Through the Sleepy Eyes of the Disciples (Matthew 26:36-46) - Holy Week Noon Sermon

A reading today comes from Matthew's Gospel chapter 26,

starting in verse 36 through 46. Then Jesus went with them to a

place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, Sit here

while I go over there and pray. And taking with him Peter and

the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and

troubled. Then he said to them, My soul is

very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me.

And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed,

saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from

me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but

as you will. And he came to the disciples and

found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, so could

you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not

enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing,

but the flesh is weak. Again for the second time he

went away and prayed. My father, if this cannot pass

unless I drink it, your will be done.

And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were

heavy. So leaving them again he went

away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words

again. Then he came to the disciples

and said to them, Sleep and take your rest later on.

See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into

the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going.

See, my betrayer is at hand. This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God, you may be seated whether you're joining us

in person or online. Welcome to Holy Week at Park

City's Presbyterian Church. This is perhaps our favorite

week of the year as a church family, and we're so glad that

you've joined us. The gospel writers slow down

during this week in Jesus life, and so do we.

They focus their attention on Christ's death and resurrect

resurrection, and so do we. They long for people to grasp

the significance of these historical events, and so do we.

And so we're praying for us, for our family and friends, for

people who don't yet know Jesus, that he would do a great work in

our lives this week, this year, as you probably know, we'll see

Holy Week through the eyes of a number of characters in the

story, because we want to see what they see, but also what

they don't see, so that we can see what we see and what we

don't see as we behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of

the world. John Stott once said, the cross

is the blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled,

but we have to get near enough for its sparks to fall on us.

So, friends, wherever you are this week, we invite you to draw

near to the cross. Come in out of the cold, and

come around the blazing fire of His love.

And we pray that He would give us grace to draw near enough

that the sparks fall on us. As we dive into this familiar

passage, I just want to pose one question.

Have we ever been asleep when we were supposed to be awake?

It's actually one of my deep fears, and I come by it

honestly. When I was a freshman in high

school, I was playing basketball and my team was on a bus on the

way to Rockwall to play a game, and I happened to fall asleep on

the bus. I woke up with a sense of some

sweetness in my mouth and the coach, my coach standing in the

aisle next to us saying, guys, what's going on here?

And as my senses came back online, I realized my mouth was

full of chocolate. So through the chocolate I said

ask him. So while I slept my so-called

friend had been stuffing Rolos into my mouth to see how many he

could fit. So that day my friend learned

not to do that as he had to sit out the whole first half of the

game and I learned not to fall asleep in public places.

This is a terrible feeling to be asleep when we're supposed to be

awake, but that's really what our passage is about today.

So much has happened in our passage since Jesus triumphal

entry on Palm Sunday. Imagine the whirlwind of a week

that the disciples have had, and on this night in Matthew 26,

they've already gathered for the Passover.

Jesus has predicted his betrayal.

He's instituted the Lord's Supper, and now they've come to

this familiar place where they gathered before the Garden of

Gethsemane. Just imagine three years with

Jesus. All that's happened.

The disciples have to be exhausted.

In verse 43, we read that their eyes were heavy and with a storm

losing on the horizon for Jesus. I don't think they fully grasp

it, but they sense something is coming.

They're sorrowful. In the same episode in Luke

2245, we read they were sleeping for sorrow.

So the disciples have sleepy eyes because they're exhausted

and sorrowful to realities that we know all too well.

When's the last time you heard someone say I just feel so

rested and energetic? We're exhausted.

And whom do you know who hasn't been touched by deep sorrow?

We all have sorrow and exhaustion and sorrow lead us to

fall asleep or to be sluggish when we're supposed to be awake.

And I don't just mean physical sleep.

Some people are completely asleep, unaware of who God is

and what He's doing. Holy Week comes year after year.

The good news is preach week after week, and they are asleep

to it all. And some of us have been

awakened by the Holy Spirit. But we're still prone to fall

asleep when life gets busy or hard, when disappointment or

suffering comes. In these moments, we're tempted

not to lean in, but to check out, to doze off.

We're like the spouse that loses the wonder of being married.

