Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
These words reveal the deepest moment of the suffering in Gethsemane, when Christ opens His heart before the disciples. The phrase, “My soul is sorrowful even to death,” shows the degree of grief that a person cannot endure without heavenly strength. This also bears witness to Christ’s true humanity. That sorrow does not come from the feeling of death, but from the immense burden of sin that He carries in place of all. In Gethsemane the Lord stands before the full darkness of the world’s sin as the innocent Lamb. His request, “remain and stay awake with Me,” is a call to all believers to remain watchful in prayer, because it is spiritual vigilance that preserves a person in the moment of temptation. This verse shows that the Lord’s grief is the prelude to our salvation: He grieves (in essence, in humanity’s place) so that humanity, found in sorrow, may find comfort.