Watch and Pray

Text: “40 [Jesus] came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?” (Matthew 26:40)

There are times in the lives of most people when you’ve had to ask more of your children than is really fair, given their age. Perhaps you had to spend hours and hours in an airport unexpectedly; perhaps you’re at a family function and the kids have to miss naps or stay up past their normal bedtimes; perhaps your meal was significantly delayed. In that moment, when your children don’t behave in quite the way you usually expect them to— when they don’t behave as well as usual— you almost certainly went easy on them, didn’t you? As long as they didn’t get seriously out of control, you gave them more leeway because you understood that a lot was being asked of them in that situation— more than you normally would ask.

This feels sort of like that. Jesus and the disciples had just had a really good meal. Jesus had taken them for a fairly long walk, continuing to teach them as they went. Now it has started getting on into the evening; Jesus stopped in a peaceful garden; and they all sat down and relaxed. After all that, Jesus expects them to spend a significant amount of time in prayer. He even scolds Peter— “Could you not watch and pray with me one hour?”

It seems like Jesus is asking a lot from Peter. Dare we say that it seems a little unfair that Jesus would scold him. You and I would find it intimidating to be asked to spend an hour in prayer, even in the middle of the day when you’re well rested. But Peter is scolded for failing to spend that much time in prayer at that time of the evening under those circumstances. It may seem unfair, but it’s actually the opposite.

Praying for an hour seems like a lot, but only until someone you love is really hurting. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, you know what you’ll be doing. You’ll be spending that time in serious prayer. Who could possibly sleep in that moment? Praying for an hour seems like a lot until you have a crisis in your own life. In that moment, it would be insulting to have a friend with you who is constantly distracted and thinking about other things. That’s not a very good friend. He may be perfectly well-intentioned, but he has let you down.

That’s why Jesus is completely justified in being so upset with Peter. Jesus had not only been clear with Peter and the rest of the disciples about what He— Jesus— was about to go through, He had also been clear with Peter about what Peter was about to go through. Peter was about to be seriously tested, as well. And Peter had boasted that he would not abandon Jesus, even if it meant dying with Him. Peter is so concerned for his friend and teacher, he’s so concerned for what he, himself, was about to go through… that he fell asleep. Jesus wasn’t being too hard on Peter. Not with all that was about to happen. Jesus was being fairly gracious when He said, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is week.” It really is shocking that Peter was so casual about it all. How could he possibly sleep in that moment?

At least, it should be shocking. But is it? How often do you find yourself in the same position? You do know that this world wants to test you, don’t you? “Satan has asked to sift you like wheat,” Jesus warned Peter. You do know that satan has his eye on you, too, don’t you? Your spirit may be just as willing as Peter’s was, but is your flesh any stronger than his? If you realize that the devil and the world— not to mention your own, sinful flesh— are constantly putting you to serious tests, then why aren’t you spending a hour in prayer at the start and at the end of your day? Are you too comfortable, too distracted, too worn out from other things?

You consider yourself a faithful disciple. Can you really not find an hour to pray? Half an hour? Do you pause for even a moment to pray for strength to face everything the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh are preparing to throw at you? “Could you not watch and pray with me even one hour?” Jesus asked Peter that night. What would He say to you, here, surrounded by your distractions, your entertainments, your comfortable lives?

Worse, do you resist sin any better than Peter managed to stand with Jesus that night? It takes far less than the threat of death to persuade you to deny Jesus, both by your words and your actions. Could you not pray for one hour that you not fall into temptation?

Peter couldn’t, but Jesus could— and did. Knowing full well what the devil and the world would throw at Him over the following 18 hours or so, knowing the burden of your sinful flesh that He was about to carry, He prayed to the Father for strength. “The Lord God opened [His ear] and [He] was not rebellious; [He] turned not backward. [He] gave [His] back to those who strike, and [His] cheeks to those who pull out the beard; [He] hid not [His] face from disgrace and spitting. [And] the Lord God help[ed Him]; therefore [He] was not disgraced; [He] set [His] face like a flint and [He was] not put to shame” (Isaiah 50:5-7).

“24 He himself bore [your] sins in his body on the tree, that [you] might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24)— body and spirit. Even though His strength was dried up like a potsherd in the process, He not only endured the attacks of the devil, the world, and your sinful flesh, “15 He disarmed [them] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them [on the cross]” (Colossians 2:15).

And He has not left you alone to fend for yourself against them, hoping that you might decide to turn to Him in prayer. In fact, He commands you to pray, and He adds a promise: He is praying for you right now, interceding for you before the Father. When He taught you to pray, He instructed you to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven....” That word ‘our’ is a reminder that you pray with all other believers. But it’s also a promise— that He prays those words with you. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that He is inviting you to join in praying His prayer.

He has not left you alone to fend for yourself against them. As often as you realize that the devil, the world, and your sinful flesh are out to destroy you, He invites you to draw strength from Him. Six weeks ago yesterday you were invited to this communion rail to receive ashes on your forehead in the sign of a cross. You were reminded of the ultimate weakness of your flesh. Tonight, once again, you are invited back to this rail to eat and to drink of the very same body and blood that bore your sins on the cross, putting your spiritual enemies to open shame in the process. By this eating and drinking, He strengthens you in faith toward Him and in fervent love for one another.

And, if that wasn’t enough, He also promises you that, when your last hour comes, He will take you from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven. There you will await the day when your body— which has been buried in weakness— will be raised in power and glory (1 Cor. 15:43-44), with your strength renewed. You shall mount up with wings like eagles; you shall run and not be weary; you shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).

“40 [Jesus] came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?” (Matt. 26:40). Peter’s spirit indeed was willing but his flesh was weak (Matt. 26:41). Jesus, on the other hand, was— and is— more than up to the task. And He invites you to find your strength in Him.