Mark 14.38: "Watch and Pray..."

INTRODUCTION

According to ancient church tradition, the gospel of Mark is the recollections of Peter.

According to this tradition St. Peter told the story to Mark, not long before he was executed as a martyr in Rome.

Mark’s gospel, more than any of the others, has the marks of an eyewitness to the events he describes. It is the most vivid, and the most detailed in its stories.

If we read it and use our imaginations we can imagine we are there experiencing with the disciples the events in Jesus’s life.

One thing you notice as you read Mark’s gospel are the foolish things Peter did, his bumbling mistakes, and the times when he spoke when he should have kept his mouth shut.

But unlike some people, Peter learned from his mistakes. His mistakes made him humble.

In the book in the Bible we call First Peter, Peter wrote: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility….Humble yourselves, therefore under the mighty hand of God….Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour” (1 Peter 5:5-8).

Today I’m going to tell you about Peter’s greatest failure and the greatest lesson we can learn from the holy apostle, St. Peter.

I. This is what happened the night before Jesus died.

A. After Jesus had eaten his Last Supper with his disciples, they went to a place called “Gethsemane.”

“Gethsemane” means “olive press.”

This was a garden on the Mount of Olives where Jesus used to go to pray.

We read that “He began to be greatly distressed and troubled.”

He said to Peter, James, and John, who were with him: “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here and watch.”

And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.

And he came and found them sleeping and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

By this we know how terrible to Jesus his death would be, that he would pray for an hour, begging that it wouldn’t happen.

We also know that in the end, he submitted his will to the will of God and went forward bravely to the cross.

B. We know that not long after this time the soldiers came, Judas betrayed his Lord with a kiss, he was arrested, tried, and condemned to death—the terrible death on a cross.

We also have the story of Peter’s failure.

We are so glad that Peter had the courage and humility to tell this story about himself—because there is such an important lesson we can learn from it.

When Jesus was arrested, we read that his disciples turned tail and ran away.

But Peter, came back and followed into the high priest’s courtyard and took his place with the guards, warming himself at the fire.

I believe he came back because he loved Jesus so much that he didn’t want be separated from him.

Peter’s real name was Simon, but Jesus had given him the nickname “Peter,” which means “Rock,” a name to live up to.

Peter felt very brave—until a servant girl came by and caught him off guard by saying, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”

Suddenly, Peter wasn’t brave anymore. He said, “I don’t know or understand what you are talking about.” And he went out into the courtyard, and the rooster crowed.

The servant girl saw him again and said, “This man is one of them.” And poor Peter denied it again.

Then some of the bystanders said, “Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.”

Now Peter was in so deep that he didn’t know what to do, so he began to curse and said, “I do not know this man you are talking about.”

And immediately the rooster crowed, and Peter remembered that Jesus had said, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.

And Peter broke down and wept bitterly.

If you ever see someone do something awful, never say, “I could never do that!” You don’t know what you could do in circumstances you can’t imagine!

C. But God didn’t give up on Peter, and on the morning of resurrection, Peter was one of the first to see Jesus.

After that, Peter lived up to his nickname “Rock,” and he became a fearless witness to Jesus.

He preached the gospel. He was thrown into prison. An angel let him out and he continued to proclaim Christ.

Nothing could stop him until that day 35 years later when he was condemned to death for his faithfulness and met the same death as his Master had.

Tradition has it that, when the time came for him to die, he told the soldiers that he wasn’t worthy to hang on the cross like Jesus did and asked to be crucified upside down.

And so Peter is an example to all of us of faithfulness even unto death.

II. I want to go back to what Jesus told Peter in the garden, the same night when he failed so miserably: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

A. When Jesus said, “…the flesh is weak,” he was talking about human nature. We never know ourselves as well as we think we do.

Sometimes we feel weak when we are strong, and more often we feel strong when we are weak. That is why we need to live close to God and draw our strength from him.

B. When Peter, thirty years later, wrote in his letter: “All of you must clothe yourselves with humility….Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God….Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour.” Peter knew about the devil prowling about seeking someone to devour.

