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.’ . . . Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me’ ” (Matt. 26:36, 38, NIV).
The life of Jesus was consumed with ministry. The waiting throngs constantly looked to Him for help, relief, and blessings—keeping Him so busy that He had no time for Himself.
Jesus was God, but He was also a man. As such, He experienced the range of human emotions—from joyful delight as He played with little children, to intense sadness at the lack of faith exhibited by His own disciples.
Like us, Jesus had to deal constructively with these emotions. We tend to exalt Jesus as some superman who never struggled with discouragement, who could automatically arise and stand tall without the slightest hint of discouragement; Gethsemane, however, paints a picture of Jesus that shows just how human He truly was. We see Him overwhelmed with sorrow (Greek: perilupos—“deeply grieved”). In verse 39 He prays, “ ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me’ ” (NIV)—indicating His humanity’s desire to pull back from His lot. Here we see the Savior at the low point of His human experience.
To whom could Jesus turn during these low moments? His disciples? They abandoned Him more than once. Jesus ministered to everyone within His reach. But how often did others minister to Jesus?
The life of the pastor
Outside the bright lights of the pulpit, faithful pastors engage in a multitude of activities: from counseling to youth ministries to administration to evangelism to church school, and more. If one could count the hours that pastors invest in ministry, one could clearly see that pastors have time for everyone except their families. Pastors have even less time for themselves and their spiritual nourishment and physical maintenance.
Add to this the reality that the life of the pastor is extremely lonely. To whom can the pastor turn? Only another pastor who has worked on a daily basis with a congregation can understand the frustrations and heartaches. But pastors are often too busy ministering to the flock to take time to minister to one another. Too often pastors feel (rightly or wrongly) that they must maintain a certain distance from their members.
So to whom does the pastor turn? Can these church members play a role in ministering to the pastor, who gives and gives and gives—without the guarantee of getting something in return?
The answer lies in the passage cited earlier. All Jesus sought was the company of His disciples. It would have been His greatest comfort just to know that His followers were with Him, showing their concern.
Bearing one another’s burdens
Often my church members would tell me, “Pastor, I’m praying for you.” And this always encouraged me, especially when I most needed prayer. Far more powerful, however, than knowing a member was praying for me was when that person called me and said, “Pastor, I don’t need anything. You were just on my mind, and I wanted to call you. May I pray with you?”
When everyone rushes about their business, what a blessing for pastors to know that their members call to pray not only for them but with them. Whether church members realize it or not, pastors struggle with sin and temptation. We also carry with us the burdens of our calling. We each face our own Gethsemane—those moments of intense anguish when we wish that God would ease, or take away, the challenges.
And while our church members pray for us, what an even greater blessing it is for pastors to know that other pastors are praying for them! As colaborers in gospel ministry, who else can know the spiritual battles, the family stresses, the ministerial challenges we face?
Let us always be there for one another, as we each walk through our own Gethsemane.
