Jesus knew that He was about to fulfill His Father’s will to be a sin offering for mankind and He was conscious that He will bear the wrath of God that should be upon you and me. In His humanity, the cup of suffering and judgment from the Holy God seems to be unbearable, that’s why He brought His friends with Him to accompany Him in prayer. He instructed Peter, James, and John to “sit here while I go over there and pray”(v36) and poured out His heart to them by saying, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me”(v38), yet after a few minutes, He found them asleep(v40) and spoke to them saying, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation”(v41). These happened three times.
What does Jesus mean of verse 41? It is more than guarding yourself against temptations. It is much deeper than practicing a habit of prayer. It is all about being aware of His presence! If we are aware of His presence in us…
• … we will surely be aware of the sin of the flesh and worldliness around us
• … we will draw our strength from His grace in prayer to say NO to every form of ungodliness
The Old Testament theology calls it “fear of God”. This means that we have a deep awareness of His presence all the time and we find delight in it. That’s why even the apostle Paul penned this in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
Beloved, God is mindful of us, and may we find delight and confidence that His presence goes with us all the time.
Good morning and have a blessed weekend
