Mark 14:32-42 “The Spirit is Willing, But the Flesh is Weak”

Good Morning Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Bern… thank you for your testimony about how God moved during Every Word Bremen.

Ed… thank you for leading our Men’s breakfast yesterday.

And, thank you all who were able to make it to celebrate Ethan’s graduation with us.

You are all a blessing!

Well, let’s get into the word… please turn in your Bibles to Mark 14. Mark 14:32-42 today.

We left off… looking at Passover Friday of Jesus’ final week of ministry…

In the past few weeks… Jesus and His disciples ate the Passover Seder… where Jesus predicted His betrayal by Judas… and instituted Communion…

Then, they departed Jerusalem… and while crossing the Kidron Valley heading to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane…

Jesus predicted all the disciples would stumble (or desert Him)… fulfilling Zech 13:7 “I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered.”

He predicted Peter, specifically, would deny Him three times.

And, Jesus predicted “… after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

Which is beautifully portrayed, post-resurrection, in John 21… as Jesus indeed went before His disciples…

Back to that place where they were first called… first commissioned…

A place to heal from all the trauma of Jesus’ violent arrest and death… and their desertion of Him.

At Galilee, He would minister to them… and re-commission Peter…

It’s just a beautiful scene of how Jesus re-centers them prior to the big things ahead in Acts 2… Pentecost… the Baptism with the Holy Spirit… the Birth of the Church…

And, in our lives… there are times when we also need to be re-centered… we need to go back to Galilee… which is not necessarily a physical location, but an encounter…

It’s that place in our heart where if we’ve drifted… or left our first love… or just been in a difficult season…

Going back to Galilee is doing what is needed to re-center on Him…

Jesus did this with His disciples after His resurrection.

Today, We find ourselves in the Garden scene… the Garden of Gethsemane…

And, while Jesus prayed at the Garden of Gethsemane… Jesus asks Peter, James, and John to watch and pray, but they sleep.

Which reflects a struggle we all face… reflected in our sermon title today, “The Spirit is Willing, But the Flesh is Weak.”

Let’s Pray!

In reverence for God’s word, Please stand as I read our passage…

Mark 14:32-42 “Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. 34 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”

35 He went a little farther, and 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. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

37 Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

39 Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words. 40 And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.

41 Then He came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough! The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

Praise God for His word! Please be seated.

I have a slide of our scene today… the Garden of Gethsemane is on the western slope of the Mount of Olives…

Luke 22:39 tells us, “...He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed...”

John 18:2 states, “Jesus often met there with His disciples.”

The Mount of Olives was a place Jesus visited frequently when in Jerusalem…

It’s good to have a place of calm and peace… a place to commune with the Father in prayer… and get away from the distractions of the city.

How important is it for us all to have that place?

Gethsemane looks back at the eastern wall of Jerusalem… in our slide… you can see the Dome of the Rock in the background… which is the Islamic Shrine that stands currently on the Temple Mount.

The traditional site of the Garden of Gethsemane today is protected by a Catholic church called the “Church of All Nations” or the “Basilica of the Agony.”

Which is appropriate… because Jesus was in agony at Gethsemane.

The name Gethsemane seems to reflect the agony of the scene.

The lit. translation of Gethsemane means “press of oils.”

I have another slide of one of several types of olive presses…

Which were used to extract Olive Oil which was used ancient times… cooking (still is)… cleaning… skin care… even lamp fuel.

Gethsemane is a compound word of Hebrew origin… Gath- meaning “press” and Shemen meaning “oils.”

The Mount of Olives was an Olive grove… and Gethsemane was where olives were brought to be crushed (for their oil)… under the massive stones of the olive press…

And, olives when pressed… because of the crushed rinds of the olives… yield a brownish-red oil… giving it the appearance of blood.

And, Jesus sweat drops of blood in this garden scene…

Dr. Luke captured this is… Luke 22:44 “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

This is a medical condition called, “Hema-ti-drosis” whereby one sweats or oozes blood from their skin without being cut.

Tiny blood vessels in the skin break open.

This actually happened to my Pastor’s wife… during childbirth.

WebMD states “...it seems to be caused by extreme distress or fear, such as facing death, torture…”

How picturesque was all of this for all our Lord was experiencing!

Jesus… would feel the great weight… safe to say the ‘weight of the world on His shoulders… and in His agony and sorrow…

He would feel pressed and crushed like an olive.

