Sleeping in the Mount of Olices

Mark 14:32-51

I have been in the deeper part of the Mount of Olives it was a very moving time in that I understood my Lord had prayed there often.  Gethsemane means “olive press,” and this was a regular place that Jesus went to pray.  But this day it was different, He told all but Peter, James, and John to stay or as Mark states, ”Sit here while I pray.”

As the four of them moved deeper into the Mount of Olives, it became clear that Jesus was deeply distressed.  This was something His disciples had not seen, and they must have been very alarmed.  It seems as if Jesus also gave the three instructions about praying for themselves and Him and moved even deeper into the garden.  Mark shares the conversation Jesus had with His Father in verses 35-36.  “And going a little farther, he 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. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

He returned to Peter, James, and John to find them sleeping, and Jesus asks “Peter, can’t you stay awake for one hour?”  Then Jesus said to them this profound truth; “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 

Let’s continue in Mark’s account, verses 39-42, “And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. ⁴⁰ And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. ⁴¹ And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Peter, James, and John were chosen and they are unique in that it was God’s plan for these men to be vital in proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ to a lost and doomed world.  But they also had a problem, the Holy Spirit had not yet come to live in them, and they let the flesh control them.  It was when they looked and obeyed Jesus that they were able to do anything.  You and I have asked Jesus into our hearts, and He has sent His Holy Spirit to live in us, but we must understand we have a problem.

Yes, it’s the same one they encountered; “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice