“The spirit is willing…but the flesh is weak”

I am aware, at times, of a moment or two of understanding…a glimpse of what God intended in His relationship with us…a longing for us to “get it” …to actually grasp the enormity of the sacrifice He made for us.

We accept so glibly, the account of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He retreats after the Last Supper as His “place of secret prayer” and asks His disciples to pray for Him while He steals some last few moments with His Father and for themselves ” for strength to be spared from the severe test of their faith to come.” ( Luke 22:39-40 TPT)

It is clear He knows His time has come…where the temptation in the desert pales into insignificance in this moment of painful realisation of His Father’s will and the denial of, and complete rejection of Him by those He has loved, taught and given understanding. The struggle internally with His fear and dread of what He knew deep down He could not avoid is recounted in Luke 22:42-44. In The Passion Translation, verse 44 reads, ” He prayed even more passionately, like one being sacrificed, until He was in such intense agony of spirit that His sweat became drops of blood, dripping to the ground.”

In His humanness, He asked to be freed from His prophesied demise…if it were at all possible…” Father, if you are willing,take this cup of agony away from me.”….the bargaining that comes in the face of death. But in utter devotion to the Father…” Your will must be mine.”

Jesus returns to His disciples, a distance off, presumably Joining Him in prayer, but oblivious to His encroaching betrayal, trial and crucifixion. He finds them asleep…complacent. He would be disappointed…abandoned by their apparent disregard of His tortured soul.

In a few short sentences, pregnant with His own plagued emotions, He hints at His own internal struggle between His humanness and His divinity. “Watch and pray that you don’t enter into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

He Knew His Father’s will from the outset…spoke openly about the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He walked amongst us and witnessed the degradation, oppression, hostility, arrogance and pride of a people…a stubborn people…. a people with hearts tuned only to their own little worlds. A people with no vision.

He knew too that this act of love…of complete utter sacrifice of Himself…to death…. would pass largely unnoticed, the very act not understood…the love…absolute love that would not be comprehended by those who perpetrated it, those who witnessed it those who had been told but did not fully grasp the enormity of the deed.

In resignation to His Father’s will, with full comprehension and understanding of what His Father required of Him to free us, Jesus, in these words, submits Himself totally to the forces of evil that will totally destroy Him in His humanness.

“My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it…. Thy will be done.”

One could feel justified for believing God to be callous, unfeeling, if this were taken out of context of the whole story of Jesus life…. a life full of purpose…a life dedicated to gentleness, love for humanity as a whole…expressed in His life encounters with people as recorded in The Word…the Bible. His love was based on acceptance and compassion. He loved people truly…deeply.

This is where we see His divinity at its best…In the simple touch or word, healing broken hearts and souls in gentleness and complete love. It is in these brief encounters we witness a departure from his humanness because we are unable to love that selflessly, to work that tirelessly, to remain true to our purpose. He never faltered. He never failed…but always acted completely within His Father’s will, in every circumstance, at every crossroad. Unswerving, unfailing devotion.

I am encouraged by these short verses that depict Christ’s struggle…that bids us witness His agonising over His decision to submit in the Garden to what He was about to endure. This temptation.

Hebrews 4: 15 reads, “For we have not a High Priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses…But One who in every respect, has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

While this struggle highlights Jesus humanness, it shows Christ’s example to us in His complete devotion to His Father…our God…in His circumstances…ones that are beyond His control from a human standpoint. He does not run. He does not hide. He takes the circumstances…what is before Him, to God, then trusts Him for the outcome.
It was not a sin to ask God if there was another way of achieving His intentions…His plan for humanity. Jesus did not suggest or imply God had “got it wrong”. He didn’t blame God for His current circumstances.

When it was clear there was no way around this mountain…this seemingly insurmountable obstacle…Jesus committed the circumstances and the outcome to His Father.

Oh how I would learn from this!

“Thy will be done.”

References and acknowledgements:

Editing and proof reading: Jeff Roorda

Written in 2008 by Naomi Roorda

Photo: “Praying Hands” Naomi Roorda :

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Bible references: The Passion Translation…Brian Simmons Luke 22:41