And, He went through it… he didn’t run from it…

Many of us would have just walked away… relocating to some distant land away from Jerusalem.

It was night in the Garden of Gethsemane… and Jesus could have just slipped away… disappearing into the Judean wilderness…

But then, what about fulfillment of prophecy?… what about redemption of mankind?… what about obedience to the Father’s will?

In Jesus’ immense love for both the father and for mankind… he endured the press of Gethsemane… and ultimately the cross.

And, through faith in Jesus Christ… we will never need to experience the press of God’s wrath on sin… because Jesus bore it on our behalf.

And we praise Him for that.

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

And, so here at Gethsemane, V32-34… Jesus “… said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. 34 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.””

Jesus sits eight of His disciples down… and takes his inner three (Peter, James, and John) a “stone’s throw” away… just a short distance… according to Luke…

And Jesus is “troubled and deeply distressed”… even proclaiming “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.”

His soul Gk. psuchē (psoo-khay´) from where our English word Psyche derives.

It translates as “breath”… life, soul… the seat of feeling, the mind, the heart…

It corresponds respectively to the Heb. “nephesh” (a breathing creature)…

One study of the Hebrew word “nephesh” yielded over 750 uses, sorted into 10 categories… with major uses communicating “meanings of desire; individual being; a conscious self; and an emotional state.)

Jesus uses the word “soul” here in V34, and in V38 He mentions the spirit, and the flesh (or the body). And, the nuances of these terms are confusing…

In fact, there has been an ongoing debate for centuries if the totality of human nature consists of two or three parts…

Many definitions blur the lines between the Soul and the Spirit… applying attributes of human rational, emotional, and volitional characteristics to both the soul and the spirit. And, even ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ can be defined as ‘breath.’

Plus, some Bible verses only describe two parts… seemingly making spirit and soul interchangeable…

Body and spirit as in James 2:26 or 2 Cor 7:1

Or, Body and soul as in Matt 10:28

While other verses contrast the soul and the spirit as in 1 Cor 15:45. “The first man Adam became a living being.” [psuchē] The last Adam [Jesus] became a life-giving spirit.” [pnĕuma]

So, you get a sense of why there is confusion… and why there has been an on-going debate amongst scholars.

I personally find it cleanest to think of humans as a trinity of…

Body (our physical flesh);

Soul (our eternal conscious state); and…

Spirit (our eternal “spiritual being”). Which best corresponds to the Hebrew word “rûwach” (meaning wind… breath… life… spirit).

The non-material living essence of human beings…

And, one scholar wrote, “The “spirit” links man with the higher intelligences of heaven, and is that highest part of man...”

In Mark 14, we observe Jesus referring to all three… Soul, Spirit, and Flesh…

And, Paul concluded his first letter to the Thessalonians with all three…

1 Thes 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

So, I prefer seeing mankind made in a Triune nature…

Just as God is Triune (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)…

In Gen 1:26 “God [plural] said, “Let Us [first person plural] make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...”

God has a plural nature… One needs only to think of Jesus’ baptism, where the Father speaks from heaven, and the Spirit descends like a dove… resting on the Son…

… The triune Godhead present in a singular scene.

And mankind in made in the likeness of God… a trinity of Spirit, Soul, and Body…

This helps us to understand how God designed us now… and, helps us consider where our spirit, soul, and body dwell when we die.

Because there is life after death…

Probably one of the best portrayals of what happens to the Spirit, Soul, and Body after death is the account known as “The Rich Man and Lazarus” (Luke 16).

Jesus never describes this account as a parable. It’s probably better to think of it as an actual event.

There are two characters who die…

Lazarus… a saved individual known by name… who is seen in a place of comfort.

There is no idea of either being annihilated or extinct. Cognition and consciousness are both functioning.

The Rich man was in full awareness of his bodily torment in flames… and begged for relief.

He had all his senses… and his memories of his 5 brothers…

And he was in an actual place… Hades.

From which there was no escape… no second chance. He lived a self-indulgent life and his eternal destiny was sealed.

He could not cross the great gulf fixed between Abraham’s bosom and the place of torment.

And, whatever you want to call that conscious state (Spirit or Soul) plus the Body of the Rich Man…

What’s important is we see a contrast in that account between unbelievers and believers after death.

The rich man begged for his 5 living brothers to be warned by Lazarus of his place of torment.

