Watch and Pray: “The Spirit is Willing, but the Flesh is Weak”
Mark 14:32-42
Introduction: There
is a lot of talk these days about AI, artificial intelligence, and how it is
affecting every part of our lives. A far cry from the report that during the
early days of computerized language translation when someone tried to use a
famous verse from our passage in Mark to test the new program. They tried to translate
from English to Russian the phrase, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is
weak.” The result missed the mark just a bit: “The whiskey is good, but the
meat has gone bad!” Oh well, hopefully we can do better as we seek to
understand what God has for us in this passage, Mark’s account of Jesus praying
in Gethsemane. Last week we took a first look at this scene and focused on what
this passage shows us about who Jesus is, and what He came to do. As the first
Adam, through his disobedience brought death and the curse, the last Adam,
Jesus, the God-Man, took the curse for us so that we could receive blessing and
life. This week we return to this scene, considering what it means to follow
Him. As we consider the failure of the disciples, we should be reminded not to
think more highly of ourselves than we ought, and to see our need to stay
watchful and prayerful.
Remember that Mark seems to be writing to believers in Rome that are
suffering for their faith. The positive example is Jesus Himself. One thing
that must come from this scene in the Garden and the passion that follows is
that Jesus understands their suffering, we have a High Priest who can
sympathize with us in our weakness, He was tested in all points like as we are,
yet without sin. We also see Jesus seeking support from His friends, those
closest to Him, but ultimately relying on God to help Him in His time of
greatest need.
The BIG Idea: As we pass through crises in life, we
have the support of the church, and through prayer, because of Jesus, we have
access to God who will always work for our good and His glory.
I. Bear one another’s burdens: The encouragement of the brethren is important to survival in
stress filled times (32-34).
32 And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his
disciples, "Sit here while I pray."
33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began
to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34
And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain
here and watch."
Jesus was under
unimaginable pressure… He says essentially, “The sorrow is more than I can
bear, it is killing me!” Remember the place, at the base of the Mount of
Olives, the Garden called Gethsemane, “the oil press.” Jesus fell on His face
and prayed to His Father, Abba, Papa,
take this cup from me… Remember, He is not just talking about His impending
torture and death, but…
…the “cup” that He prayed might be
removed was not the physical pain He would endure on the cross. Indeed many
Christian martyrs have gone to their death with… no evidence whatsoever that
they wished to avoid the hour of their martyrdom. No, the cup that so
distressed and troubled Him was the spiritual suffering He would endure as He
would bear the sins of the world and drink to the last drop the fierce wrath of
God as our substitute
(Daniel Akin, Exalting Christ in Mark).
Jesus felt the weight of the sins of
the world crushing Him, and with that the horror of the cup of wrath, Judgement
for sins—not His own, He was holy and sinless, but He bore our sins in His body
on the Cross. He took the curse for us. James Edwards wrote,
“Nothing in all the Bible compares
to Jesus’ agony and anguish in Gethsemane—neither the laments of the Psalms,
not the broken heart of Abraham as he prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac (Gen
22:5), nor David’s grief at the death of his son Absalom (2 Sam 18:33)”
(Edwards, Mark, 432).
And so, he asks the disciples to sit
while He prays, and He takes Peter, James, and John a little further. He was
preparing them to be His witnesses, they would be able to testify to the others
about Gethsemane, and He was also teaching them, even though they would fail
here, and fall asleep, they would fail when He was arrested and tortured and
put to death, later, after the resurrection and after Pentecost, they would
learn what it really means to take up their cross and follow him. And they
would be His witnesses. Remember the exchange back in Mark 10. After Jesus told
the disciples, for the third time, about His coming death and resurrection,
James and John came up to Him and asked if they could be the ones to sit at
side in the Kingdom. We read Jesus’ response in 10:38-41…
38 Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you
able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with
which I am baptized?" 39
And they said to him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The
cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am
baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at
my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been
prepared." 41 And when
the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.
