Stay with Me

Read Matthew 26:36-46

[Jesus] said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
-Matthew 26:38 (NIV)

I tuck my three young daughters into bed. With a peck on my cheek and a hug, two of the girls are quickly off to sleep. But Carly, my six-year-old, has trouble relaxing.

"Please stay with me," she asks.

I sit by her bed. In the dark, I feel her little fingers lock tightly around mine. She is secure in our silent companionship. Neither of us feels the need to talk. My daughter is content to know that I am there. Within minutes her hand relaxes, and Carly is asleep.

This experience with my daughter changes the way I respond to the story of Jesus in Gethsemane. He said to his disciples, "Stay here and keep watch with me." I see Jesus overwhelmed by the path set before him: abandonment by God and rejection by people, crucifixion for the sins of the world. Jesus needed companionship that night.

My first reaction to the scripture is to pray, "Lord, I would have stayed awake. I would have sat up with you." But then I remember how often I fail. I realize that I am too weak to do what Jesus asks.

But Jesus did not come to save the strong. He came for people like you and me who in weakness hold out our hands for help. And Jesus stays with us.

by Tom Smith (Ontario, Canada)