Standing Watch

 "What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak."

Jesus' words to Peter in the garden of Gethsemane are one of the most quoted and least understood passages of scripture. These words are not an excuse for indulging fleshly desire--not even one so innocent as sleep. Rather, these words are a description of the course of Christian life. They are a reprimand for indifference and neglect which no man who cares for Christ would wish to hear and they are the remedy for spiritual neglect.

Christianity, honestly embraced, is a life-long, internal warfare between the spirit and the flesh. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis posed the question:"Is Christianity hard or easy?" Of course, the answer is subjective. A task that is difficult for me may be easy to another. Lewis answers the question with the illustration of a chick hatching from an egg. He points out that hatching is exhausting, hard work. Then, he points out that hatching is infinitely easier than living a full life as an egg.

Hours earlier Peter had proclaimed that though all others forsake Jesus, he would not. Peter was not boasting; he sincerely intended to die with Jesus if necessary. I think he believed it even after Jesus told him otherwise. His spiritual man, which was three years in the making, was ready to break out. I've felt that surge of the spirit that makes one willing to charge hell with a bucket of ice water. Most Christians live for those moments. The trouble is, we are not always adequately prepared for success. Usually, the fault is not spiritual; it is fleshly.

We have grown up listening and yielding to the demands of the flesh. That's the life and nature into which we are born. It cannot be otherwise. Try and calm a crying baby with spiritual advice. It's not that he cannot hear; he isn't listening. All a child hears are the screams of his flesh. This is not wrong or unnatural; it is life. But, we are not to remain children. Maturing bring another voice. This voice may sound like mom or dad; it may sound like our own voice, or it may be nothing more than the whisper of a still, small voice we vaguely recognize. Some call that voice conscious, others learned socialization, and still others call it instinct or common sense. Christians say it is the voice of the Holy Spirit. Whatever it is called the message is the same. That we do not behave as we "ought" to; that there is a higher, better behavior that the one we display. We know the voice is right and we wish to follow it's dictates, but we continually find ourselves failing to do so. This too is life.

Christianity, through a new birth, substitutes the call of the spirit for the call of the flesh. The demands of our flesh don't go away. We must learn to make them to take a back seat to the spirit. This takes a lifetime. Some are more successful at it than others, but this does not diminish each person's effort. Peter yielded to the flesh and ran like everyone else, but he didn't give up. He mourned his failure and got right back up to try again. No one, not Peter; not your minister; and Lord knows not me, is 100% successful 100% of the time. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh we wear remains weak.

Let's not forget, these words were a reprimand. Jesus was not excusing the disciples behavior because they were born needing sleep. Jesus was scolding His three most trusted disciples as though they were misbehaving children---which is exactly the case. Were they bone tired? Absolutely. It had been an exhausting day. All they wanted to do was close their eyes for a few minutes. Their bodies were crying out for a rest. But, Jesus asked them to stand watch. They tried, but failed. Their eyelids grew heavy; they relaxed and the next thing they knew Jesus was waking them. Jesus' words were an explanation of why they failed not a dismissal of their responsibility to do as He asked. That we are flesh does not "let us off the hook" for our behavior.

So, what are we to do? Be on guard; listen for the voice of the spirit; and pray not to succumb to the temptation of the flesh. "Blessed is the man who endures temptation..." The spirit is the remedy for the deceit of the flesh. Is it hard or easy? Does it matter? ^“Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning... And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”