The hour had come when our Lord YAHSHUA was to fulfill the will of the Father. Nothing was going to impede Him from accomplishing the most difficult task He had come to fulfill. After partaking of that last supper with His disciples, He knew that His sufferings and death were going to take place in the cruelest way. The shadow of death surrounded Him in an agony of His Spirit and soul in the Gethsemane Garden. He confessed to His disciples the extent of His pain. Arriving at the garden, He took with Him Peter, James and John, and began to be struck with terror and amazement and troubled and depressed. And He said to them, My soul is exceedingly and sad so that it almost kills Me! Remain here and keep awaked and be watching; and going a little farther, He fell on the ground and kept praying that if it were possible the hour might pass from Him (Mark 14:33-35). In the midst of all He was contemplating to suffer, He gave the disciples emphasis on praying. “Pray so that you may not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matt. 26:41b). Three things were important at that hour for the disciples to do: Keep awake, watch and pray. They were to keep awake with the Lord, YAHSHUA in His hour of temptation. But the time of the day called them to sleep, for it was very late. The three times He had called the attention of His disciples to pray, it was definitely to warn them of the presence of the evil one, who had come to temp Him. That was for him the “opportune time.” Satan has a way to visit us at the point of our weakness; he tried this tactic with the Lord.
Suffering as a human being, YAHSHUA was subject to Satan’s temptation at that hour. But the power he thought to have to crush the Lord’s plan failed big time. For in spite of the Lord’s weakness, He never gave up His position of Son of God. And as Son of God, He had greater power than the evil one. However, the disciples were exposed to Satan’s temptation and for them to be victorious, they had to do these three things: Stay awake, watch and pray. The warning was directed specially to Peter. He said to him: Simon, are you asleep? Have you not the strength to keep awake and [watch with me for] one hour? (Mark 14:37). The Lord had warned Peter earlier that before a cock shall crow this day, you will three times deny that you know Me (Luke 22:34). Peter, being warned earlier, still did not connect the Lord’s words directed to him at the garden. Remaining sleeping kept him off guard and weak to fight the temptation. Few hours later, Peter was found denying the Lord, as He had warned him. One cannot sleep, watch and pray. It is impossible to fight the devil while sleeping. There are many people- Christians and non-Christians suffering alone because we are asleep; we are falling into temptation of all kinds, because we are drunk with the things of the world and not able to wake up from it to help the helpless. YAHSHUA asked the question, “Have you not the strength to keep awake and watch [with Me for] one hour?” One hour out of twenty-four hours in the day is very minimal to invest in the life of one who is suffering.
Light from the Word 