And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.
In the garden on the night of His final agony He told Peter, James and John that His soul was crushed by a grief heavy enough to kill Him, and asked them to remain nearby and keep awake with Him while He prayed. That grief was anguish of soul under the guilt of fallen humanity laid upon the Sinless One and the sense of being shut out from the Father's sustaining presence under the wrath against transgression, not fear of bodily suffering and the physical pain of crucifixion. He would not use His divine power to escape, but as man surrendered His will in complete submission to suffer the consequences of man's sin and endure that wrath in order to save humanity. His request showed His longing for human sympathy, companionship and prayer in the conflict, yet the three slept instead of watching and praying and left Him to wrestle alone with the powers of darkness. The command to stay and watch stands as a warning to God's people still, that they must remain spiritually awake in earnest prayer and communion with heaven so they do not enter into temptation and are not left unprepared for trial.
Gethsemane Setting and Words
The words were spoken in Gethsemane on the night of His last agony, on Passover night when the city of pilgrim tents lay hushed under a broad full moon. The garden was His familiar, usual place of retreat to brace His spirit for trial and duty by fervent prayer, sometimes through the entire night. The disciples were accustomed to waiting nearby, watching and praying briefly and then sleeping undisturbed until He awoke them to labor anew, so His going there called forth no remark.
He told His other companions to sit and stay, and took Peter, James and John farther into the garden because He must be still more alone. To those three He spoke in mournful tones they had never heard before, asking them to remain and watch with Him. After speaking He withdrew only a short distance where the three could still see and hear Him, and fell prostrate on the ground. John was one of the three permitted to witness the agony, with James and Peter beside him in the garden that night.
As He approached and entered He was in utter sadness and strange silence the disciples had never seen, which deepened as He went on. His form swayed as if about to fall, every step was made with labored effort, and He groaned aloud under a terrible burden. Twice His companions had to support Him or He would have fallen to the earth, while His frame was convulsed with anguish and His pale face expressed indescribable grief.
To say His soul was exceeding sorrowful unto death meant sorrow so profound it reached to death and overwhelmed Him beyond unaided human strength to bear. He feared His human nature might not endure the coming conflict, with the destiny of the human race at stake, and His grief was more bitter than the final struggle with death. Prostrated on the sod He prayed through fearful hours until bloody sweat was forced from His pores and stained the ground. He fainted and nearly died beneath the burden until heaven sent an angel to comfort Him.
Cause of His Sorrow
His sorrow came as He stood numbered with transgressors, bearing the guilt of fallen humanity with the iniquity of all laid upon Him who knew no sin. The guilt of the whole world rested upon Him, and though sinless He was treated as a sinner so that sinful people could be treated as innocent. His anguish in bearing the sins of the whole world was a human anguish without equal.
After a life walked in the light of God's presence, He now seemed shut out from the light of God's sustaining presence. He felt separated from the Father's love by a broad, black, deep gulf of sin that opened before Him and made His spirit shudder, felt God's presence withdrawn, and felt how terrible is the wrath of God against transgression. The weight of guilt was so great He was tempted to fear it would shut Him out forever from His Father's love, with the destiny of the human race at stake. That deadly grief was spiritual agony from overpowering fear that God was removing His presence from Him.
The exceeding sorrow unto death was anguish of soul from bearing the penalty of transgression for a guilty world, not fear of bodily suffering or of crucifixion's physical pain. He felt the weight of sin and God's wrath against those who break His holy law, and feared that sin had separated Him from His Father. It did not come from Satan or from man, and not from insult, rejection, bitterness and hatred from Jerusalem and the favored people He came to bless, nor from being charged with doing miracles by Beelzebub, though those were a terrible trial.
He would not use His divine power to escape but as man had to suffer the consequences of man's sin and endure God's wrath against transgression. Although He had power to refuse humiliation, He willingly took human nature and surrendered His will in complete submission in order to suffer and die for humanity. The cup of humiliation and sin-bearing trembled in His hand as He faced the suffering ahead.
