Asleep Again - Mark 14:40

Mark wrote how Jesus and His disciples, “came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he said to his disciples, Sit you here, while I shall pray. And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy. And said unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry you here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto you; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what you will. And he came, and found them sleeping, and said unto Peter, Simon, are you sleeping? could you not watch one hour? Watch you and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words”, and in chapter fourteen and verse forty of his book, Mark shared when Jesus, “returned, he found them asleep again”, where we read:

And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,)

neither wist they what to answer him.

The verse reads, “And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,)” Mark began with the words, “and when” which means “and at the time and moment” “he returned” or “Jesus came back to where Peter, James and John were located”, “he found them asleep again” which means “Jesus discovered His disciples were sleeping another time”, “(for their eyes were heavy” or “because the disciples eyes were burdened and weighed down”). Mark shared how Jesus came back to where Peter, James and John were in the garden and discovered they were “sleeping” once again because their “eyes” were “burdened and weighed down”.

The verse goes on to say, “neither wist they what to answer him.” Mark continued with the words, “neither wist they” which means “no and in no way did Peter, James and John know, perceive or discover how to respond to Jesus” “what to answer him” or “how to reply to Jesus”. Mark shared how Jesus' disciples did not know how to respond to Him when He found them sleeping again.

When we think through Mark's words in this verse, we see another time when Jesus came back to visit His disciples and found them “sleeping”. We can imagine how embarrassed Peter, James and John were when He discovered them “asleep” instead of “watching and praying”. God's mercy and grace is so abundant that even when His “disciples” were sleeping and did not know how to answer Him, He still sent His Son Jesus to pay the price for their sins. God desires to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when they yield their lives to Him, He will be patient with them even when “their eyes are heavy” with “sleep”.

Next time Mark shares how Jesus, “came the third time, and said unto them, Sleep on now”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".