And, Abraham responded… ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’

The rich man retorted, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

To which Abraham replied, “ ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”

And, still today… we have Moses and the prophets… the entirety of the OT, plus the NT.

We have the Bible… the Holy Scriptures… and these are they that testify that Jesus is the Son of God…

And Rom 10:9 proclaims “… if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Your Spirit will be saved… your Soul will be saved… and you are promised a resurrected and glorified Body (Rom 8:11, 1 Cor 6:14 & 15:43).

For believers… in Phil 3:20-21 we are promised “… our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body...”

The Spirit… the Soul… the Body…

Our makeup… God’s design… for now and for all eternity…

It’s on display in our passage today.

Jesus’ soul was exceedingly sorrowful… even unto death… His body was given for you…

Jesus “… bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Pet 2:24)… and ‘by His stripes we are healed.’

If you’ve never accepted the free gift of God… “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 6:23)

Pray after service today with one of our Elders… and save your Spirit, Soul, and Body from the pain the rich man experienced in torment.

And, join us who already have peace with God… and have obtained heavenly citizenship through faith in Jesus Christ.

And, so, back in Mark… as we observe Jesus speaking and acting in a way never before read about in the Gospels…

In a way, never before observed by His disciples…

Please understand that His soul was vexed beyond the knowledge of the physical suffering He would endure…

There was an eternal picture that stretched far beyond the physical suffering…

As Jesus was aware He would soon propitiate… He would satisfy God’s wrath on sin… once and for all.

This was His cross to bear.

And, in this vulnerable moment of anguish…

Jesus’ humanity is on full display here… unlike anywhere else.

So often in the Gospels… Jesus’ divinity is on display… miraculous power… omniscience…

But, we really get the picture of Jesus’ humanity in Mark 14.

1 Tim 3:16 spotlights Jesus’ incarnation… “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh…”

The coming messiah was a mystery, hidden to all the Old Testament prophets and saints, but Jesus has now been revealed to all who believe… which draws them into reverence towards God (godliness)…

“God was manifested in the flesh”

The Bible clearly proclaims Jesus is God… despite some naysayers…

God was manifested or revealed in the flesh. Jesus, wholly God, came from eternity to the earth in human form. Fully God and fully man.

It’s truly a mystery how Jesus is fully divine… and fully man… and where one begins and one ends is beyond human understanding…

But, that’s who Jesus is… “God was manifested in the flesh…”

And we take it in faith…

Jesus is God incarnate… “...the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...” (John 1:14)

God stooped down to us… taking on human form… and human emotion as seen on full display here in Mark 14.

Heb 4 tells us Jesus, our High Priest, passed through the heavens and can sympathize with our weaknesses… in all point He was tempted as we are, yet without sin.

I hope our passage today is comforting… in times when you may wrestle with human emotion… fears, anxieties, doubts…

Think back to Jesus in the garden…

Our Lord understands human emotion.

And, I truly hope you are experiencing some sense of reverential awe as we are unpacking this scene today…

This is such a tremendous scene. The Holy Spirit inspired three of the Gospel writers to record this highly exposed scene where incarnate God bears His emotions…

And, we have the blessed privilege to peer into this highly exposed moment…

Please don’t overlook the gravity of this scene.

This Garden scene where Jesus lays bare His thoughts and feelings prior to the cross…

Again, in V34 He says, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.”

Worship Him… praise Him in your heart because He did that for you and I.

And, before we move on… notice the two imperatives… the two commands Jesus gives His inner three disciples… First, “Stay here”… Second, “watch.”

They obey the first command… Jesus goes on a little further to pray to the Father.

But, they will fail to “watch”… they were supposed to keep alert and pray while Jesus also prayed.

Luke captured Jesus instructing, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

It was in a garden that mankind fell into sin because of temptation.

Mankind’s deliverance from sin also begins in a garden scene… yet Jesus does not fall into temptation, but through pray is strengthened to follow the will of God.

How important is it for us to have a solid pray life… to NOT enter into temptation?

Continuing on in Mark 14… vv 35-36 are some of the most significant in light of mankind’s redemption from sin… we read…

“He went a little farther, and 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. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.””

Some see Jesus’ agony and petitions to the Father reflected in Hebrews 5:7–8 “Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

Other scholars believe Hebrews 5 find better fulfillment with the sufferings of the cross, but either way…

It’s sobering to think that even for Jesus during His human life… there were lessons…

In the school of suffering… obedience to the Father was refined in Him.