His request to stay shows His desire for human sympathy, companionship, comfort, and steadfastness during His agony. In supreme, superhuman agony He longed for human sympathy and comfort and came back yearning to know His disciples were praying for Him and for themselves, and He would have been comforted and strengthened by their steadfast faith if they had understood His suffering and sought refuge in God. He knew that few would accept the salvation and righteousness He was making possible at infinite cost.
Call to Watch and Pray
The three were asked to stay where they were and keep watch with Him while He went a little farther to pray, and that charge carries the standing lesson that the Lord's people must remain spiritually awake and pray so that they do not enter into temptation. They did not stay awake and watch with Him but slept instead of watching and praying, leaving Him to wrestle alone with the powers of darkness. Peter slept while Jesus prayed, and all three were asleep when He returned, though Peter had shortly before declared he would follow Him even to death.
At first they were troubled and prayed at His strong cries and did not mean to forsake Him, yet they grew paralyzed by a stupor they could have shaken off by continued pleading with God. Their drowsiness followed their usual habit of watching and praying briefly nearby and then sleeping undisturbed until He awoke them to labor anew. Though they dimly sensed the angels' presence, their drowsiness left them unaware of the scene's power and glory.
By that sleep they missed the spiritual evidence that could have strengthened them for the trials ahead and for His death. Had they watched and prayed they would have better understood His suffering, remembered His prediction that He would die and rise again, and been strengthened for their own trial and for facing His death. That preparation was meant to keep them from being surprised, left unprepared, or having their faith swept away when He was betrayed, condemned, humiliated, and rejected.
The same call warns God's people today of the necessity of watchfulness, earnest prayer, and alert communion with heaven to withstand temptation and receive divine instruction. This is especially urgent amid the dangers of the last days, when many are spiritually asleep because they do not watch and pray.
Peter afterward remembered his failure with breaking heart and penitential tears when he returned to the very place where he had seen his Saviour prostrated on the sod. James also later understood more fully the words about sharing the cup and baptism when he was imprisoned and put to death. Christ's longing for sympathy in that hour proves the desire for love and sympathy is implanted in the heart by God Himself, as seen also in Paul's yearning in loneliness and desertion and in the gladness and cheer brought by the faithful visits of Onesiphorus.
In the garden on the night of His final agony He told Peter, James and John that His soul was crushed by a grief heavy enough to kill Him, and asked them to remain nearby and keep awake with Him while He prayed. That grief was anguish of soul under the guilt of fallen humanity laid upon the Sinless One and the sense of being shut out from the Father's sustaining presence under the wrath against transgression, not fear of bodily suffering and the physical pain of crucifixion. He would not use His divine power to escape, but as man surrendered His will in complete submission to suffer the consequences of man's sin and endure that wrath in order to save humanity. His request showed His longing for human sympathy, companionship and prayer in the conflict, yet the three slept instead of watching and praying and left Him to wrestle alone with the powers of darkness. The command to stay and watch stands as a warning to God's people still, that they must remain spiritually awake in earnest prayer and communion with heaven so they do not enter into temptation and are not left unprepared for trial.
Gethsemane Setting and Words
The words were spoken in Gethsemane on the night of His last agony, on Passover night when the city of pilgrim tents lay hushed under a broad full moon. The garden was His familiar, usual place of retreat to brace His spirit for trial and duty by fervent prayer, sometimes through the entire night. The disciples were accustomed to waiting nearby, watching and praying briefly and then sleeping undisturbed until He awoke them to labor anew, so His going there called forth no remark.
He told His other companions to sit and stay, and took Peter, James and John farther into the garden because He must be still more alone. To those three He spoke in mournful tones they had never heard before, asking them to remain and watch with Him. After speaking He withdrew only a short distance where the three could still see and hear Him, and fell prostrate on the ground. John was one of the three permitted to witness the agony, with James and Peter beside him in the garden that night.
As He approached and entered He was in utter sadness and strange silence the disciples had never seen, which deepened as He went on. His form swayed as if about to fall, every step was made with labored effort, and He groaned aloud under a terrible burden. Twice His companions had to support Him or He would have fallen to the earth, while His frame was convulsed with anguish and His pale face expressed indescribable grief.
