Matt 26:37-38
Close Contact, Close Contact! COVID, Delta, Omicron, what comes next? In the past 2 years, all of us are affected by the global pandemic. You may ask multiple times. “How long, O Lord?”
Unemployment, domestic violence, child abuse. People are having historically high marriage and family problems. You may ask “who knows my pain and my fear, what can I do?” Does the Bible talk about it? Let’s look at what happened after the Last Supper.
Before Jesus was arrested, He took His disciples to Gethsemane. In Matthew 26:37, Jesus becomes anguished and distressed. Jesus tells Peter, James and John, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death” (Matt 26:38a). Jesus is saddened because He is going to take up the sin of the world and be separated from the Father. None of us will truly understand what Jesus felt at that time. But let’s see what Jesus did.
Jesus prayed and He also asked others to pray together for Him. He said, “stay here and keep watch with me” (Matthew 26:38b). The phrase “keep watch with me” has a notion of being focused and alert all the time. During this difficult time, Jesus not only prayed to God but also asked others to pray for Him. Are you willing to open up and ask your brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for you? It requires a lot of humility to share your needs.
On the other hand, if brothers and sisters share their needs to you and ask for prayer, will you earnestly and persistently pray for them? Will you even take one step further to identify their needs before they even open their mouths to tell you? I know many of you have Ring (a home security system). When someone comes close to your home, the motion sensor will sense the motion and will send a signal to your phone and you can see what’s happening.
Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus showed us how He dealt with His difficult time. He prayed and ask for others to pray for Him. During this sorrowful and distressed time, let’s all pray for one another and walk through this tough time together. May God bless your family!
～Rev. Clement Woo 胡嘉明牧師～
Comments