Remember that the
indignation of the others was probably not that they were offended at their
colleagues’ request, but that they had gone to Jesus first, they had
jumped ahead in the line! But I want to
point out the reference to the coming “cup” that Jesus would drink. He said, “The cup that I drink you will drink…” Besides
references to a physical cup, like giving a cup of water in his name or sharing
a cup of wine at the Passover table, He only uses the word “cup” in Mark in
this exchange with the disciples and again in the Garden. The disciples had no
idea what was coming, but Jesus did. He would drink the cup of God’s wrath
against sin for them and for us. But there is a sense in which believers share
in the suffering of Christ as we live and carry out His mission in this fallen
world. After all, if the world hates Him, it will hate those who will follow
Him. That is why Jesus warned back in chapter 8 that those who would be His
disciples must be willing to take up their cross and follow Him. As we bring
the Gospel to the world, we are engaging in spiritual warfare. Jesus is engaged
in a battle in Gethsemane. I think the enemy is there, just as he was in the
wilderness earlier in the gospel, wanting to tempt Him to take a different,
easier path. As He prayed, He had asked the disciples to watch and to wait…
It seems to me that the disciples were invited purposefully, to give
support… they were His friends and followers after all, at that time, closer to
Him than his (half) brothers. But also, they were there to learn, Jesus, the
Master, was still teaching and preparing them… They would be His witnesses. Sinclair
Ferguson observed,
Jesus remained faithful when his
heart was breaking, when the cup was bitter and when his companions were weak.
In the light of this Peter’s words are all the more challenging - when we
remember that he was there, with Jesus in Gethsemane: “Christ suffered for you,
leaving an example, that you should follow in His steps” (I Pet 2:21).
Jesus taught by word and by example,
He was teaching the disciples, and us. *As we pass through crises in life, (even
though the disciples failed Him) we have the support of the church, and through
prayer, because of Jesus, we have access to God who will always work for
our good and His glory.
II. Cry out to our Great High Priest: Prayer is the key to survival in stress filled times
as we express our dependence on God and submit to His will (35-40).
35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it
were possible, the hour might pass from him.
36 And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible
for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."
No one else could
understand what was coming… The disciples didn’t even understand what he had
told Him about his death, much less his resurrection. As Jesus anticipated the
spiritual separation, the substitutionary atonement that was about to happen,
He went apart, taking the “inner circle” of three part of the way, and He himself
went further and cried out to the Father, honestly expressing His revulsion of
what lay before Him. Even so, He prayed, submitting Himself to the Father’s
will, “Not my will, but your will be done.”
Why did God inspire Mark to include this in His gospel? Was it to show us how
to pray? Even in the face of suffering, even when it seems more than we can
bear, we can know that God is good and He does good, and so we can trust Him
and pray, “…your will be done…” It is
an expression of faith, as the ladies are learning in their Bible study, not
only believing God is, but trusting Him, taking Him at His word.
Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows… That is what the
prophet Isaiah said of the Suffering Servant. Let’s read 53:3-6 again,
3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we
esteemed him not. 4 Surely he
has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted. 5
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we
are healed. 6 All we like
sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD
has laid on him the iniquity of us all…
God has given us prayer
as a resource to keep us from stumbling… We are called to bear each other’s
burdens, and so fulfill the Law of Christ. But, sooner or later, people will
let you down not be there when they should have been. Read Mk 14:37ff…
37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, "Simon,
are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?
38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 39 And again he went away and
prayed, saying the same words. 40
And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and
they did not know what to answer him.
That is not the way it should be, but
because “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak,” sooner or later, it will
happen. But even at those moments when things seem darkest and you feel most
alone, God is there, and He invites us to pray.
The gospels don’t give us any information about the spiritual battle
that may be happening here. It is interesting that in the accounts of the
temptations of Christ we are told that God sent angels to minister to Him (Mark
1:13, Mt 4:11). Only Luke tells us that here in this context of agonizing
prayer, an angel came and strengthened Jesus in the Garden (Luke 22:43). Does The
Son of God, God incarnate, need to be strengthened? In His humanity, even in
His sinless humanity, He apparently did! Think about what that means. He
understands our weakness.
We truly have a High Priest who understands. No one else might fully
understand what you are facing, but He “…has
borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…” And think about this, the day
will come when God himself will wipe away the tears from our eyes. Our High
Priest was tested and tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin! *As
we pass through crises in life, we have the support of the church, and through
prayer, because of Jesus, we have access to God, who is always good, and who will
always work for our good and His glory.
III. Trust in the will of God: Through prayer we discover the power to bear up under the
trials of life and move ahead in God’s will (41-42).
