Mark 14:37, commentary and pictures

After about an hour of solitary wrestling in Gethsemane under the weight of the sins of the world, Jesus returned to the three He had asked to watch with Him and found them sleeping. He awoke them and singled out Peter, asking why he slept and whether he could not watch one hour, exposing the contrast between his sleep and his lately boasted devotion to go with his Lord to prison and to death. Though a rebuke for failing to remain watchful with Him in His sorrow and coming trial, the question sprang from pity and sympathy rather than harsh reproof, acknowledging that the spirit truly is ready but the flesh is weak. He had come longing for human sympathy and for their earnest prayers mingling with His own, and because they did not keep watch He was left to agonize alone on His last night with them without the comfort their steadfast praying faith would have given Him. Their sleep came from a stupor they could have shaken off by continued pleading with God, showing they had trusted in themselves and had not heeded His warning to watch and pray, and it left them unprepared to share His suffering and to withstand the test of His betrayal and death, even contributing to Peter's later denial, yet Peter afterward remembered that appeal in the garden with overwhelming conviction and wept himself into a humbled and converted man, leaving a call for God's people today not to be spiritually asleep but to watch and pray lest they enter into temptation.

Gethsemane Setting

The night in question is that of Christ's last agony in Gethsemane. As He approached the garden the disciples marked a change in Him, for never before had they seen Him so utterly sad and silent, and the strange sadness deepened as He proceeded, yet they dared not question Him as to the cause. His form swayed as if about to fall, every step was taken with labored effort, He groaned aloud as if suffering under the pressure of a terrible burden, and twice His companions supported Him or He would have fallen to the earth. Upon reaching the garden the disciples looked anxiously for His usual place of retirement, that their Master might rest.

He had been earnestly talking with His disciples and teaching them, but as He neared Gethsemane He became strangely silent. He had often visited this spot for meditation and prayer, but never with a heart so full of sorrow as on this night. Through His life on earth He had walked in the light of God's presence, but now He seemed shut out from God's sustaining light. Now He was numbered with the transgressors, bearing the guilt of fallen humanity, with the iniquity of all laid upon Him who knew no sin.

Sin appeared so dreadful to Him and the weight of guilt so great that He was tempted to fear it would shut Him out forever from His Father's love, and feeling how terrible is God's wrath against transgression He declared His soul exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. In unparalleled distress while bearing the sins of the world He submitted His will to God's will.

Gethsemane was Jesus' usual place of retirement where He braced Himself for trial and duty by fervent prayer, often spending the entire night there. He told the main company of disciples to sit while He went to pray farther on, selecting only Peter, James and John to go deeper with Him. John was thus one of the three permitted to witness the agony. James, who was with Him that night with Peter and John, later understood more fully Jesus' words about sharing His cup when he was imprisoned and put to death.

The disciples made no remark at His going apart because it was familiar to them. On former nights they would watch and pray a little while and then sleep undisturbed at a little distance until He woke them in the morning to go forth to labor anew. His going apart to pray therefore did not surprise them or prompt them to ask why.

He went forward a little distance, still where they could see and hear Him, to pray in exceeding sorrow unto death and superhuman agony as He felt separation from His Father by man's sin and endured God's wrath without exerting divine power to escape. After about an hour of solitary wrestling with sorrow beyond utterance, rising with painful effort and staggering, He returned to His companions.

Question to Peter

Coming back from prayer He found them sleeping when He had asked them to watch with Him, and coming seeking their sympathy He found Peter asleep with the others. He roused them, and awoke them by His voice, but they scarcely recognized Him because anguish had so changed His face and countenance. He singled out Peter, addressing him by his former name Simon and asking, sleepest thou, couldest not thou watch one hour. The question exposes Peter's failure and contrasts his sleep with his lately boasted devotion to go with his Lord to prison and to death, even his addition that though all should be offended yet would not he.

The question rebukes the failure to remain watchful with Him during His sorrow and impending trial. It is followed by the charge to watch and pray because temptation and the test of witnessing His betrayal and death are near. Though a rebuke, the words spring from pity and sympathy for weakness, not stern upbraiding or harsh reproof. He treats the failure with compassion and love, and in great agony seeks to excuse their weakness.

He acknowledges their condition in the judgment that the spirit truly is ready and willing but the flesh is weak. He feared they would not be able to endure the coming test, and left them with tenderness.

Longing for Sympathy

In His agony He felt the need of human sympathy and comfort from the disciples closest to Him, yearning for companionship and for words of comfort in His suffering. He came to those closely connected with Him in labor, wanting to know whether they understood His suffering and seeking the sympathy He longed for in His hour of trial. He desired the help they could have given, but they could not give what He desired, and He was left without the human sympathy He longed for.

He came seeking the comfort of knowing they were praying for Him and for themselves and understood His agony. His longing made Him yearn for their sympathy and for heartfelt and earnest prayers mingling with His own. He looked for this even from Peter and even from John, whose love should have kept him awake with earnest prayer beside his Saviour. Though at first troubled by His wrestling with incomprehensible sorrow they had prayed as they heard His strong cries and did not intend to forsake Him, they failed to keep watch and plead with God.