This prayer in the garden… like all of Jesus’ prayers… is noteworthy…

This prayer is not a model like “The Lord’s Prayer”… “Our Father which art in heaven...” which truly lays out a model…

This prayer is not as beautiful or eloquent as Jesus’ High Priestly prayer in John 17…

But, this prayer is about as raw and honest as one can get…

And, that’s what God really wants… honesty… authenticity…

Boldly coming to the throne of grace…

This is a prayer God hears…

And, the passage in Heb 5 confirmed that God heard Jesus’ prayer because of His Godly fear… because of His deep reverence for God.

Matthew tells us Jesus “fell on His face, and prayed...”

Scripture illustrates various postures of prayer… standing, kneeling, bowing, lifting one’s eyes to heaven, lying prostrate, raising hands, and so forth…

But, the posture of your body is not as important as the posture of your heart.

In the Sermon on the Mount… Jesus warned against praying like the hypocritical religious leaders… who acted like they were lifting up prayers to heaven… but truly were praying to the audience around them… to be seen by men.

Jesus demonstrates the opposite of hypocrisy… which is sincerity… being free from pretense, deceit, or hypocrisy.

In this garden scene… Jesus is practically alone… praying to an audience of One… His Father in heaven… and the posture of His heart matched the posture of His body… and the posture of His words.

Because even His words reflect a humble submission to the Father’s will…

Jesus petitions the Father if possible to allow the hour to pass… and to take this cup away from Him…

The hour and the cup both have significant meaning…

“My Hour” or “My time” is a repeated phrase in the Gospels referring not to a specific hour… but figuratively to the time of Jesus’ passion, trials, death, resurrection and glorification… all of these events. His hour… His time to redeem mankind.

Five times in John, we see the phrase, “My time” or “My hour” has NOT come...”

But, as this final Passover approaches, Jesus shifts… “the hour has come...”

And, this hour is in full view at the Garden of Gethsemane.

And, Jesus asks the Father “… if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.”

Jesus does not want to go through the hour… and neither does He want to partake of the cup… He prays, “Take this cup away from Me.”

The is a cup of suffering, but even deeper then the suffering of Jesus’ passion and the cross…

The cup refers to OT imagery of the Cup of God’s wrath…

The cup represents our Holy God’s judgment on all that opposes His holiness…

Sin… evil… wickedness… from past, present, and future.

And, His separation from that evil. That’s what’s represented here.

Jesus was familiar with the OT passages about this cup…

Job 21:20 “… let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.”

Psalm 75:8 “For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup… all the wicked of the earth Drain and drink down.”

Isaiah 51:17 “Stand up, O Jerusalem, You who have drunk at the hand of the Lord The cup of His fury… the cup of trembling…”

Jer 25:15 “Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.”

Do you get the picture? Jesus wanted nothing to do with drinking the cup of God’s fury… the cup of trembling.. the cup of wrath… reserved for the wicked.

So, He asks if it were possible for the hour and the cup to pass… but it was not possible…

This is NOT Jesus trying to avoid the cross, but asking, “if mankind can be saved in any other way… reveal it now.”

In John 12:27 Jesus said, “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.”

Jesus knew His purpose was for the hour of mankind’s redemption…

And even though Jesus asks if there is any other way… He also submits to the Father’s perfect plan stating… “… nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

God hears all honest prayers, and answers them all.

Sometimes He answers, “Yes,” sometimes, “No,” and sometimes, “Wait.”

In Jesus’ case… the answer was No… No it was not possible to avoid the hour and to avoid the cup.

For the eternal sake of all mankind… and to fulfill the Father’s will… and to fulfill prophecy… the answer was No.

And, while sometimes it is not God’s will to say, “Yes” and give us a pass from the trial.

He is not restricted from strengthening us to endure the trial.

And, that’s exactly what He did for Jesus in this moment.

Right after Jesus asked for the cup to be taken away from Him… Luke 22:43 records, “Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.”

The trial that looms ahead may be unavoidable…

You may even plead for God to take the trial and He may say, “no.”

Not in malice or spite… that’s not the nature of God.

But, in purpose. As much as we would like to avoid trials… God may have a plan or a purpose in the trial.

And, He will see you through it… He sent an angel who appeared to Jesus…

And, strengthened Him.

I wish we had more than one verse on that scene.

Jesus was not praying alone in the Garden… the disciples fell asleep on Him… but an angel was right there beside Him.

