‘’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’. He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here and stay awake with me.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.’ Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, So could you not stay awake with me one hour?’’

(Matthew 26: 36-40)

During Holy Week we reflect on the events leading up to the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Here, in this passage from Matthew, well aware of what he faced, Jesus appeals for the support of his closest disciples. He asks them to stay awake with him but they fall asleep. Jesus as Son of God knew he faced an agonising death on the cross where he would suffer not just physical pain but the burden of our sins and separation from his Father. The  human Jesus experienced real and agonising fear, such that St Luke, describing his anguish, writes of his sweat falling on the ground like great drops of blood (Luke 22:44).  Jesus knew that he had the promise of resurrection but he had no illusions about what faced him first. He sought comfort and support from his disciples but they failed him. No doubt they were tired and bewildered by all that had been happening but they failed him: not once, but three times Jesus returned to find them sleeping. The Jesus who had loved them, taught them, Jesus the healer, the shepherd, the light of the world was for once, in his hour of need, asking something of them, the tables were turned. He simply asks them to stay awake with him and to pray. They were Jesus’s closest friends and companions on this earth but they let him down. He needed them so that he would not be alone in facing his ordeal. Finally it is an angel who gives him the strength for what lay ahead (Luke 22:43.)

So how might we respond to what happened between Jesus and his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane? In two ways: firstly. in thankfulness for the comfort the  risen Jesus gives us and secondly through watching and praying for others. The risen Jesus offers us the support and comfort which his disciples, through human frailty, lack of understanding and perhaps discouragement, were unable to give him. He invites us to turn to him if we are heavy laden and promises that he will give us rest. He intercedes for us when we pray. He strengthens us as the angel strengthened him at Gethsemane. We in turn should watch and pray. We are  reminded of the power of prayerful vigil (and we see in recent secular events how people sometimes seek to express solidarity through vigils), the importance of support and comfort to those who are experiencing fear, often alone, facing trials. Jesus, who suffered more than we can ever apprehend, comes alongside people through our presence and our prayers. Like the disciples we at times let Jesus down. May we, as we approach Easter, stay awake, mindful of the need around us, drawing on the love of Christ who died for each one of us. 

A Prayer

Lord,
In the Garden of Gethsemane,
you shared with everyone
who has ever been afraid.

You conquered fear with love
and returned saying,
‘Do not be afraid’.

In the light of your love
death has lost its sting
and so has fear.

Lord, may your love
be the key that releases me
from fear.

Frank Topping