The day before at the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had asked His disciples, “Could ye not watch with me one hour?” (Matthew 26:40).
While in the English language the verb "to watch" is most commonly used with the meaning of "look/ looking" (you can watch TV just as you can watch a sunset or watch children playing at a park), in Italian, as in the rest of the romance languages, the verb used in this scripture passage is "vegliare". Now, this is interesting because in Italian you could not "vegliare" the TV or a sunset or children playing at the park, unless the objects or people being watched were in some sort of physical or emotional precarious situation (danger, disease, etc).
"Vegliare" means first and foremost to "be awake", particularly in the hours or in situations when someone is supposed to be asleep. "Being awake" in the sense of being vigilant and on guard, being responsible, protecting and taking care is the true meaning of "vegliare".
If we go to the same Scripture in Greek, the verb is gregoreo, used 22 times in the New Testament.
This is how it can be translated:
Be alert, be vigilant, be awake/ stay awake, wake up.
So, Would I be willing to watch with Him one hour? What is the equivalent in my life today of standing by the Savior’s cross or watching with Him for one hour?
What exactly is the Savior asking of us?
The Savior is possibly inviting us to overcome ourselves and go beyond our physical and emotional comfort zone/ limits/ constraints.
If "vegliare" means to stay awake when we should / could be asleep this is already asking us to overcome our physical needs of rest and rely on Him for physical strength and stamina to do His will even when we know we need rest, when it's not "the appropriate or ideal" time or circumstance to be giving more.
He might be asking us to stay awake and vigilant when others around us are "asleep". This reminds me of the BoM invitation to "come out of the deep sleep" by Lehi to his children :"...awake form a deep sleep, yea even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe." In other words, if we do not heed His invitation, the opposite will be true: being bound by the chains of hell (while still alive on earth).
But why be vigilant? the scriptures are clear: so we can recognize the signs of the times and not be caught off guard when the Lord comes again as thief in the night (Matthew 24:42-43, 25:13, Mark 13:35). To those who are in the "deep sleep" Christ will come as a thief in the night with direct consequences...but if we are awake and alert, we will not be caught off guard and shall be ready and prepared for the event.
While in Gethsemane, the Lord told the disciples that His soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even to the point of death. He asked them to "watch" with Him - or "remain here and stay". As disciples of Jesus Christ, we covenant to “mourn with those that mourn” (Mosiah 18:9). There will be moments when we see clear ways to help someone. However, many times mourning with those that mourn does not mean having the right answer to a question or giving a person the perfect resource. Many times, mourning with those that mourn involves listening, waiting, seeking to understand, and supporting the person through the journey.
Now, it is evident that even though the disciples were physically present at Gethsemane (they could have replied "But Lord, we are here. We have had a long day, and tomorrow will be another big day. We need our rest, even if only for a few hours. Can't you see that we are doing our best? can't you see that we have never done this, it's not what we are used to and frankly we want to continue to sleep at night..."), that was not enough for the Lord. He had some clear expectations. He wanted them present in "HIS WAY".
I wonder what this means when we succor someone: how are we to succor? in our way? in their way? or in HIS WAY? How would Christ have succored himself in this situation if he could have been a disciple and Christ at the same time?
Are we to be stuck on "This is the best I can do right now, take it or leave it!" or do we seek higher and holier way to be present "in the language" of the person whom we are succoring and in the ways of God?
We go back where we begun: watching with the Lord / vegliare/ gregoreo is a way of personal growth and development to overcome the natural man/ woman in us. It is a form of holy repentance ("change of mind, knowledge, spirit and breath" according to the Bible Dictionary and President Nelson).
