Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak

 

 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

    'I will strike the Shepherd,

    And the sheep will be scattered.'

"But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  But he spoke more vehemently, "If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And they all said likewise.

Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray."  And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch."  

 

He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.  And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."  Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping?   Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words.  And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.  Then He came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  It is enough!  The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

 

- Mark 14:27–42 

 

 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?"  And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.  Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'  Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."  So His disciples went out, and they came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.  In the evening He came with the twelve.  Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me."  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."  And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.  Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

 

 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'   But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  But he spoke more vehemently, "If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And they all said likewise.  Jesus quotes from the prophecy of Zechariah (Zechariah 13:7).  He Himself is the Shepherd of the prophecy, the prophesied Messiah.  Peter contradicts Jesus' own prediction, following the Scripture, that "all of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night."  We will later see Peter's reckoning in regard to his own certainty, as Jesus' subsequent prophecy regarding Peter is fulfilled:  "Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times." 

Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray."  And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch."  My study Bible explains that Gethsemane means "oil press."  Jesus and the disciples are now in an orchard of olive trees at the foot of the Mount of Olives.  A note on this garden, mentioned in John 18:2, comments that as Christ intentionally came to the place known to His betrayer, Judas, one of His disciples, shows that He was going to His Passion willingly and voluntarily.  It reveals, my study Bible says, that Christ went to find Judas rather than Judas finding Christ.  Let us note that Jesus, in His exceedingly sorrowful state, even to death, tells the disciples, "Stay here and watch."  Watch is the repeated word we've heard Him give as He warned of the distress and tribulation to come in the end times.  This vigilance is the repeated word of Christ for our conduct as we await His return.

He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.  And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."  Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping?   Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words.  And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.  Then He came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  It is enough!  The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."  My study Bible comments that Abba in Aramaic is the familiar form for Father, similar to saying "Papa," which teaches us of Christ's intimacy God the Father.  This cup refers to Christ's impending death.  According to His divine nature, my study Bible says, Jesus willingly goes to His death.  But as a man, He wishes He could avoid it, for it is the mark of humanity to abhor death.  He prays that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him, giving us abundant proof of His divine nature.  But despite this struggle of agony, Jesus is without sin.  He completely subjects and unites His human will to the Father's divine will.

Yet again, we find Christ repeating these words, to watch and pray.  And again, we note the importance of these repeated words, an admonition which He sprinkled throughout His warnings of the end times to come, the tribulation which His followers would face in one form or another through the times in which we now live as we await His return.  Here, He tells Peter, "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  It seems likely that we can consider Peter to be a stand-in for all the disciples, representing them, and even representing those of us who would be His disciples, the faithful to come.  These words are for all of us, even all the time, as we go through our lives and our own difficulties, our own struggles with faith -- and especially with times of tribulation, worry, shock, or fear.  In His prophecies of end times, Jesus repeatedly warned of troubles to come, such as natural disasters, wars, persecutions -- even of being hated by all for His name's sake.  What this means is that even in those times when we are tempted to panic, to flee, to fight, to take up weapons, to do whatever we can to evade what is coming in life, and even when sitting down to pray is the last thing on our minds -- it even may take great strength and forced concentration to do so, even against our own wills, we are to "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  These words are especially important to St. Peter, for he is our example of our own trusting to ourselves when we need to rely upon the strength of God to help us under difficult circumstances, especially when we struggle with threatening and frightening events in our lives.   Sometimes it takes intense focus and concentration, and a great act of will to pray, particularly when we feel overwhelmed and in desperate need to change the things that loom too large to avoid.   The events to come would shake the disciples to the core, and may be so great in their impact that we cannot possibly imagine the turmoil they went through.  But these are the words of Christ for them, and in our own times of agony we should remember them as well.  For, no matter what there is to do, it is in our prayer we call upon the help we need when our own resources cannot meet the struggle.  What often seems like only a "worldly" problem is compounded in its spiritual impact, and we need God's help to see where we are, even to accept something we can't bear to face.  This is how we find our way through the times that hurt, through unbearable bad news, through betrayals and tribulations, or losses we don't know how to bear.  Let us remember His words in all times.