Mark 14:36-40

Mark 14:36 (KJB)
And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

Jesus was showing His human side when He asked if the cup could pass from Him but He showed His divine side by stating that nevertheless, not His will but the will of the Father had precedence. The cup of the cross was not what He was asking would pass but the separation from his Father and carrying the sin of all the Elect. Something we could never understand since Jesus was holy and never sinned. The one who never sinned would have all the sins of the Elect transferred to Him thus removing them from every Elect person born then and those born in the future.

Mark 14:37 (KJB)
And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?

Jesus was filled with anguish of soul because He is beginning the times of His suffering and He comes back to His disciples whom He asked if they would watch with Him for at least one hour and He found them all asleep. This may be a prophecy of how alert the Christians will be when the Lord returns on the last day. Jesus seemed disappointed with the disciples that they could not watch but one hour. He was disappointed but not bitter.

Mark 14:38 (KJB)
Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

Now Jesus introduces a figurative meaning to watching. It is not just staying awake but it goes much deeper than that. To watch is to pray and those that pray are watching. Especially when one prays to be kept from temptation, they will now be watching to see if they will be snared with something that is sinful and because they prayed about it, then they will be astute enough to know what to look for. Jesus knows that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and that is because the spirit does not tire in any way but the flesh needs to rest after being active for so many hours. The reason we must pray that we do not enter temptation, is because the world may offer many different avenues for us to go down so we will not accomplish the will of God. Even if the Lord tells us how we are to do something, the world may want us to do it another way which will not accomplish the results God wants. So the believer must be careful that they are not diverted and that is what Satan wanted all along that Jesus use His powers in a wrong way during His earthly ministry.

Mark 14:39 (KJB)
And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words.

Jesus then leaves the disciples a second time and goes back and prays once again. (Mat 26:42 KJV) He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. In His first prayer he asked “if the cup could pass from Him” but here He is acknowledging that the cup may not pass from Him, that is, it is God’s will that He drink the cup of God’s wrath for the sins of the Elect. Once again Jesus acknowledges the fact that God’s will must prevail. God’s will is for Him to drink the cup without exception. (Heb 5:7 KJV) Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Jesus was not praying a winsome prayer. These prayers which He was praying were extremely intense and way beyond what any human could possibly understand. This is probably why Peter, James, and John fell asleep because they could not grasp the intensity of the prayer battle which the Lord was engaging in.

Mark 14:40 (KJB)
And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him.

The second time Jesus came to his disciples and found them asleep. The fact that the flesh is weak should have made them more desirous to stay awake. Instead what they did was to succumb to the weakness of the flesh. If they would have prayed, then they would have been able to stay awake plus they could have prayed for strength and understanding. Here they failed to cooperate with Jesus in His request for them to watch and pray. God understands the weakness of the flesh and wants to help in those situations. A prayer can begin in a weakened state but as the prayer time progresses, a strengthening is noticed.

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