Matthew 26:36-46
In the past 14 months, all of us have been affected by the global pandemic. There are many unprecedented decisions that needed to be made in a short period of time. You may feel sad and distressed during this time. “How long, O Lord?”
Some of us have lost our jobs and loved ones. People are having historically high marriage and family problems. The church and family values are attacked from all directions. 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 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 with 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 asked 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!
馬太福音26:36-46
在過去14個月中，所有人都受到了全球疫情大流行的影響。在短期內要做許多前所未有的決定。在這段時間裡，你可能會覺得難過沮喪。「上帝啊，還要多久了？」
我們中間有些人失去工作，失去親人。婚姻和家庭問題再創新高。教會與家庭價值觀受到各方面的打擊。你也許會問：「誰明白我的痛苦和恐懼，我該怎麼辦？」聖經有談到嗎？讓我們看看最後的晚餐之後發生了什麼。
在耶穌被捕前，祂帶門徒到客西馬尼園。在太26:37中，耶穌感到極大的痛苦與憂傷。耶穌告訴彼得、雅各和約翰：「我的心裏甚是憂傷，幾乎要死。」（太26：38a）。耶穌的痛苦是因為祂要承擔世界的罪，並與天父分離。沒有人能真正瞭解耶穌當時的感受。但讓我們看看耶穌的作為。
耶穌禱告，祂也請求其他人為祂禱告。祂說：「你們這裡等候，和我一同警醒」（太26：38b）。「警醒」一詞具有始終專注和警覺的概念。在這艱難的時刻，耶穌不僅向上帝禱告，而且要他人為祂祈禱。你願意敞開自己，請主內兄弟姐妹為你禱告嗎？分享自己的需求首先必須十分謙卑。
另一方面，如果有弟兄姐妹與你分享其代禱需求，你是否會迫切不懈地為他們祈禱？在他們張口前你是否還會多走一步、確認其需要？我知道許多人家中都有Ring（家居安全系統），當有人靠近你家時，感應器將此動作信號發送到你的手機，你可以看到現場發生的事。
親愛的兄弟姐妹們，耶穌向我們顯明祂如何面對自己的艱難時刻。祂禱告，並請他人為祂祈求。在這悲傷和痛苦的時刻，讓我們大家彼此代禱，一起走過這個艱難的時期。願上帝祝福你的家庭！
～ Rev. Clement Woo 胡嘉明牧師～