He knew how powerfully temptation comes upon us—and how unexpected—and how unprepared we can be.

That is why he said, “Humble yourselves…be sober, be watchful…”

That is why we need to pray every day. That is why we need to keep connected to God. That is why we need to keep confessing our sins, accepting God’s forgiveness, and walking humbly with our God.

C. Each of us has his or her special weaknesses.

For some of it is temper. Did you ever know a person who could just suddenly flare up and blaze with anger? In the book of James we read: “The tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature, and set on fire by hell” (James 3.6). Who can calculate the damage an angry outburst can do?

I have known people with outstanding virtues, but the good they could have done was spoiled by their boiling, blazing anger.

But maybe anger isn’t your problem. Maybe it is criticizing other people.

Maybe it is bitterness, hatred of those who have wronged you. You can’t forgive.

Maybe it is indifference to the troubles of other people. You can’t love.

Maybe it is walking past the one who needs your help, like the priest and Levite did in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Maybe it is a stingy spirit. You spend all your money on yourself. You don’t look for ways to use what you have for others in need.

Maybe your problem is neglecting to keep connected to God through prayer and Bible reading. You watch endless hours of TV instead.

Maybe your problem is some soul-destroying habit. I remember an earnest Christian man telling me how hard it was to quit smoking. He said, “I used to tell the Lord: “I know you don’t want me to smoke—but I’m going to do it anyway!” Just saying that prayer got him so convicted about his bad habit that he quit.

Good intentions are important, but good intentions aren’t enough. Peter had good intentions.

Look into your heart. Try to find your weakness.

And if you can’t find your weakness—like Peter couldn’t—know that you are weaker than you think you are. There are temptations. There are sins that can destroy you.

Keep alert. Keep praying. Keep in touch with God. Keep thinking of Jesus’s words: “Watch and pray, that you do not come into temptation. For the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

A mother was reclining on a couch one night with the light low, trying to sleep.

Beside her on the table was a bowl of fine fruit she was saving for company.

As she lay there she saw her little daughter tiptoe into the room in her white nightgown. The child, thinking her mother was asleep, advanced cautiously to the table, took a bunch of grapes and crept out again.

The mother was grieved at such misconduct on the part of her good little daughter, but said nothing.

Five minutes passed, then back into the room crept the child, with the grapes, the bunch intact.

She replaced them on the dish and as she departed her mother heard her say: “That’s the time you got left behind, Mr. Devil!”

The story is told that one day the devil put all his tools on display. They were a treacherous lot of implements: hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit, lying, pride, and so on. Laid apart from the rest was a well-worn, but harmless-looking tool.

“What is the name of this tool?” asked one of the viewers, pointing to it.

“That is Discouragement,” replied the devil. That’s my best tool. I can destroy more souls with that one than with all the others. It’s so useful because so few people know it belongs to me.”

CONCLUSION

We have all experienced discouragement—maybe more and more as we grow old. As we grow old and weak and our pains increase it is easy to become discouraged.

In one way, discouragement is different from the other temptations I mentioned. Discouragement—or despondency—or depression—aren’t usually our fault.

It can be because of circumstances—or because of our brain chemistry.

When I pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” I think of the temptation to give up on God.

As we grow old and weak and pained, it is easy to give up on God. But we need to continue to “fight the good fight of faith.”

Keep praying. Keep in your Bible. Keep connected with church. Keep serving God in whatever way is open to you.

In March our nephew Joseph was diagnosed with cancer. Within five days he was gone. Joseph was a godly young man. He accepted his death. Among his last words—to his nurse he said, “It’s okay. I’ve been preparing for this all my life.”

God was real to Joseph. His death was his homecoming, and he knew it.

His death did not mean hitting a wall but going through a door.

In the book of Proverbs we read: “The memory of the righteous is a blessing” (Proverbs 10:7).

Wouldn’t it be good to be able to leave behind such a bright memory as that?