THE FLESH IS WEAK…

MATTHEW 26:37-41: “And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” NKJV

OBSERVATION: I was a 98 LB weakling!

I loved reading comic books as a kid. I think I enjoyed the ads in them as much as the comics. One ad that was a regular in the comic books I read was the “Charles Atlas” ad. It showed a wimpy man on the beach – a 98 LB weakling getting sand kicked in his face by a bully. Then, miraculously, after taking the “Charles Atlas” course – this weakling was transformed into a man of steel! 

He showed the bully a thing or two – and ended up with the girl!

I think I like this ad because I was a 98 LB weakling – literally. When I was in 9th grade I was 4′ 11″ tall and weighed 98 LBS. I did not grow past 5′ 4″ until after I graduated from High School. When you are this small you learn that football and fighting are not on your resume. Yet, you still long to be the “after” picture in the “Charles Atlas” class. 

There is something within us that wants to be strong!

Jesus’ time of agonizing in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is a wonderful contrast between strength and weakness. In these moments of pouring out His heart before the Father, we see Jesus struggle with His humanity and overcome with His spirit. Meanwhile, the disciples simply succumb to their humanity. Three times Jesus prays and three times the disciples fall asleep. Jesus confronts them with their weakness and says,

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Jesus is pointing out the weakness in all of our lives. This is the weakness that led to the disciples fleeing the garden when Jesus was arrested. It is the weakness that caused Peter to deny Jesus three times as Jesus stood before His accusers. And, it is the weakness that causes each one of us to struggle in life when we forget these important words from Jesus.

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

What was Jesus saying? Was He exhorting us to take the “Charles Atlas” course and duke it out with our flesh? Is praying a wrestling match with the flesh? Or, was Jesus pointing out something altogether different? To understand what Jesus was saying we need to look at the Greek words for watch and weak.

Jesus is calling His disciples and us to watch. This word means to stay awake. It is in contrast to what the disciples had been doing in the garden – sleeping! Yet, it also means to be alert. Jesus was about to reveal an important truth for our lives as believers that we must never forget. We cannot fall asleep at the wheel of life. We must stay diligent and keep this truth forefront of our lives.

What is this truth? It is found in the word translated weak. When we hear this word, like me as a young boy reading my favorite comic book, my mind goes to the “Charles Atlas” course. That flesh needs to get stronger. I need to muster up my strength and overcome the temptations that are before me. The temptations are the bullies in my life and I need to get in shape to overcome them!

So is prayer the equivalent of the “Charles Atlas” course? Do I overcome temptation as I pray louder, longer, and with greater resolve? Jesus was reminding the disciples that there was no ability within their humanity to overcome temptation and to walk after the spirit. The word translated weak means strengthless or impotent.

You cannot train the old human nature. You cannot teach your flesh how to fight off the bullies of temptation. To take on the enemy in the power of our flesh is to always face defeat. Our born-again spirits are always ready and willing to obey God. If we walk after the Holy Spirit by our spirits we will walk into victory. If we rely on our own strength, in any way, we will get the sand of temptation kicked into our face like the 98 LB weakling.

Paul understood this truth when he wrote,

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” (Rom 7:18-23 NKJV)

And, then Paul writes in the very next chapter,

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom 8:1-4 NKJV)

Our old nature is impotent. It cannot win the battle against temptation. The temptation the disciples battled to stay awake, to stand by Jesus, and to not deny Him, overcame them all as they tried to be strong in their flesh. Jesus surrendered to the will of the Father as He abided in the Spirit. Jesus abided in the Spirit as He abided in prayer. Prayer does not strengthen the flesh it gives us the power to bring our weak, impotent human nature and leave it at the cross.

Jesus prayed three times. The first time He asked if the cup of suffering He was facing could be taken away. Yet, He said – “Not as I will, but as You will.” The second and third times Jesus prayed He said,

“O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

Jesus overcame the weakness (not sinfulness) of His humanity as He abided in prayer. The weakness of His humanity asked if this cup could pass. The resolve of His spirit resounded – “Your will be done!” Jesus calls us to the same pathway to victory. It is not in building upon our strength and resolve. It is found in admitting our impotence to change things and placing our faith fully in the will and purposes of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through prayer.

Lord, as I have set aside these weeks in January to seek Your will and pray I realize how weak I really am. I confess that I have fallen into the “Charles Atlas” mentality several times and have found myself falling asleep once again and succumbing to the flesh. Help me to watch and pray so that I can walk after the Spirit and fulfill Your will in my life. Help me to say…

Your will be done!

In Jesus’ Name!