Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation

 

 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch with Me."  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."  Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What?  Could you not watch with Me one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."  And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.  So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.  Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

 

- Matthew 26:36-46 

 

On Saturday, we read about Christ's institution of the Eucharist at His final Passover Supper:   And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.  But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."  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 of the flock will be scattered.'But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.  Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And so said all the disciples.

 

  Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch with Me."  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." My study Bible explains that when Christ speaks of this cup He's referring to His impending death.  It notes that according to His divine nature, He willingly goes to His death.  But as a human being, He wishes He could avoid it -- it is the mark of humanity to abhor death.  Christ prays if it is possible that it be taken from Him, and gives thereby abundant proof of His human nature.  But Jesus is also without sin, and completely subjects and unites His human will to the Father's divine will.  

Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What?  Could you not watch with Me one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."  And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.  So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.  Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."  Jesus teaches the disciples (and us) to watch and pray.  My study Bible comments this command the key to Christian spirituality and our struggle against temptation.  By this, it says, Christ's human soul is strengthened, and He faces death with divine courage.  By contrast to Jesus' vigilance, the disciples sleep.  As body and soul are united, my study Bible says, the spirit is paralyzed by a lethargic body.  A willing spirit, which recognizes the weakness of the flesh, struggles against its weakness, relying on God's presence and power.  

My study Bible offers this final thought on today's reading, that a willing spirit, recognizing the weakness of the flesh, struggles against its weakness, relying on God's presence and power.  This statement is powerfully true, and in Christ's agony in the garden of Gethsemane, we also are taught how to approach our own hours of agony and sorrow.  Sometimes it is a struggle just to think what to do next in a difficult situation, particularly if we struggle at times of seeming abandonment.  In their sleeping, the disciples figuratively abandon Christ, and we hear His cries of protest, "What?  Could you not watch with Me one hour?"    To struggle against the weakness of the flesh can mean all kinds of things, and in particular, as we relate to the struggle of the humanity of Jesus, that can mean that we struggle against despair, against hopelessness, or even that we give in to the world's certain pronouncement that we're on the wrong course when we follow where our faith leads us.  Jesus' words to the disciples are "watch and pray" against such temptations.  If we think about it we may all have been there at one time or another, and Christ's struggle in the garden becomes our struggle also.  Because the divine Jesus has experienced even this part of our human lives, His life touches us and leads us in so many of our own difficulties.  He has plumbed the depths of such experiences.  When I struggled against hopelessness, not knowing what to do when a parent was under severe duress in the hospital, and left on my own by siblings to make such dire choices, my refuge became prayer.  Any inspiring prayer I could find became a help, memorably and remarkably restoring my energy to face another round of difficult choices.  Christ was right, as should not have surprised me, but prayer did indeed become an inspiration, a kind of miraculous medicine restoring my spirits, so that I could carry on with courage I didn't have a little while before.  What is important is that we take these struggles seriously, understanding or own vulnerabilities.  We "watch and pray" because the world will not always give us good news nor help us in our challenges.  We may also find ourselves sorrowful and deeply distressed.  But just as Christ knows what is coming, and that His struggle -- and even death -- will initiate a New Covenant for all (see yesterday's reading, above), God's ways are not our ways nor God's thoughts our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8).  And so, even in the extreme circumstances of Christ's approaching Passion, He prays and teaches the disciples what they must do in the face of the dire things they will soon face.  If this is Christ's teaching for this most difficult of circumstances, then it must be our lesson too, for life offers us challenges that worldly experience alone does not suffice to help.  We need encouragement and strength in the face of bad news; we need God's way for us through difficult times.  Let us remember that the temptation to despair, to give up, may so easily present itself to us.  We watch and pray because it is what we need through all things.  We don't give up or give in to such temptations of the flesh.  We need the strong medicine of our prayers, and the watchful spirit that knows what is necessary.