Matthew 26:39-41 - The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak

26:39

While Jesus had taken all the disciples to Gethsemane (excluding Judas), and three of them a little further with Him, He went further still on His own. There are times when it is just God and us. Jesus asked for His Father to take away the cup from Him, if this was possible. This cup was the cup of God’s wrath. Enduring this wrath was by far the worst part of the cross, much worse than the physical punishment, utterly terrible as that was.

 

26:40,41

“Then He turned to His disciples”. This could just be the three whom He took with Him, though it is unlikely the rest were any better. They had fallen asleep. Jesus wanted them to pray, not so much for His sake, but for their own sakes. They had sworn allegiance and genuinely wanted to stick with Jesus, but “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”. Jesus knows what we are like, and our fallen humanity will triumph unless we pray. We need spiritual help in order to overcome the weakness of the flesh, so we should pray. God knows how we are formed (Ps 103:14).