Friday 10 April 2009 . 08:53

Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46)

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"


Last night we had an adoration at St Julian's Church. The adoration was based on the above scripture, and the phrase "watch with me one hour" has been recurring in my head ever since. During the one hour adoration, I kept questionning myself "would I sit with Him one hour?". Suddenly, I felt myself drowning in a million thoughts, and I could picture myself sitting with Jesus for a while, then running away out of fear. I'm sure I would have been one of the disciples asleep during Jesus' most heartbreaking moments in the garden. Do I love Jesus enough to stay awake with Him, to hurt when He hurts, to cry when He cries?
It is very easy to sit awake with someone you care about so dearly such as a best friend, brother, sister, father, mother. But then I thought about the fact that I love Jesus as much as I love my most distant brother, because there is Jesus in every single person I know and meet. So I thought about people I don't get along with too well, and I wondered whether or not I would sit up with them in moments of despair. Would I?
I got deeply in touch with that feeling, and with that same feeling still vivid in my heart, I then sat awake with Jesus for an hour, in worship, in love, in grief for all He went through for each one of us.... for YOU... for ME!



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