Mark 14:32-42
Unfortunately, the recording picks up several minutes into the message. Below is the transcript of the missing audio.
Listen to this analogy given by a faithful pastor, “Imagine you were diagnosed with such a lethal condition that the doctor told you that you would die within hours unless you took a particular medicine—a pill every night before going to sleep. Imagine that you were told that you could never miss it, or you would die. Would you forget? Would you not get around to it some nights? No—it would be so crucial that you wouldn’t forget, you would never miss…[Well, because of everything we are facing LITDC]…We have to pray; we can’t let it just slip our minds.” [1]
"How a man can live and not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a man can believe and not pray is past my comprehension too." [2]
The necessity of prayer
Jesus is about to walk into his death; Jesus is in anguish. We know this scene. We have heard it before. Though Mark does not give us the detail the great Physician Luke gives, we remember the blood of anguish that forms on his forehead. Mark quotes Jesus as saying to his closest followers, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” Jesus hurts! Jesus asks to have this cup, the cup of suffering he mentions a few chapters back, removed. He faces his looming death with his full humanity at unrest, but concludes with those sweet and famous words, “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” In his anguish, he desires, above all, to be about his Father’s work, to trust him above his suffering.
Then he finds his closest followers giving in to their weakness, here is how one scholar put it…
"Jesus separates Peter, James, and John from the rest of the group to go with him as he prays. Peter has just boasted that he would stand firm with Jesus through his trials, even if they lead to death (14:29). James and John promised that they could be baptized with his baptism and could drink his cup (10:39). Jesus gives them a chance to back up their words. These three disciples have witnessed his raising of Jairus’s daughter and his glorious transfiguration (5:37; 9:2). Now they must witness his agony." [3]
But they keep falling asleep! We are made aware of the disciples' response to Jesus’ previous instruction; they are asleep. Now before we cast too many stones, the text indicates they are really tired, it says specifically their eyes were heavy. They are extremely exhausted, so naturally, sleeping would be the remedy. Though true, we must understand their weakness is on display, three times, to show how desperate we are to model Jesus’ behavior and do what Jesus instructs…which is…
Watch and Pray!
Watch…It means to be in constant readiness, be on the alert.[4] The disciples and we as well are to be on alert, ready, and watching. We are to be ready with eyes on Christ; we are to…
[1] Tim Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, (New York: Penguin Group, 2014), p 9-10.
[2] J. C. Ryle, A Call To Prayer: Updated Edition With Study Notes, (Cedar Lakes, MI; Waymark Books, 2018), p 9.
[3] David E. Garland, Mark (The NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 539.
[4] William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 208.