Their last supper together had been eaten.  Jesus had washed their feet.  The hours leading to his crucifixion were quickly passing.  The realization of what lay ahead overwhelmed him, so he withdrew to his place of prayer – the Garden of Gethsemane.  As Jesus reached the Garden, he turned to his disciples and said to them,

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” (Matt. 26:38 NIV)

Just as Satan had tempted Adam and Eve “in the beginning,” Satan had tempted Jesus in the desert at the beginning of his ministry.  But this temptation was greater.  This temptation filled Jesus with such anguish that he sweat drops of blood – a temptation to avoid the Cross.  So Jesus went to Gethsemane to pray.  As the man Jesus, he needed strength to endure the Cross.  He needed the strength to say “Father, not my will but Your will.” 

In this most critical moment of his life, Jesus turned to his disciples, especially James, John and Peter, and asked them to “keep watch.”  Jesus asked them to keep alert and to pray.  But while Jesus was wrestling in prayer, the disciples fell asleep.

“When he (Jesus) rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.”  (Luke 22:45 NIV)

Earlier that evening Jesus had told his disciples how he would be taken from them, that their whirlwind adventure of ministry with Jesus was coming to end.  Jesus was leaving them, and they were bewildered, upset, and exhausted with grief.  But because they allowed their sorrow to consume them, because they focused on how their lives would be affected, they failed to keep watch for Jesus.  They failed to be alert to his greater anguish.  They failed to minister to him with their prayers.  What a heartbreak for Jesus to see his disciples asleep in his hour of need. 

“Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” (Matt. 26:40 NIV)

The disciples missed an opportunity to support Jesus at this critical moment. They failed to “watch and pray.”

Yet, I cannot fault the disciples.  It is so easy to be exhausted by our own problems and concerns.

Deadlines to meet,

appointments to keep,

family problems to deal with,

financial needs to contend with,

health concerns we are faced with,

even the busyness of life can overwhelm and exhaust us.

And so, we fail to keep watch, to be alert to the anguish of others. 

As difficult as it at times to take our eyes off of our own needs, the Lord want us to be alert to the needs of others.  He wants us to intercede in prayer for them as fervently as we do for our own needs.  Perhaps this is why the Apostle Paul exhorts us to:

  “Carry each other’s burdens. . . “ (Gal. 6:2 NIV)

 Lord, help me be alert to the burdens of others and be moved with compassion that inspires me to be as passionate in prayer for their needs as I am for my own.         Lord, as your disciple today, let me embrace wholeheartedly your Garden of Gethsemane request –  to watch and pray.