Hours
Without End
On the eve of his crucifixion, the
Lord Jesus was just hours away from becoming “sin for us, who knew no
sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Father would be laying upon his Son “the
iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). An estimated 117 billion sons of
Adam have inhabited the globe since the beginning of time. Jesus would
bear the brunt of every wicked and perverted deed, thought and motive
of all of those billions (and counting) during those hours he hung on
the Cross.
There is no way the human mind can
comprehend the enormity of the spiritual collision that took place when
the sinless Son of God incurred the wrath of God on our behalf for the
sins of ALL humanity. That impending burden was beyond astronomical!
Matthew 26:36-45 records a prayer
meeting where Jesus engaged his Father, sorrowful unto death (26:38),
over “the cup” (26:39) that faced him. The Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, divinity now woven with humanity, anticipated
in his flesh the trauma to come. He departed from the disciples, but
took Peter, James and John with him, bidding them “WATCH WITH ME.” This
was a rather profound invitation from the One who’d been WATCHING OVER
them for the last three years. The One who had been bearing THEIR
burdens was now asking them to share in the bearing of HIS by joining
him in prayer.
But could they (especially Peter,
who had rebuked him for predicting his death) grasp the significance of
the hour? Three times Jesus removed himself, and returned to find them
heavy-eyed and sleeping.
There was just ONE ISSUE to be
resolved—the Father’s will. And having resolved it with nothing less
than sweat as it were drops of blood, Jesus concluded the prayer
meeting. At one point, Jesus asked Peter: “What, could ye not WATCH
WITH ME one hour?” (26:40), and followed with this universal truth:
“The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak”
(26:41). The struggle between WILLINGNESS and WEAKNESS is one
we all deal with for a lifetime. But that struggle never existed within
the Son of man.
The question Jesus asked Peter is no
longer applicable. We’re living on the other side of the Cross. There’s
no need now for any man to WATCH WITH HIM. As the believer’s Mediator,
Great High Priest and Advocate, it is Jesus who now desires to WATCH
WITH US.
Whereas Peter, James and John were
WILLING but UNABLE to watch with Jesus for one hour, the Lord Jesus is
ALWAYS willing and able to spend HOURS WITHOUT END watching with us.
One of the greatest comforts to the child of God is to know his Lord,
who once asked his disciples to WATCH WITH HIM for one hour, is WILLING
and ABLE, from his throne in glory, to WATCH WITH US to the extent we
give ourselves to prayer and cast OUR burdens upon HIM!
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