Are You Sleeping?

[The following is the manuscript of my meditation delivered at the Lenten Service held at Paul's Chapel Church in Lexington, NC on Sunday, the 15th of March, 2015.]

32 Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. 34 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”

35 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. 36 And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

37 Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

39 Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words. 40 And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.

41 Then He came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough! The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

--Mark 14:32-42 (NKJV)

Lent is that time in our Christian calendar when we repent of our sin and remember the tremendous sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.  Sometimes I worry that when we think of Jesus, we see Him as God more than as man.  Yes, Jesus is fully God, but when He walked this earth He was also fully man – 100% human just like you and I.  He could suffer physical pain, just like you and I.  He had to endure emotional stress and apprehension, just like you and I.

At the point of our scripture reading from Mark’s Gospel, Jesus knew His end was near.  And He knew that the sacrifice soon to be required of Him would be terrible and cruel.  Our opening verses show just how much this knowledge of what was coming weighed upon His very spirit.  He was troubled, deeply distressed.  “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death”, He said.

These words came from the very same Jesus who spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness after His baptism by John, eating nothing, all the while being tempted by Satan.  That experience would have shattered any of us but it didn’t appear to bother Him, at least not according to Matthew, Mark, or Luke, who all recorded the event.

Yet knowing what would soon come to pass almost unnerved Jesus.  “Father, take this cup from Me!”, He cried out, there alone on the hillside.  Can you feel the anguish, the desperation?  He knew the Father’s will must be done, otherwise you and I would have no hope whatsoever!  But that didn’t make it any easier for Him.

Fully God, yes.  But fully man also.  And the man Jesus was there all alone.

When they departed from supper, Jesus left all of His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane except for the three that were perhaps His closest – Simon Peter and brothers James and John.  The four walked on up the hillside until Jesus asked them to stay there and pray because He was deeply troubled.  Jesus went on a little further and prayed Himself, pouring out His soul, His fears, to God.  When He returned to Peter, James, and John, He found them fast asleep, even though He had asked them to watch and pray.

Three times He went off alone to pray; three times He returned to find His trusted friends sleeping.  Weren’t they concerned about their Master’s well-being?  Didn’t they care enough to do what He asked them to do – to watch and pray for Him?  Is it possible they weren’t as worried about the immediate future as Jesus was because they didn’t really believe what He told them was about to happen?


And as long as I’m asking tough questions, what about us?  Where do we fit into all of this?  Are we sleeping?  Are we fast asleep and can’t be bothered to do what our Lord wants us to do?

If we study the Gospels, we can see that Jesus asked quite a bit of His followers, and He asks a lot of us as well.  He asks that we believe in Him as the Son of God.  He asks that we love one another unconditionally.  He asks that we go into the world baptizing in His name and making disciples, making more followers, bringing people to Him.

But when the world hung in the balance, all He asked of His closest friends was that they watch and pray.  And they just couldn’t force themselves to stay awake


Are we sleeping?  We’re here tonight to worship God, to honor Jesus and His sacrifice.  We may think that now that Jesus is in heaven and is fully God again, He won’t be so worried and anxious about the future of the world.  We’ve read the Book of Revelation and we know how this long story turns out.  We know that if we believe and stay true to Jesus that we’ll be saved and have eternal life with Him and our Father in heaven.

But what about the rest of the world?  What about all those who don’t believe, who won’t follow, who haven’t even heard the Good News?  Isn’t it very likely that Jesus cares about them too, that He is anxious for their spiritual well-being?  Are we willing to watch and pray for them, or would we rather roll over and go back to sleep, warm and secure in the promise of our own salvation?

Brothers and sisters, Jesus is asking us to watch and pray – for Him and for His church and for all those He seeks to save.  He wants us to love them enough to get out of our comfortable seats, our cozy little boxes, and go out into the world looking for the lost and bring them to Him.  Love God, love one another, go make disciples.


As a man, Jesus was sorrowful and anxious about His own fate.  And I firmly believe that He still is, even as God, except now He – His person - is represented by His church, left here on earth to carry out His commission.  He left us to watch and pray as He went a little further ahead to be with our Father.

Let’s be sure that when He returns, He doesn’t find us sleeping.

Amen.