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Monday, April 8, 2024

Mathew 26:36-38 ~ Watch with Me

Watch Tower in Israel

 

Mathew 26:36-38

NKJV

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

 

NLT

Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.”  He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed.  He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

 

Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane is the agony of God and man in one Person, coming face to face with sin. The veil is pulled back here to reveal all that it cost Him to make it possible for us to become sons of God. His agony is the basis for the simplicity of our salvation. Because of what the Son of Man went through, every human being has been provided with a way of access into the very presence of God. ~ Oswald Chambers (emphasis is mine)

 

“My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.”

 

Everyone knows someone who passed away and has felt grief over that loss. Depending how close you were to that person, that grief can be even heavier, even overwhelming. No one can tell you when you’re supposed to be over it, or if you ever will.  All we can do is lean into God and trust that He will walk us through.

 

But, man, that phrase. “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death” That sticks hard! Especially knowing that He knew what He was about to go through. I can’t grasp the idea / thought / feeling of being crushed in the spirit; let alone so crushed in the spirit with grief to the point of death. Think about that visual for a minute, read verses 39-44. Jesus said, “keep watch with me” …yet the disciples slept. They who walked with Him for three years; they who saw the miracles; they who saw how Jesus loved people.

 

Keep watch with me, that’s all He asked of them. Yet they slept. I think about how often I slept when Jesus needed me to keep watch. There was that person who needed me to grab a hand and just talk to them, but I slept. Then there was that one the was covered in tattoos that made me nervous, but I slept. There was also one who looked like they had it all together and lived a perfect life, I didn’t know they were dying inside…I slept. Then there was me and the mask I was wearing…I was asleep there too!

 

We need to stop sleeping and keep watch with Jesus, we need each other. We were not meant to go it alone, grab a hand or raise a hand. We all need help, keep watch because His Soul was crushed to the point of death. Our only response to that is hushed worship.

 

“Jesus went to his death knowing that it was his Father’s will that he face death completely alone (Matthew 27:46) as the sacrificial, wrath-averting Passover Lamb. As his death was unique, so also his anguish; and our best response to it is hushed worship.” (Carson)

 

Keep watch with Him.

Pastor Cory


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