Mark 14:37-42

[Jesus] came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you stay alert for one hour? Stay alert and pray so that you won’t give in to temptation. The spirit is eager, but the flesh is weak.”

Again, he left them and prayed, repeating the same words. And, again, when he came back, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open, and they didn’t know how to respond to him. He came a third time and said to them, “Will you sleep and rest all night? That’s enough! The time has come for the Human One^[e] to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up! Let’s go! Look, here comes my betrayer.”

^[e] Or Son of Man

Mark 14:37-42, Common English Bible (c) 2011

From the entry into Jerusalem to the intimacy of the Passover meal, it has been an emotionally charged week.  I imagine the disciples being both exhilarated and exhausted.  Now they have a chance to sit down, to be quiet, and to reflect on all that has happened.  But it is too much.  Their eyes refuse to stay open.  They lean back and fall asleep.  They did not mean to.  They could not help it.  Jesus tells them they need to pray.  But the effort is too much.  They stumble and try to wake up as they scramble to their feet when Jesus says “Get up!  Let’s go.”

We know we need to pray.  It strengthens our relationship with God and helps us keep our priorities straight.  Regular times of meditation and conversation with God remind us that we are not alone, that God and others do care, and that we are loved beyond measure.   Too often our eyes will not stay open and we drift to sleep – as the apostle Paul says “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”

-Teressa Clark, 2012, 2019

Lenten Reflections 2019:  Following Jesus from the Mount of Olives to the Tomb ~ Day 30