Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and
he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:36-41
The disciples’ time in the Upper Room is over. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the Lord leads His disciples to the Garden at Gethsemane where He will spend time with the Father preparing His heart to go
through the greatest trial a 0ne could ever face.
The time in the Upper Room ended with a song of praise being sung to God. Now the tiny band of the Lord’s followers walk with Him in the darkness to the place of His (and their) greatest test.
When they arrive at the Garden, the Lord leaves 8 of the disciples at the outskirts and takes Peter, James and John with him further into the garden. There he shares with them His need. “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” In His humanity the Lord’s heart likely was at the point of bursting with the agony He is about to suffer. What He asked was that His three most
trusted disciples pray with Him. He asks for their prayer and then goes further into the garden to be with His father. There He prays and asks God if there is any other way to provide for the salvation of mankind, to chose that way. If not, the Lord prays that God’s will be done.
It appears he Lord prayed for about an hour but when He returns to His three disciples in whom He invested the most – the ones He trusted to join with Him in prayer, He finds the O\one request he made of them was not honored.
He came to the disciples and found them sleeping Once again the disciples (and our) actions disappoint the Lord. The Lord discovers sleeping servants. Sleeping means physical sleep but it also carries the implication of spiritual lethargy or unawareness. The term is often
employed to contrast spiritual vigilance with complacency.
And he said to Peter When the Lord finds his disciples sleeping rather than praying, He asks Peter. “Is it too much for you to stay awake and pray for one hour?”It is a question he (and we) must answer individually.)
What can we learn? As we read these words we think the primary issue is the Lord needs the disciples prayer. In reality the Lord wants the disciples to pray to prepare their own hears for the tests they are about to face. The Lord makes this clear with His statement. “Watch and pray that you may not enter temptation”.
He tells them to watch (be awake, alert). The Lord uses this word 6 times between Matthew 24 and 26. It should be attitude of every believer as danger approaches. The second thing we see is that the three disciples do not heed the Lord’s words. They go back to sleep instead of praying. Third we see the Lord’s warning come true. Three times He comes to the disciples and three times they are asleep. Later Peter will deny His lord three times. Not preparing our hearts in prayer will lead to failure to stand for the Lord when tests in life arise. Finally we see the Lord address Peter individually. Prayer is an
individual responsibility. Peter would likely look back on this night and see how the Lord tried to prepare him for the trials he would face, But these incidents are recorded for our benefit as well. Many of us think we would never deny the Lord yet our hearts are not grounded in prayer. Listen to God’s warning. “Take heed, lest you fall.”