Reflecting on Matthew 26:36-46
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” (Matthew 26:41)
As a Jesus follower I feel the need to watch and pray.
Jesus is urging disciples to pay attention and be alert.
Yet does this mean we should be paranoid, seeing evil everywhere?
How do we experience the peace of Jesus like this?
How do we understand ‘watch and pray’ without being paranoid?
What if we read this section in light of what precedes it.
Peter and the others have just boasted about never failing (26:31-35).
In other stories, Peter, James and John seem especially self-confident.
Now we see them repeatedly failing Jesus.
Maybe these words from Jesus are a test themselves.
The word for ‘temptation’ literally means ‘to be tested’.
Three times they fail the test (sound familiar?).
Jesus is showing them their weakness, exposing their dependence.
BUT, He is not doing this to shame them.
He is showing them how they are NOT so strong after all.
“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (26:41)
The call to ‘watch and pray’ is not a call to defend ourselves.
It is not meant to make us confident in our own hyper-vigilance.
Jesus is calling us to watch Him, to pray to Him.
To put our confidence in Him, even when we fail.
If they watch Jesus, they will see that He will never fail.
The more we focus on Jesus, the more His Spirit can shape us.
Fighting sin is like a whack-a-mole game.
You never win, you never defeat the moles; they keep coming.
No matter how much you ‘watch and pray’ for success, you fail.
But if Jesus means to watch Him, we can put the hammer down.
We can stop fighting, and start resting in His love, joy and peace.
Stop playing the devil’s game (boasting in self), you will lose.
Admit your weakness, watch Jesus’s strength, and trust in Him.
Maybe the best thing the disciples could do was admit it.
‘Jesus, we can’t, we are not strong enough, our flesh is weak!’
This would have been a humbling admission for them to make.
I am convinced Jesus would have said, ‘Now you finally get it!’
‘Go ahead, close your eyes, rest a while… I got this!’
Lord Jesus, when I try to pass the test myself I fail. I need to watch You, and to pray to (rely on) You! My spirit is willing, my flesh is weak. Yours is strong! I surrender my spirit to Yours, may Your Spirit produce in me the fruit I cannot produce myself.