Jesus Understands

We’ve spent a lot of time alone these past weeks. As I’ve chatted over Zoom, Voxer, email, and text with friends and family, it’s clear everyone has felt a heaviness from the imposed social distancing. Even when we have family members surrounding us, we can still experience feelings of loneliness if we feel misunderstood, or in moments when we need a break from each other.

For the past several weeks, our church has met online, and our pastors continue to remind us that God is our comforter (2 Cor. 1:3-4). But when we’re in the middle of a stressful season, it can be hard to remember that our Creator also experienced loneliness.

In the hours before Jesus hung on the cross, willingly sacrificing his life for humanity’s sins, he went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 26:37-40 says, “Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?’”

I’ve always believed this last question from Jesus to the disciples must have been in a tone of disappointment. I hear Jesus say, essentially, “Come on, you guys! Don’t you see how stressed I look? Can’t you pray with me for an hour?” While I still think there may have been some disappointment mixed in, I think that in truth, the realization that the disciples fell asleep caused Jesus to feel isolated in his anguish, even though his closest companions were nearby.

In 40 Days of Decrease, Alicia Britt Chole says, “Jesus stated, ‘Stay here and keep watch with me’ (Matt. 26:38). ‘Keep watch’ is translated from γρηγορέω (grēgoreō), which can mean, ‘to stay awake,’ ‘be alert,’ or ‘be vigilant.’ Jesus requested His disciples’ active support.”

Chole goes on to point out, “He did not want to be that alone. Jesus requested the disciples’ companionship: their alert presence could have been a comfort to Him. We know that Jesus’ presence is valuable to us, but we rarely consider the possibility that our presence is valuable to Him.”

Before asking the disciples to stay and keep watch with him in Matthew 26:38, Jesus says, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” He tells the disciples why he needs their support and prayers. But he doesn’t just ask for prayer. Jesus asks the men who have spent the last three years traveling with him to stay physically near him in his most stressful hour.

Jesus tries two additional times to wake Peter, James, and John in between prayer times. Finally, the disciples wake up when Judas returns with a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and the elders of the people (Matt.26:47). Can you imagine how the disciples’ stomachs must have lurched as they took in the situation before them? Peter’s first impulse was the cut off the ear of one of the high priest’s servants (John 18:10). But then Jesus spoke up, put an end to the potential fight, and willingly left with them, knowing they would soon cry out, “Crucify him!”

Jesus brought the disciples with him to Gethsemane for emotional support and comfort during his hardest hours. He clearly communicated his emotional distress and asked for his friends’ help, but they didn’t follow through in the way he needed them.

• Jesus understands how it feels when our friends don’t understand our pain.
• He understands the loneliness we can feel still surrounded by other people.
• He knows the disappointment that comes when our friends break a commitment.

Does knowing Jesus understands loneliness give you comfort? Do you feel better about expressing when your soul feels overwhelmed? I hope so, and I believe Jesus delights in the moments when we trust him enough to really express ourselves to him. That’s what relationships are about, aren’t they? Leaning on each other in every situation, even when we’re lonely.

Beth Walker is a football coach’s wife and mom of two energetic boys. She strives to encourage those around her to pursue their best lives in Jesus whether she is near the game field, in church, or at the local coffee shop. As a writer, Beth has been striving to find her voice through seeing Jesus in the ordinary and extraordinary of daily life. She blogs at Lessons from the Sidelines.

Photograph © Edu Grande, used with permission