With Jesus

In the Garden of Gethsemane, we witness the amazing love of Jesus Christ when he asks the disciples to keep watch with Me.

“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”  And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me” (Matthew 26:36-38 ESV).

What an awesome privilege we can have to keep watch with the Son of God. Jesus not only asked Peter, James and John to remain with Him, but He also asked them to keep watch. The root word for watch is very powerful. It can be used with raising the dead; to stir up and rise to arms; get up, come, and rouse. “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:14). Watching wasn’t just watching.

But watch what? Do we just watch Him? Do we watch for the betrayer?

We watch Jesus, and we see He was sorrowful, even unto death.

In the Garden, Jesus revealed His feelings to His followers, Peter, James, and John. He was very sorrowful to the point of death. But it was foretold: A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3,6). Did it occur to His disciples their sins brought about His grief?

Christ grieved because of what was going on in His heart at Gethsemane, and what was going on in the human heart.

One way you can watch with Jesus is to pay attention to your 0wn heart. Keep your heart soft and pliable in the hands of God, so that you can always see and accept what Jesus Christ has done for you.