Gethsemane – “The Spirit is Willing but the Body is Weak”
Matthew 26:36-46
August 23, 2009
Me: I have never been known as a person of physical strength.
I don’t think anyone will ever confuse me with say, Arnold Schwarzenegger or anybody like that.
When we were working on the parking lot, I envied the guys who could swing those pickaxes longer than I could.
I wear out easily, there’s no question of that.
I’m facing a few physical challenges right now, and along with some other issues regarding major life transitions, it’s easy for me to get very tired, where all I can do is just sit down or lie down and go to sleep.
We: Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about, right? You’re there now or have been in recent memory.
You’re exhausted, for one reason or another, or maybe even a whole bunch of reasons.
Then we look at what we’ve been hoping to get done or accomplish and discouragement sets in. And possibly even more weariness.
And if we’re not careful, we can actually become paralyzed into inaction, because we’re just too tired – physically, emotionally, and even spiritually.
It’s no fun, is it?
Our Scripture passage for today addresses that, and I hope that you will walk away from this time today both challenged and encouraged.
God: We looked at this passage last week, looking at what it told us about Jesus. It can also tell us something about the disciples and even about us.
Matthew 26:36-46 (p. 703-704) –
(This takes place right after the Last Supper. Judas had left the dinner to set up the betrayal of Jesus, and now we find Jesus coming to a place called Gethsemane.)
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"
Last week I focused on the anguish Jesus went through and how regardless of the fact that Jesus asked for the cup of suffering to be taken from Him, He knew He needed to complete the mission He had been given.
He was strengthened during His time in prayer, and He bravely met the men who had been set to arrest Him.
Today I want to focus on the disciples who were with Jesus.
I mentioned last week that these guys were exhausted.
They had already had a long evening celebrating the Passover, which is itself a very involved celebration.
You think Christmas around your house is involved – with all the decorations, presents and such, Passover was even more so.
Nothing about the way we celebrate Christmas is mandated by God, but the Passover was mandated to the last detail, and there were some things that had to be included. It was a big deal.
Two days previous to that, Jesus had told them that during this Passover He would be handed over to the Gentiles to be crucified.
And then during that special meal and celebration, Jesus laid a couple heavy things on them:
First, He told them that one of them would betray Him to be crucified, as He mentioned two days earlier.
Then He gave them some bread and wine, saying that these were His body and blood, given for the forgiveness of sins.
After that, they started walking to the Mount of Olives, and during that walk Jesus tells them that all of them are going to run away from Him in a little while, even though they all denied they would.
Then, as He takes Peter, James, and John aside, He tells them that He is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.
Hey now – how would you react when someone you cared for and loved – maybe your bestest friend in the whole wildest world told you they were so sad they thought they were going to die?
Would you just blow it off? Not if you’re any kind of a compassionate human being, that’s for sure.
Your own heart would break and you’d be wondering what you could do to help.
Anyway, that’s what’s going on here. They were still trying to process all this, not knowing what it all meant.
They didn’t have it all figured out, and wouldn’t until after the resurrection.
These guys were fighting a fog of physical fatigue, emotional weariness and major theological confusion as they tried to figure out what all this was about – the Son of Man dying, the body and blood, the new covenant, all that stuff and probably more.
Can you see why they might have been tempted to fall asleep?
By the time they get to Gethsemane, it’s late in the evening and maybe even early morning. They are beat.
I think most of us can understand, at least little bit, what it’s like to be under that kind of exhaustion.
We go through major life transitions like the death of a loved one, maybe something big in terms of our physical health, a job or career change, something happens that causes us to question our beliefs in certain areas, or just plain physical exhaustion for one reason or another.
Someone wrote that exhaustion is: The feeling that if I had to do it all over again, I’d be too tired. (Sermoncentral.com)
The disciples are exhausted here.
And Jesus told the disciples that this was the time to keep alert and pray, because very soon they would face difficult temptations – including the temptation to fall asleep.
Jesus was not only asking that they pray for him, but also that they pray for themselves.
Jesus knew that these men would need extra strength to face the temptation to run away or to deny their relationship with him.
Remember, they had earlier boasted that they would never leave Him. In their hearts, they believed that would be the case. They had the “spirit is willing” part down.
But their human inadequacies, with all their fears and failures, would make it difficult to carry out those good intentions.
They fell asleep, and in a just a little while, they would run away from Him.
In spite of the opportunity handed to them to talk to the Father on Jesus’ behalf – and their own, that they would be able to stand with Jesus, they fell asleep.
And again, I’m not sure I could have done any better. How about you?
Folks, here’s the bottom line for us today:
Good intentions don’t cut it.
The struggle is shown in the second part of verse 41 –
“The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
When Jesus asked them to watch and pray, I doubt that any of them said, “You know what, Jesus? I’m just too tired for that, so why don’t you just go on without me.”