Their steadfast praying faith would have comforted and strengthened Him in His exceeding sorrow unto death and superhuman agony. Because they did not keep watch, after an hour of solitary wrestling with sorrow beyond utterance He rose with painful effort and came staggering to find them fast asleep. He was thus left to agonize alone on His last night with them as a man on earth and to wrestle alone with the powers of darkness, without the human sympathy He longed for.

The same human longing for sympathy and companionship in hardship is reflected in others, so that faithful visits can bring cheer to someone who is lonely and suffering.

Why They Slept

At first they did pray as they heard His strong cries, troubled by His wrestling with a sorrow they could not comprehend, and they did not intend to forsake Him. Yet they failed to keep watch and plead with God, overcome and paralyzed by stupor and drowsiness. They were drowsy and had only a limited sense of His suffering.

That sleep came from a stupor they could have shaken off and resisted by continued pleading with God and by continuing to pray. The power of the prince of darkness had weakened their faculties, leaving them asleep when they should have been watching. Their willing spirit was thus weakened by the flesh.

Their sleep showed they had not heeded His repeated warning and counsel to watch and pray lest they enter into temptation. They did not understand their need for earnest prayer and watchfulness to withstand temptation. They did not realize that watchfulness and earnest prayer are necessary to seek refuge in God so that satanic agencies do not prevail and so they can resist Satan's temptations.

They had trusted in themselves and had not looked to the mighty Helper as Christ had counseled, despite their strongest assurance that they would go with Him to prison and to death. Self-sufficient Peter had added that though all should be offended yet would not he. Their sorrow and sleep thus revealed weakness before the coming test. Peter's sleep exposes the gap between his earlier promise to face prison and death with Christ and his inability to remain awake beside his suffering Master, so that he abandoned Jesus in the hour of agony and temptation for repose.

Loss and Later Repentance

An hour spent watching and praying would have strengthened their faith for the coming test and kept them from abandoning Him, fitting them to grasp His sorrow, to recall His foretold suffering, death and resurrection, and to endure the trial that followed. By failing to heed the warning to pray against temptation they missed sharing in His suffering and stood unprepared to resist Satan's temptations and to withstand the test of His betrayal and death. Their drowsiness and stupor shut out strengthening evidence and divine instruction before the trials ahead, whereas watching would have given rays of hope to sustain faith through the darkness of the cross, light about His suffering and the glory to follow and evidence of the angels' presence and glory. The failure left Peter to his own weak strength instead of reliance on God and led toward his denial of Jesus, while the disciples' faith failed as they watched Him die, showing how those who need divine instruction miss it when they do not remain in communion with God.

Peter later remembered that appeal when he came back heartbroken over his denial. He returned alone to the garden and prostrated himself on the very spot where Jesus had poured out His soul in agony and where Jesus had lain, broken in heart and weeping blinding penitential tears upon the sod, wishing that he might die. The memory of that appeal came vividly back with overwhelming conviction of his ingratitude, falsehood and perjury in doing the very thing he had declared he would never do, and he left that garden a converted and humbled man, ready to pity the tempted, to sympathize with the weak and erring, to caution and warn the presumptuous, and to strengthen his brethren. James, who was with Him that night with Peter and John, later understood more fully the words about sharing His cup when he was imprisoned and put to death.

Call to Watch Today

The finding of Peter asleep in Gethsemane, with the searching question whether he could not watch even one hour, stands as a warning that people today may likewise be spiritually asleep. Many are asleep when they neglect the duty to watch and pray, and like the disciples they leave themselves open to temptation by that neglect. Their condition is pictured as a sleeping church, God's people asleep when they should be watching, drowsy and with only a limited sense of Christ's suffering. That sleep makes them vulnerable, for without watchfulness and earnest prayer they do not seek refuge in God so that satanic agencies do not prevail.

The experience carries a direct lesson for God's people today to watch and pray so they do not enter into temptation. The call is for alertness and prayer, especially as they study the dangers of the last days, when watchfulness and earnest prayer are necessary to withstand temptation. The disciples had been asked to watch while He prayed, and their failure to remain watchful even for one hour rebukes such unwatchfulness. They had at first prayed as they heard His strong cries and did not intend to forsake Him, yet they were paralyzed by a stupor they could have shaken off by continued pleading with God, showing they had not heeded the repeated warning to watch and pray lest they enter into temptation.

The ordeal in Gethsemane belonged to what Jesus knew awaited His disciples, and He prepared His faithful followers for His betrayal, suffering and death so that the fickleness and rejection of others would not take them by surprise or shake their faith. In that hour of trial He longed for their sympathy, but the power of the prince of darkness had weakened their faculties, leaving them asleep when they should have been watching. He urged them to watch and pray against temptation, recognizing that their spirit was willing but their flesh was weak, and He left them with tenderness. He then resolved to conquer the prince of evil so that humanity might be freed from slavery to despair.