We can fall asleep in the most important relationships.

We're like the soldier who falls asleep at his post.

We can fall asleep in the most important assignments.

We're like the lighthouse keeper who dozes off in the midst of

the storm. And so our falling asleep can

have disastrous consequences. All too often when we're asleep,

when we ought to be awake, my heart breaks that this is who I

am. So what do we see through the

sleepy eyes of the disciples? First, we see that our willpower

fails us. Our willpower fails us.

Just before this passage in Matthew 2631, Jesus tells his

disciples, You will all fall away because of me this night.

So Peter replies, though they all fall away because of you, I

will never fall away. Then Jesus predicts Peter's

denial and Peter says, even if I must die with you, I will not

deny you. See the confidence he has in his

willpower? And the text says all the

disciples said the same. Then the scene shifts to the

Garden of Gethsemane where we are.

Gethsemane literally means oil press.

It's a garden. It's an olive Grove.

It's an oil press. In this garden, Jesus and his

disciples are both pressed, but they respond very differently.

In this moment of anguish for Jesus, he anticipates the

suffering that he will face the next day on Good Friday.

So it makes sense that he wants his friends to pray with him.

It's a very human moment. He has eight of them stay in one

place. Then he invites 3 Peter, James,

and John to go a little farther to come with him.

And he tells them, My soul is very sorrowful even to death.

Remain here and watch with me. Just a simple request.

Watch with me, pray with me. And then Jesus goes a little

farther by himself, falls on his face and begins to cry out to

his Father. And the text says he pleads with

his father three times. And in between the praying, he

comes back to his disciples, I suppose, maybe looking for

comfort, only to find them asleep.

And it's not just the other 8 disciples who are sleeping, it's

the inner circle, the three, his closest friends.

So in verse 40, Jesus addresses Peter, who made the boldest

promises. Could you not watch with me for

one hour? You see, even the strongest

among us have failed the Lord. The Lord wants to be with us.

He wants to do something for us. He asked something of us.

But exhaustion and sorrow get the best of us.

And we, like the disciples, miss the wonder of what God is doing

right before our eyes because we're asleep.

So through the disciples sleepy eyes we see our own failure to

stay awake. That, you could say, is the bad

news. But here's the good news.

We also see Jesus resolve to save us.

While we're sleeping, Jesus is fully awake.

He's watching and praying, pleading with the Father.

He's wrestling against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly

places. He's winning a battle in this

garden that we lost in an ancient garden at the beginning.

While we're sleeping, Jesus is pondering being separated from

his Father for the first time since eternity past.

He's sweating drops of blood. He's praying.

My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be

done. Think about Jesus being fully

human. He has to be more exhausted and

sorrowful than his disciples, but while they're sleeping, he's

awake and fully engaged. He will not sleep in the Garden

of Gethsemane. He will not sleep all night as

he's accused and abused and condemned to die.

And he will not sleep all day on Friday as he's handed over to be

crucified, to carry his own cross, to allow soldiers to

drive nails through his wrists and his feet, to have to push up

on those nails just to take a breath, to feel the weight of

his people's sins bearing down on him until he cries out.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Our Lord Jesus will not sleep until he breathes his last and

is laid to rest in a tune. He will not sleep because he

came to save people like us who fall asleep when they're

supposed to be awake. So friends, are you asleep when

you're supposed to be awake? Hear Jesus word to his disciples

today. Watch and pray that you may not

enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing,

but the flesh is weak. Come and be with Jesus this

week. Watch and pray with Him.

If life is noisy, come a little farther.

Come away from the crowds. Hear His word, listen for His

heart. Your spirit may be willing, but

your flesh is weak. So if you feel drowsy, ask Him

to strengthen you. But realize our hope is not in

our power to stay awake. Our hope is in the one who would

not sleep until He could say it is finished.

And our hope is in the one who will not sleep on Sunday morning

when it's time to wake up and conquer sin and death and hell.

Let's take a moment now for silent prayer and reflection.

Ask the Lord to show you where you're asleep, and ask Him, by

the power of His Spirit, to awaken you.