41 And he came the third time and said to them, "Are you still
sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man
is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42
Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand."
He had told the
twelve that one of them would betray Him. He had told Peter that he would three
times deny Christ, that was still to come.
He had told all the disciples that they would all desert Him.
That was about to come. Now, for the third time, after asking them to watch and
pray, He returns and finds them sleeping.
They did not seem to grasp that they were watchmen, sleeping on the job,
at one of the most pivotal moments in all of redemptive history. Remember just
a chapter back, perhaps at another spot but also on the Mount of Olives, Jesus
had called on the disciples to stay awake. Just the last few verses of the
chapter say,
33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will
come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his
servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay
awake. 35 Therefore
stay awake- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in
the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or in the morning- 36 lest he come suddenly and find
you asleep. 37 And what I say
to you I say to all: Stay awake…" (Mark 13:33-37).
That generation needed to be alert
for the coming judgment of Jerusalem, and every generation since has needed to
live in recognition that the day is coming when Christ will return and when God
will judge the world in righteousness. Until that day we are here to proclaim
the message of the Gospel, and to use our gifts to build each other up so that
we can more effectively carry out God’s mission in the world. We need to stay
alert, recognizing we have an enemy who goes about as a roaring lion, we are
engaged in a spiritual battle, and I believe that we need to be alert to our
own weakness, living by faith, trusting Him in our need.
“…it is enough, the hour has come…”
— It seems like a strange phrase in this context. Enough what? The word “enough” can be used in the sense, “the bill is paid.” That would mean, perhaps, that the matter is settled. This time
of testing is over. Jesus has proved
faithful, standing fast and submitting Himself to the Father’s will. It is time
for this story to move ahead, according to God’s plan.
“…rise, let us be going…” He
is not saying, “Let’s get out of here!” He is saying, let’s get to the business
I came to do. The word “rise” is sometimes used with a military connotation:
Charge! Move ahead! Engage the enemy! Jesus is not on the defensive. This made
me think of that scene in the Temple recorded by Luke, when Jesus is left
behind in Jerusalem by Mary and Joseph. Of course, they panicked. He said,
“Didn’t you know that I would be about my Father’s business?” Here, in
Jerusalem again, He is in control, about the Father’s business, guiding the
story ahead to it’s necessary conclusion. For this purpose He came into the
world. What does it mean to follow Him?
What is God saying to me in this passage? As we pass through crises in life,
we have the support of the church, and through prayer, because of Jesus, we
have access to God who will always work for our good and His glory.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage?
1) In the Light of the Gospel – Stay awake! We can judge the disciples
harshly when we see their failures. But consider that we have the full light of
the gospel, and we have the indwelling Holy Spirit with us and in us. There
came a point, after the resurrection, when Jesus opened their minds to
understand the Scriptures. On Pentecost they would be baptized, sealed, and
filled with the Spirit, and these same men became bold proclaimers of the
gospel, and tradition tells us, one-by-one, they were martyred for their faith.
Have you ever fallen asleep in church? Maybe not. But have you ever been in
church, daydreaming, going through the motions, singing the songs without
considering the words? Have you ever
dozed off reading the Bible or praying? Enough said!
2) Jesus was accomplishing the
once for all redemption that He came to provide. Even so, He was also giving
the disciples, and us, and example. The Garden was a prelude and preparation
for Calvary. Dr. Ferguson said it well,
“We need to learn to ‘watch and pray’
in our current situation, or we will never be able to do so when the ‘evil day’
comes… Gethsemane was unique. We don’t go through our own Gethsemane. Jesus has
done that for us. But we must learn to place our feet in the footsteps of
faithfulness which he planted there, if we are to be his disciples.”
3) What does it mean to follow Him? Would you be His disciple?
That is the call. Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, came and satisfied divine
justice, He took your sin and my sin in His body on the tree… He was made a
curse for us. That is how much God loves us. The Son prayed, Papa, Abba,
take this cup from me… nevertheless not my will but your will be done. I
believe that it is because of the last part of that prayer, Jesus willingly
submitting himself to the eternal plan, choosing to take the punishment that we
deserved, that God spared not the Son, but delivered Him up for us all…
How then, must we live? Think about it, AMEN.
Comments
Post a Comment