (Isaiah 63:3, D&C 76:107). As obvious as it seems to me now, I never really understood the meaning of the phrase. I think I could also put it in these words: “Christ smashed the grapes by himself.”
Quoting from “Gethsemane” by Andrew C. Skinner:
Anciently, winepresses and olive presses were sometimes used interchangeably. Several people would get into the press, and a rock-lined pit with a mosaic or plaster floor, and, holding onto one another, smash the grapes or olives with their feet until the fruit turned into a thick pulp. Unless one held onto others in the press, it was almost impossible to lift one’s feet in the thick sludge to tromp the grapes into juice. It also became very slippery, and without others in the press to hang onto for support, it was very easy to fall. Thus, when the Savior says he trod the winepress alone, he means that at a certain point in Gethsemane no one was there to help him through his ordeal. Ironically, in a place named for an activity that required several participants, one Man suffered for all men. (p.118)
May 24th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Not only that, but this scripture corresponds to the one in Rev. 9:13 where it says He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. As he trod out the grapes, the bottom of his garment was stained. Try doing that without getting any on your clothing. So the grapes of course represent the very life’s blood being crushed out of him, and this he had to do all alone, with no one to bear him up. This is prophesied of in Genesis when Jacob is prophesying over his son. Genesis 49:11 says He washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes. What a thread of continuity runs through the entire scriptures, from Genesis to Revelations, we see that the garment dipped in blood is spoken of from the first to the last!