Over the last few days, I’ve spent a lot of hours ‘watching’ : watching a friend play cricket, watching the lionesses bring the Euro trophy home, watching ITFC play a friendly match in Colchester, watching Eastenders and other dramas and documentaries.
In Matthew 26:41, Jesus tells His followers to ‘watch and pray’ so they will not fall into temptation. We understand what it means to pray, though we may not do it as much as perhaps we should, but what does He mean by telling us to watch?
Well, the verb can be taken in two ways, both of which rely on attentiveness. We can watch by observing something intently as in the examples I cited earlier or we can watch by keeping guard over something.
The first kind of watching is a deliberate sustained act of looking in order to absorb, notice and process details, although active or passive it is purposeful. The watcher aiming to understand, enjoy or learn from the experience, tuned in, alert, possibly ready to respond but not intervening unless necessary.
In contrast, watching over in the sense of ‘keeping guard’ carries the weight of responsibility and vigilance. It’s about safeguarding someone’s bag while they visit the bathroom, keeping an eye on their mobile while they leave it on charge in the pub or babysitting a pet or child. It involves duty and protection; being aware and ready to act at the first sign of trouble conjuring up an atmosphere of tension and readiness for intervention.
Both senses of ‘watch’ involve careful attention – to observe intently is about perception, to keep guard is about preservation. One is personal and contemplative, the second communal and protective.
These words from Jesus are spoken in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before His arrest when He returns from praying to find his disciples sleeping. Because of the obvious drowsiness of His friends, my immediate interpretation was that Jesus meant ‘watch’ as in the sense of keep awake, observe intently. However, the more I read it, I feel it also is about guarding oneself against temptation or being drawn away from the things of God maybe due to self indulgence or allowing human needs and weaknesses to take over and dull the excitement and immediacy of the Kingdom. Watching means being aware of the possibilities of temptation, sensitive to the subtleties and spiritually equipped to fight it. Because temptation strikes where we are most vulnerable, we can’t resist it alone. Prayer is essential because we need God’s strength to shore up our defences and defeat evil influences. What have you been watching recently?