Watching with Him, and watching for themselves
Before the Lord had withdrawn about a stone’s throw from the disciples, He had requested: “Keep watching with Me.” They had not been able to do it. Therefore, the Lord no longer asks them to watch with Him. They are to watch and pray for themselves. They did not have to pray for Him. That would not have suited the perfection of His person. No prayer was needed to make Him ready to accept the cup. But for themselves they were to watch and pray, “so that you do not come into temptation.”
Prayer as protection from temptation
Surely the Lord was not so concerned that their prayer should include not coming into temptation, but rather that the very act of praying would keep them from entering a situation of temptation. This conscious flight under the wings of Almighty God would protect them from the attacks of the tempter. Through spiritual negligence, through sleep instead of prayer, they would culpably place themselves into the dangerous temptation that they were not equal to.
The enemy’s aim, and the disciples’ failure
The enemy is there, with the clear intent of sifting the disciples like wheat. He wanted to keep them from staying with their Master. But the disciples do not watch or pray. They grow drowsy, and give in to temptation. They think of themselves. They feel nothing of the Lord’s distress. They are sad, and fall asleep. Later they all leave Him and flee (Mark 14:50).
The Lord’s foreknowledge and gentle care
The Lord knew all this in advance. His pain increased, since this word from the Psalms would also be fulfilled: “You have removed friend and neighbor far from me” (Psalms 88:18). Yet we marvel at the gentleness and care in His dealings with His disciples. “The spirit is willing,” He says to them (Matthew 26:41). He did not overlook the love in their hearts. They had not intended to leave Him.
The weakness of the flesh, and the call to us
“But the flesh is weak.” They overestimated their strength. The natural man is frail. The three disciples had already fallen asleep on the Mount of Transfiguration. Both the Lord’s glory and His sufferings are beyond the natural man. Yet these are the very themes with which the Lord wants to occupy His own. If they had prayed, then they could have shared in it. They could have done so in the power God can give. This is an address that is also directed to us!
Gethsemane as a place of devotion and failure
Thus Gethsemane became the place of the greatest devotion of the Lord Jesus. It also became the place of the disciples’ failure. As said, we have no right at all to look down on the disciples. We have the Holy Spirit within us, and yet we often behave far worse than the disciples. For as with the disciples, so it is with us. If testing does not meet a posture of dependence and obedience, then we fail in it. Therefore, the admonition applies to us again and again: Watch and pray!
Comments (0)
No comments yet.