|
Could You Not Stay Awake
With Me One Hour?
Maundy Thursday gets its name from the Latin word mandatum, from which we get our word mandate or command. It was on this night, at the Last Supper, that Jesus said to his disciples: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
After supper, they went out to the garden. Jesus, full of sorrow, prayed and sweat drops of blood. Three times the disciples fell asleep, and three times he asked, “Could you not stay awake with me one hour?”
That question always gets me.
Because I say I want to give Jesus my best. But often, if I'm honest, I give him my leftovers. Or I ask—whether out loud or deep in my heart—“What's the least I have to do?”
But Jesus didn't ask how little he could give. He loved to the limit.
He showed the full extent of his love.
He disrobed and washed feet.
He gave his life.
He said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.”
And then he said, “You are my friends.”
On this night, we remember that kind of love.
Over the past year, I’ve felt deeply loved by others—but I’ve also seen how often our culture pursues relationships only so long as we benefit from them. We love conditionally. Transactionally. But Jesus didn’t love that way. He gave himself away—for the life and salvation of the other.
And he said: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
So when I hear him say, “Could you not stay awake with me one hour?” I feel convicted. Because if Jesus asked me to do something as simple as staying up for one hour, would I have the willingness to do it?
I see myself in the disciples—not enemies of Jesus, not strangers to him—but his friends who love him… and are still so weak.
“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
As we enter the Triduum—the great three days of the church year—I want to invite you into an act of love, of prayer, and of devotion.
Set your mind on Jesus.
Of course, we are called to set our minds on Christ always—but could you do it for just one hour?
If you're free tonight, if you're not already committed, could you give up one hour to come to the Family Life Center and hear the good news of Jesus told in a profound and moving way?
Would you be willing to spend one hour in prayer, reading your Bible, or simply sitting in the presence of the Lord?
We make time for what matters.
We make time for hobbies.
We make time for sports.
We make time for people we care about.
But sometimes, we forget to make time for the One who gave his life for us.
And still, he asks: “Could you not stay awake with me one hour?”
Go to dark Gethsemane,
Ye that feel the tempter’s power;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see,
Watch with Him one bitter hour;
Turn not from His griefs away,
Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.
| 