I’m guessing that they had every intention of watching and praying with Jesus, to support Him in this time of trial and anguish.
Folks, it’s not an issue of good intentions. We all have them.
We all have good intentions about things we’d like to do and see in regard to our own lives and in our relationship with Christ, and even in helping others find Christ.
We all have causes we’d like to support. And we fully intend to do that. But then when it comes time to either write that check or take the time off work, or to buy the plane ticket or whatever, we balk.
Not because we believe God is telling us to not do that, but really, it’s because it’s eating into our comfort and convenience.
We don’t see how we can make it if we truly follow through on what we think God is asking us to do.
Now, it’s very possible that you were planning on doing something and when it came right down to it, you honestly felt God telling you to wait. I’m not discounting that happening. It’s happened that way for me and I’m guessing for some of you.
But let’s be honest: how often do we let our own comfort and convenience get in the way, and we try to find some sort of spiritual excuse to rationalize it?
I can tell you from my own personal experience that it’s way too often! In fact, that’s one of the things God is dealing with me about right now.
Folks, the disciples here fully intended to stay awake and pray with Jesus. But their good intentions didn’t get the job done.
It’s the same for you and me, if we’re not diligent and intentional.
You: What’s the answer? The first part of verse 41 –
"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
1. Watch.
Amplified –
“All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation.”
Now remember, all of us will experience temptation. The question is whether or not we’ll allow ourselves to fall into sin.
The way to overcome temptation is to stay alert and to pray. This means being aware of the possibilities of temptation, sensitive to the subtleties, and morally resolved to fight courageously. (LACNT)
This also means you give a little more thought to what you allow into your life, remembering the fact that God has called you to a life of holiness. Holiness by His standards, not yours or anyone else’s.
Watch that you don’t let your standards slip for the sake of convenience or because you think you might lose points with your friends.
Watch that you don’t put yourself in situations where you can be drawn into sin.
And it doesn’t even have to be issues of “big sin” like denying Jesus, sexual sin, or lying.
One of the temptations the disciples faced here was to sleep. That’s not usually considered a sin by Scripture, although in this case Jesus had asked them to stay awake.
The temptation might be to just procrastinate on something you know needs to be done. That’s one I face all the time!
And one of these days I’m going to get around to working on that…
But we need to be awake and alert to those things that may draw us to sin.
The second thing we’re supposed to do is…
2. Pray.
Temptation strikes where we are most vulnerable, and we can’t handle it alone. Prayer is essential because God’s strength can shore up our defenses and defeat Satan. (LACNT)
So what should we pray about in regard to temptation?
We’ve all heard Philippians 4:6-7 –
6 Do not be anxious about some things, but in other things, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
It doesn’t say that, does it? No, it says don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything, present your requests to God.
We’re supposed to pray about everything, including our temptations. And when we do that, we get a benefit from God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I think Christians don’t pray enough, at least not intentionally, particularly when it comes to areas of temptation.
We think we’re big enough to handle it on our own, so we don’t think we should bother God with it. And yet it’s so big that we can’t seem to overcome it.
Or we think it’s too big and so we just give in.
But that’s not the way of someone who is serious about following Jesus.
We’re supposed to pray.
Pray when you’re up against it. Pray when the temptations come, whether big or small.
Pray when you’re too tired to go on. Pray when the pressure is there to compromise or give up.
Pray – pray that God would show you the way of escape He has promised us when we’re tempted.
The specific challenge of this passage is to watch and pray so you stay strong for Christ whatever the circumstances are.
But there’s a broader application, I think.
The application I want to point out is to consider if there is anything in your life that Jesus is asking you to do, but you’re allowing your “weak body” to get in the way.
Is there something that’s been on your heart but it’s dying in the land of good intentions?
Is there something you know God is asking you to do, but you’re not pulling the trigger?
Watch and pray – look to see if there is something in the way, and pray for the wisdom and strength to move on to whatever it is God wants you to do.
And when you do that, God is there. He’s ready, willing, and able to give you the strength to stand when the going gets tough, when obeying His call on your life gets hard and weary.
You see, Jesus didn’t say to the disciples, “Watch and pray, unless you get too tired. Then go ahead and sleep.”
He doesn’t give us an out for exhaustion. He gives us opportunity to call on God for the strength we need to battle through it.
It’s up to you and me to take the opportunities, leaning on God for the strength to go through with it.
We: I just want to end by showing a verse from the Psalms that I believe will be an encouragement to all of us when we’re faced with the temptation to quit or give up because we’re exhausted.
It has served as an encouragement from me to time to time, and I pray that you will find encouragement as well.
Psalm 73:26 –
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Folks, Jesus prayed in that garden, and when He prayed, He gained strength He needed from the Father to complete the task He had been given.
The real secret to spiritual strength isn’t a secret at all. It’s been out there for more than two thousand years.
Watch and pray. And see God do His thing in you and through you.
Let’s pray.
