Seeds for 02/07/2024 - Matthew 26:40-41
Scripture: Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” He asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Observation: Having prayed bluntly and passionately to God the Father, Jesus proclaims His surrender in posture of body and posture of heart. He declares that He wants the Father’s purposes to be fulfilled more than He wants anything else. Now, He returns to those close followers whose companionship He desired.
The disciples were supposed to “keep watch” with Him. Instead they have fallen asleep. The theme of keeping watch has been strong over the previous chapters in Jesus’ teaching with them. Now, asked to keep watch with their Lord, they drift off. If they can’t keep watch for a single hour, how will they keep watch over their soul—over their faithfulness to God, in the coming years?
This exhortation to Peter is worth considering by all who seek to follow Jesus.
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
This instruction has continuing relevance. The problem is falling into temptation. The purpose of watchfulness and prayer is to avoid this trouble. The hard reality that must be acknowledged is this: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
“The flesh is weak.” Peter and the others are no doubt exhausted physically. Bodily fatigue does not set the stage for good decisions. We do well to guard against falling into temptation by resting enough and resting well.
Not only are we susceptible to falling into temptation when we are bodily tired, but also when are emotionally spent. The disciples have had quite a night and more is yet to come. What to do in such a situation? Jesus says, “watch and pray.”
“Watch” suggests alertness. It is about active engagement, summoning one’s faculties for the sake of perceiving one’s environment so as not to miss anything significant. Again, Jesus’ teaching over the past few days with the disciples suggests that watching is not only about one’s external environment but also about one’s internal state. Take care not to let anything by—keep watch.
“Pray” names our need to give our attention to God. It is difficult to fall into temptation while doggedly giving our attention to the Lord. Allow our attention to be distracted or divided, however, and we are quickly headed for choppy waters. But “turn our eyes upon Jesus,” keep in conversation with Him, continue to pursue, praise, and petition Him and we have less attention remaining with which to convert a glance toward temptation into a gaze at it.
The letter to the Hebrew says, “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.”
And James says it like this: “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Application:
When was the last time you were so physically or emotionally tired that it was hard to pray?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, grant me your Spirit that I may watch and pray and avoid falling into temptation. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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