To say His soul was exceeding sorrowful unto death meant sorrow so profound it reached to death and overwhelmed Him beyond unaided human strength to bear. He feared His human nature might not endure the coming conflict, with the destiny of the human race at stake, and His grief was more bitter than the final struggle with death. Prostrated on the sod He prayed through fearful hours until bloody sweat was forced from His pores and stained the ground. He fainted and nearly died beneath the burden until heaven sent an angel to comfort Him.
Cause of His Sorrow
His sorrow came as He stood numbered with transgressors, bearing the guilt of fallen humanity with the iniquity of all laid upon Him who knew no sin. The guilt of the whole world rested upon Him, and though sinless He was treated as a sinner so that sinful people could be treated as innocent. His anguish in bearing the sins of the whole world was a human anguish without equal.
After a life walked in the light of God's presence, He now seemed shut out from the light of God's sustaining presence. He felt separated from the Father's love by a broad, black, deep gulf of sin that opened before Him and made His spirit shudder, felt God's presence withdrawn, and felt how terrible is the wrath of God against transgression. The weight of guilt was so great He was tempted to fear it would shut Him out forever from His Father's love, with the destiny of the human race at stake. That deadly grief was spiritual agony from overpowering fear that God was removing His presence from Him.
The exceeding sorrow unto death was anguish of soul from bearing the penalty of transgression for a guilty world, not fear of bodily suffering or of crucifixion's physical pain. He felt the weight of sin and God's wrath against those who break His holy law, and feared that sin had separated Him from His Father. It did not come from Satan or from man, and not from insult, rejection, bitterness and hatred from Jerusalem and the favored people He came to bless, nor from being charged with doing miracles by Beelzebub, though those were a terrible trial.
He would not use His divine power to escape but as man had to suffer the consequences of man's sin and endure God's wrath against transgression. Although He had power to refuse humiliation, He willingly took human nature and surrendered His will in complete submission in order to suffer and die for humanity. The cup of humiliation and sin-bearing trembled in His hand as He faced the suffering ahead.
His request to stay shows His desire for human sympathy, companionship, comfort, and steadfastness during His agony. In supreme, superhuman agony He longed for human sympathy and comfort and came back yearning to know His disciples were praying for Him and for themselves, and He would have been comforted and strengthened by their steadfast faith if they had understood His suffering and sought refuge in God. He knew that few would accept the salvation and righteousness He was making possible at infinite cost.
Call to Watch and Pray
The three were asked to stay where they were and keep watch with Him while He went a little farther to pray, and that charge carries the standing lesson that the Lord's people must remain spiritually awake and pray so that they do not enter into temptation. They did not stay awake and watch with Him but slept instead of watching and praying, leaving Him to wrestle alone with the powers of darkness. Peter slept while Jesus prayed, and all three were asleep when He returned, though Peter had shortly before declared he would follow Him even to death.
At first they were troubled and prayed at His strong cries and did not mean to forsake Him, yet they grew paralyzed by a stupor they could have shaken off by continued pleading with God. Their drowsiness followed their usual habit of watching and praying briefly nearby and then sleeping undisturbed until He awoke them to labor anew. Though they dimly sensed the angels' presence, their drowsiness left them unaware of the scene's power and glory.
By that sleep they missed the spiritual evidence that could have strengthened them for the trials ahead and for His death. Had they watched and prayed they would have better understood His suffering, remembered His prediction that He would die and rise again, and been strengthened for their own trial and for facing His death. That preparation was meant to keep them from being surprised, left unprepared, or having their faith swept away when He was betrayed, condemned, humiliated, and rejected.
The same call warns God's people today of the necessity of watchfulness, earnest prayer, and alert communion with heaven to withstand temptation and receive divine instruction. This is especially urgent amid the dangers of the last days, when many are spiritually asleep because they do not watch and pray.
Peter afterward remembered his failure with breaking heart and penitential tears when he returned to the very place where he had seen his Saviour prostrated on the sod. James also later understood more fully the words about sharing the cup and baptism when he was imprisoned and put to death. Christ's longing for sympathy in that hour proves the desire for love and sympathy is implanted in the heart by God Himself, as seen also in Paul's yearning in loneliness and desertion and in the gladness and cheer brought by the faithful visits of Onesiphorus.