And, for you and I too… God will never leave you nor forsake you.

After Jesus petitions for the passing of the hour and the cup… I love about what Jesus says next.... “… nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

It indeed was the Father’s will for Jesus to go through the hour… and for Him to drink the cup.

And as Jesus drinks the cup of God’s wrath… in Matt 27, we will read the one time Jesus calls the Father… God.

As Jesus hung on the cross, and as darkness was over the land for a span of three hours… just before Jesus yielded up His spirit… He cried out in a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”

Which of course would draw the hearers to Ps 22 and Jesus’ fulfillment of it…

And it’s quite the mystery, but something happened in that moment… for the first time in eternity… a separation… broken fellowship…

As Jesus took on the sin of the world, He cried out NOT to His Father…

Instead, He cried out to God…

Jesus always called God… “Father,”… except for that moment when He drank the cup… and experienced God’s wrath… in the hour of judgment… Jesus called the Father, “God.”

The cup that Jesus drank… He did it… so you never have to… as you look to Him in faith.

That’s why He said, “It is finished!”

Believing mankind has been redeemed.

There has always been a plan of salvation… which is sometimes described as “The Great Exchange”… which is a beautiful act of love and grace.

Simply speaking… God laid our sin on Christ, and laid Christ’s righteousness on us.

2 Cor 5:21 states it this way, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

One scholar wrote “The sins of the world were placed on Him so that, in turn, His righteousness could be given those who trust Him.” (BKC)

It was for this purpose that Jesus came… and from the foundation of the world, He knew that He must die physically, so that we may live spiritually.

After this first petition to the Father, Jesus returns to Peter, James and John… and we read in vv 37...

“Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour?”

Jesus now returns from His first pray in the garden… and finds Peter, James, and John asleep.

It’s interesting how often the Lord singles out Peter…

I believe this is in part because Peter had somewhat of a standout role among the twelve… and he would be raised up as a key evangelist in the early church…

And, so there was a greater expectation placed upon Peter.

It was Peter who, in Luke 12, posed a question to the Lord which opened the door for Jesus to teach the Parable of the Faithful Steward… which concluded with this capstone phrase…

“For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”

I believe that was especially relevant for Peter… and truly for all of us who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ.

That parable highlights the importance of being faithful in being busy about the Lord’s business while He is away… and blessed is the servant whom the Master finds doing when He comes.

And, we do live in a time when the Lord is away… but He’s coming back a moment we do not know.

And, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my life to reflect a servant who has been consumed by the world… and hedonism… essentially slumbering during my waking hours.

Now… as I read Jesus’ words to Peter… I sense no condemnation, but only compassion.

Peter and the guys weren’t just dozing off being in food stupor… after the Passover meal… I mean… the four glasses of wine during the Seder probably didn’t help them stay awake…

… but there was a bigger picture then just physical tiredness…

They were emotionally drained… and Jesus knew it…

Luke 22:45 records “When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.”

Have you ever slept from sorrow? Have you ever had a day so filled with pain of the mind… with grief and sadness… that by the end of the day you were done?

I think we’ve all had days like that? You can look back and read about all the disciples had been through this week… and this day…

Incredible mountain top experiences… like the Triumphal Entry… and valley lows like Jesus predicting Judas’ betrayal.

Can you fault the disciples for sleeping?

And, I don’t think Jesus goes beyond a nudge… to highlight the importance what He says in V38… His key exhortation…

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

I wonder how many times the disciples would later think back to these scene… and this lesson…

Thinking back to how they slumbered in their sorrow instead of praying…

How they regretted not strengthening the Lord with their prayers… how an angel came to do what they could not…

I wonder if the angel would have even needed to intervene… had the disciples watched and prayed this night?

No doubt they regretted fleeing when He was arrested.

And, sometimes it’s our greatest failures that sear the greatest lessons in our minds.

I imagine the disciples would think back on this lesson often. And, pray in moments when their flesh was weak.

And, that’s the lesson… pray in order to feed the spirit… so you have victory over temptation of the flesh.

Because our flesh is weak… If we don’t pray, the likelihood is falling into temptation.

Paul understood this well and wrote in Gal 5:16-17 “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”

For all saved believers, while we are filled with the Holy Spirit… there is still a war within us as our flesh when it interacts with the world…

When the lust of the flesh… and the lust of the eyes… collide with temptation in the world.

