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Luke

Luke 
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Day 293

Luke 22 : 39-46; Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42 "WHY DO YOU SLEEP?"

Day 293 – Luke 22

Text: Luke 22 : 39-46; Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42

“WHY DO YOU SLEEP?”

Jesus had especially chosen Peter, James and John to watch with Him in prayer, in His hour of great sorrow. Sadly, they failed to watch with Him.

“When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His Disciples,
He found them sleeping from sorrow.
Then He said to them, ‘Why do you sleep?
Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.’ “
Luke 22:45,46

Why did the Disciples fall asleep at that critical time? This is not a question aimed at finding fault with the Disciples, for we know only too well that we also struggle in our prayer efforts. It is not unlikely that we too have fallen asleep in our prayer efforts.

REASONS WHY MANY SLEEP ON THEIR WATCH

Let us take time to look carefully at the other Gospels as we try and fathom why the three special Disciples who made up the inner circle fell asleep.

“Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping,
and said to Peter, ‘What ! Could you not watch with Me
one hour?
Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ “
Matthew 26:40-41

Falling asleep when asked to pray is lamentable. Falling asleep after having seen the deep sorrow and distress Jesus felt is truly blameworthy. Thus Jesus rebuked His three Disciples. Though Jesus singled out Peter, He referred to all three of them. The Greek text the “you” was written as a plural pronoun. If it had been just Peter who was rebuked, then the singular personal pronoun would have been used.

It was Peter who cried out his avowal that he would always stay with Jesus.

“Lord, I am ready to go with You,
both to prison and to death.”
Luke 22:33

Thus Peter was singled out, but the rebuke given to him was meant for all three of them. They could not last one hour in intense prayer! They lacked the stamina that could come only with regular training. Nowhere in the Gospels do we read of any special effort made by the Disciples to cultivate their prayer life. In fact, we read in the Gospels that Jesus kept stressing and emphasizing to His Disciples that they must learn to pray and not to lose faith (Luke 18:1). Failure to pray regularly would result in failure to pray in crucial moments. How is our daily prayer life like? Are we given to set aside time to seek the Lord in earnest prayer?

“THE SPIRIT IS WILLING, BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK” Matthew 26:41 (Mark 14:38)

Even when Jesus was in agony in His soul, He lovingly sought out His Disciples. How were they doing in prayer? Did they feel so much for Him and with Him, that they too were experiencing deep agony of the soul?

Jesus found the Disciples sleeping. Immediately, He took time to teach them a vital lesson. One reason why there is such tiredness was simply because the flesh was weak. What does this phrase mean?

Jesus’ understanding of the human being, is that he is made up of two parts essentially. There is the spirit, sometimes called the soul. Then there is the flesh, sometimes simply called the body.

The spirit is willing. Peter and all his fellow disciples made firm declarations of their love and loyalty to Jesus at the recent celebration of the Passover. Peter showed great strength of faith and spirit when he said,

” ‘Even if I have to die with You,
I will not deny You!’
And so said all the disciples.”
Matthew 26:35

This was the spirit of the faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus. They displayed a truly commendable spirit. However, having a strong spirit just wasn’t enough, if the flesh continued to be weak.

Human flesh is weak, and made even weaker because of the onslaught of sin. The disciples had not learned fully that they had to train themselves really hard, to blend the strength of the spirit with the potential strength of the body.

Many neglect the spirit, while strengthening the body. Others neglect the body, strengthening only the spirit. Wisdom teaches us to recognize the potential strength that is there when both body and spirit are trained well.

THE EXAMPLE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

The Apostle Paul probably never enjoyed robust health, for he wrote about a thorn in the flesh that troubled him so much that he had to seek the Lord three times to remove that thorn (2 Corinthians 12:7,8). Nevertheless, he was able to serve the Lord magnificently. What was his “secret”? Let us consider what he wrote in 1 Corinthians,

“Therefore, I run thus: not with uncertainty.
Thus I fight; not as one who beats the air.
But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection,
Lest, when I have preached to others, I myself
Should become disqualified.”
1 Corinthians 9:26-27

The Disciples of Jesus at that point of time had not learned how to discipline their body, and thus no matter how willing their spirit was, they failed miserably. Let us be challenged to cultivate both spirit and body that we might triumph in life and ministry.