Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Matthew 26:38
Loneliness. If you have ever experienced it, you know. Jesus felt it too on that night in Gethsemane. Throughout his life he had enjoyed the crowds in the temple, and he had experienced the closeness of those who followed him day and night listening to his teachings and experiencing his miraculous power. For three years he had savored the constant friendship of the twelve disciples, his closest chosen companions. Yet on the night that he needed them the most, in those final few hours of his life, they fell asleep. They abandoned him. They failed him in his hour of need.
Loneliness is a shared human experience. As we go through life, friends betray us, others desert us, society judges us unfairly, spouses, children, and bosses fail to appreciate us, marriage relationships sour and disintegrate, friends die and on and on it goes. Loneliness can creep in at any moment in life and especially in the twilight years of our lives. It seems that when we need people the most, they are often nowhere to be found. Jesus understands loneliness, and on that dark night in Gethsemane in his human condition he came to Peter and asked: “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?”
Despite his overwhelming sorrow, and his deep sense of being alone at a critical time in his life, Jesus does not sit around moping, blaming or castigating. Instead, he shifts perspective to his Father, the only one who will never abandon him, saying, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” Even in his hour of distress, Jesus knows he can turn his Father. Not a generic figure in the sky, but “My Father….” The one who knows him intimately. Secondly, despite his sorrow, Jesus is obedient to his Father’s will, “…may your will be done,” whatever the cost.
Are you lonely? Has loneliness robbed you of all joy? Is this searing emptiness all you can think of day and night? Then know this, just as he was with Jesus, your Father, is for you. As you reflect on Jesus’ experience ask the Holy Spirit for help to shift perspective back to your Father in your distress. Then ask for strength to obey him, no matter what the cost. Let us never forget, Jesus knows because he has been there, and he will be with us through it all. As someone once quipped, “If he brought you to it, he will get you through it!”