A battle rages inside. AND Prayer… AND fleeing youthful lusts… AND abiding in Christ… abiding in His word…

These spiritual disciplines safeguard our very lives, and help us have victory over and deliverance from sin…

In contrast to the disciples, Jesus did ‘offer up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death’…

And, while the answer was no… His would not be saved from death…

Unlike the disciples… Jesus did not flee… in obedience to the Father’s will… He allowed Himself to be arrested… when He could have called down twelve legions of angels to deliver Him…

That’s enough angels to eradicate the entire earth’s population in a single night…

But, Jesus didn’t make that call… He told His disciples to sheath their swords…

Because if He was not arrested “How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled…?”

Jesus’ flesh cried out against the hour… and against the cup…

But through persistent prayer… and through the strengthening of an angel…

Jesus did not fall into the temptation of the flesh… but walked in the Spirit.

And, then closing out this segment… vv 39-42 “Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words. 40 And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. 41 Then He came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough! The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer [Judas Iscariot] is at hand.”

This is a great passage to refute the idea that a singular pray of faith is all you need… and multiple prayers are unbiblical… which is nonsense.

Jesus prays three times in this passage.

He encourages believers to continually ask, seek, and knock… to pray and keep praying… in Matt 7…

In the Parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18), the widow who persistently asked for justice received it… and Jesus said “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him…?”

Persistent prayer does not equal a lack of faith. Scripture teaches the opposite… so pray and keep praying like we see Jesus do in the garden.

And, don’t concern yourself if you hear someone lay a trip on you… about only praying once in faith and no more.

That’s ridiculous.

In V40, when Jesus finds the disciples again sleeping… we read “they did not know what to answer Him.”

And, then the third time… He asks, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough!”

Be that a convicting question or a surprised rebuke… enough was enough… they needed to stop sleeping for the hour had come… His arrest in the garden was about to unfold.

He probably heard the troops and saw the torches… the time was at hand…

And let’s close with this…

It really struck me that never once in any of the Gospels do we have a recorded response from any of the disciples when Jesus finds them sleeping.

All we have is “they did not know what to answer Him.” And, I’ve been here before.

I don’t know if any of you can relate to this… where you fail the Lord repeatedly… despite your good intentions… and you just don’t have an answer for Him.

The Lord has a way of dealing with us in the most gentle, but piercing ways…

Like when Peter denied Him three times… and in the midst of Jesus’ trial… after being beaten and arrested… Jesus paused from it all to look at Peter.

It reminds me of what we looked at last week in John 21 where three times Jesus asks Peter, “do you love Me?”

And, the third time Jesus changes the word love from agapao to phileo…

And, grieved Peter responds, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

Have you ever had a moment when a voice in your head said, “Don’t”… or “Turn”…

Maybe you interpret that as the ‘voice of conscience’ or the ‘still small voice of God’…

I’ve heard that voice before several times… and indeed it’s piercing… and so right on… and loving indeed.

Scripture says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend...”

The most piercing moment in my life hearing this voice was when my eldest two kids were getting baptized in 2012…

In the height of my alcoholism… as I heard my Pastor explain that in baptism we identify with the death and resurrection of Christ… that we symbolically put to death the old man and arise new spiritually…

A voice in my head, that was not my own… said, “You need to put to death the old man, and get baptized again.”

And, I didn’t know what to answer Him. I knew He was right… I knew I had been grieving the Holy Spirit… I had been feeling that for months…

So, what else do in that moment but either submit and obey… or run in disobedience?

I got baptized again… and I came out of that water a changed man… completely delivered from alcoholism…

Plus, God gave me passion and understand of the word of God… like I never had before.

And, that began my calling into ministry…

Years later I found my testimony in Pro 1:23 “Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.”

God can use our greatest times of failing… and with just a glance… or just a word… He can melt the hardest of hearts… and turn the heart of stone towards Him.

I stand as a living testimony.

(Worship team please come)

If you’re here today and you have a spouse… or a child… a parent, relative or friend…

Who is in that place… not walking in submission to the Lord…

Know this… my testimony begins with a praying wife… and a praying church…

And, in the Lord’s perfect timing… He moved. Don’t lose heart.

But… “Watch and pray!”…

Let’s Pray!

Our Elders and Prayer Team are available to pray with you…

If you have never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior… come get saved… it’s the free gift of God…

If you have a friend or loved one who is not right with the Lord… and we all do… come pray for them now.

Family… may the Lord bless and keep you as you enter the week ahead.