Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." - Matthew 26:38
As the darkness of night covers the city of Jerusalem, the impending agony of Calvary descends over the lonely God-man. Jesus knows that he will not face another joyful sunrise before he has suffered and died in agony on the cross. As he has always sought the solitude of prayer and his Father's presence, he now journeys to the garden of Gethsemane outside the city limits. John notes that this was a known location among the disciples, "because Jesus had often met there with his disciples," (John 18:2).
The happy memories of sunnier days have given way to the frightful terror of Jesus's final night. In a disarming moment of honesty, he beseeches Peter, James, and John along with him, and begins to be sorrowful and troubled (v.37). Then the God-Man, the one who had known the limitless bounds of all of Heaven's power and authority, utters the most mortal words: "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." In the fragile sincerity of a mere man, he asks his friends to stay close in the darkness, "Stay here and keep watch with me."
Falling with his face to the ground, we catch a glimpse of the tremendous agony and dread he feels. With a prayer that every human being has prayed in some way, shape, or form, he cries out: "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me."
And yet, the first sign that they will leave Jesus for the wolves comes when they fall asleep. Their love, though heartfelt, is no stronger than their natural and understandable human limitations. Not fully understanding the severity of the situation in which Jesus is in, they give in to the soft, soothing, self-interested sleepiness in which the flesh always enwraps us.
Abandoned as he is, Jesus reveals to us a powerful truth: prayer is where the true battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil is won. It is the distinguishing moment that separates those who merely intend to follow Jesus and those who faithfully follow through to the end.
If we would be faithful friends of our forsaken Messiah, may we learn what the disciples had not yet grasped: that prayer is where the battle is won, and only our Father can grant the strength we so desperately need to face the trials ahead.
