Watch With Me

"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with Me."  (Matthew 26:38)

It was a night of remembering and it was a night of watching.  It began at sundown, as do all days of the Hebrew calendar.

It was Passover, a night when Jews recalled the mighty acts of God who delivered them from the cruel bondage of Pharaoh.  God had told them to take the blood of an unblemished male lamb and put it on the door frames of their homes.  That night when the Lord passed through the land to strike down the Egyptians and saw the blood on the door frames, He would pass over that home and not allow the destroyer to enter. (You can read the story of the first Passover in Exodus 12.)Since that time Jews all over the world celebrate Passover each Spring, in accordance with all the Lord commanded them. 

Jesus celebrated Passover that last week with His disciples.  As people streamed into Jerusalem to offer their lambs in memory of the mighty act of deliverance from God 1500 yeas earlier, Jesus came to Jerusalem to become the Lamb who would deliver us from the destroyer.

After Jesus and His disciples had eaten the meal the night of the Last Supper, they went to Gethsemane.  Our Lord, knowing His time had come, took Peter, James and John with Him to pray.  He said to them: 

"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Stay here

and keep watch with me."      (Matt. 26:38) 

We know from the story in the gospel accounts, that they did not keep watch with Him; that during a time of great crushing sorrow, Jesus' closest friends fell asleep.  Alone in the garden and in great agony, our precious Lord sweat drops of blood.  Returning to His friends He said: 

"Could you not keep watch with Me for one hour?"    (Matt. 26:40)

These words from our Lord are so much more poignant when we know the story behind them.  When God first brought His people out from slavery, He told them exactly how they were to commemorate that great event as a Passover Feast to the Lord throughout all their generations.  At the end of the instructions He told them:  "Because the Lord kept watch that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep watch to honor the Lord for the generations to come."  (Ex. 12:42)  In obedience to that command from God, the Jews would stay up after eating the Passover meal.  They would pray and sing songs and recite scripture.  They would 'keep watch' to honor the Lord for His mighty act of deliverance.

When I discovered the full meaning of Jesus' question to His disciples - "Could you not watch with Me for one hour?" -  it brought tears to my eyes.  My tears were for our Lord Who endured this crushing time without His beloved friends by His side.  My tears were for the disciples, who must have been so confused and afraid upon waking to see the betrayer Judas arriving with the chief priests, elders and an armed contingent - ready to arrest their Lord and lead Him to the cross.  But my tears were also for me because I knew had I been there, I too would have failed Him.

I know in my life there have been many opportunities to 'watch' with our Lord, to spend time alone with Him, to contemplate all that He has done for me by His mighty act of deliverance on the Cross.  Opportunities where He has invited me to an intimate time with Him in the garden, opportunities when He has invited me to share in His sufferings.  Many times I have failed. Yet He still calls, He still beckons:  Watch with Me!

May we all find time this Passover Season to watch with Him.