Matthew 26:41

Mat 26:41. Ἵνα μὴ εἰσέλθητε, κ.τ.λ., that ye enter not, etc.) This was to be the subject of their prayer; see Luk 22:40; cf. ἵνα μὴ in ch. Mat 24:20.—εἰς πειρασμὸν, into temptation) which is close at hand, nay, which is already here.—τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα,[1151] κ.τ.λ., the spirit indeed, etc.) This statement, sin only excepted, was true also of Jesus at that time; see Heb 5:7. Therefore He also both watched and prayed, Mat 26:39-40.—πνεῦμα, spirit) Thence it is that the Apostles mention frequently flesh and spirit.—σὰρξ, flesh) We ought to take this, not as an excuse for torpor, but as an incentive to watchfulness.—ἀσθενὴς, weak) for the right performance of the matter in hand.

[1151] πρόθυμον—ἀσθενής, willing—weak See Mat 26:33; Mat 26:35, and cf. Mat 26:40.—B. G. V.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_26:41. Ἵνα] indicating, not the object of the προσεύχεσθε, but purpose, and that of the watching and praying.

εἰσέλθητε εἰς πειρασμόν] in order that ye may not be betrayed into circumstances in which ye might be led to show yourselves unfaithful to me (into the σκανδαλίζεσθαι of Mat_26:31). Comp. Mat_6:13. By watching and praying, as a means of maintaining clearness of judgment, freedom, and a determination to adhere to Christ, they were to avoid getting into such outward circumstances as might prove dangerous to their moral wellbeing. The watching here is no doubt of a physical nature (Mat_26:40), but the προσεύχεσθαι has the effect of imparting to it the character and sacredness belonging to spiritual watchfulness (Col_4:2).

τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα, κ.τ.λ.] a general proposition (all the more telling that it is not introduced with a γάρ), intended to refer, by way of warning, to the circumstances in which the disciples were placed, as though it had been said: ye are no doubt, so far as the principle of your ethical life in its general aim and tendency is concerned, willing and ready to remain true to me; but on the individual side of your nature, where the influence of sense is so strong, you are incapable of resisting the temptations to unfaithfulness by which you are beset. Comp. on Joh_3:6. Euthymius Zigabenus: ἡ δὲ σὰρξ, ἀσθενὴς οὖσα, ὑποστέλλεται καὶ οὐκ εὐτονεῖ. In order, therefore, to avoid getting into a predicament in which, owing to the weakness in question, you would not be able to withstand the overmastering power of influences fatal to your salvation without the special protection and help of God that are to be obtained through vigilance and prayerfulness, watch and pray!

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 41. That ye enter not into temptation] If ye cannot endure a little fatigue when there is no suffering, how will ye do when the temptation, the great trial of your fidelity and courage, cometh? Watch - that ye be not taken unawares; and pray - that when it comes ye may be enabled to bear it.

The spirit - is willing, but the flesh is weak] Your inclinations are good - ye are truly sincere; but your good purposes will be overpowered by your timidity. Ye wish to continue steadfast in your adherence to your Master; but your fears will lead you to desert him.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(41) Watch and pray.—The first word is eminently characteristic of our Lord’s teaching at this period (Mat_24:42; Mat_25:13). It became the watchword of the early disciples (1Co_16:13; Col_4:2; 1Th_5:6; 1Pe_5:8). It left its mark in the history of Christendom in the new names of Gregory, and Vigilius, or Vigilantius, “the watcher.”

That ye enter not into temptation—i.e., as in the Lord’s Prayer, to which our Lord manifestly recalls the minds of the disciples—the trial of coming danger and persecution. In their present weakness that trial might prove greater than they could bear, and therefore they were to watch and pray, in order that they might not pass by negligence into too close contact with its power.

The spirit indeed is willing.—Better, ready, or eager. There is a tenderness in the warning which is very noticeable. The Master recognises the element of good, their readiness to go with Him to prison or to death, in their higher nature. But the spirit and the flesh were contrary the one to the other (Gal_5:17); and therefore they could not do the things that they would, without a higher strength than their own.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

41. the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak] The touch of clemency mingled with the rebuke is characteristic of the gentleness of Jesus.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He went away again the second time,.... To the same place as before, or at some little distance; after he had reproved his disciples for their sleeping, and had exhorted them to watchfulness and prayer, suggesting the danger they were liable to, and the condition they were in:

and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done. The sense of this prayer to his God and Father is, that if his sufferings and death could not be dispensed with; if it was not consistent with the decrees of God, and the covenant of grace, that he should be excused from them; or if the glory of God, and the salvation of his people required it, that he must drink up that bitter cup, he was content to do it; desiring in all things to submit unto, and to fulfil his Father's will, though it was so irksome and disagreeable to nature.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Ver. 41. Watch and pray] Yea, watch, while ye are praying, against corruption within, temptations without. Satan will be interrupting as the Pythoness did Paul praying, Act 16:16; as the fowls did Abraham sacrificing, Gen 15:11; as the enemies did Nehemiah with his Jews, building, who therefore prayed and watched, watched and prayed. Among all actions, Satan is ever busiest in the best; and most in the best part of the best, as in the end of prayer, when the heart should close up itself with most comfort. Watch therefore unto prayer, προσκαρτερειτε, Set all aside for it, and wait on it, as the word imports, Col 4:2. While prayer stands still, the trade of godliness stands still; let this therefore be done, whatever is left undone. Take heed the devil take you not out of your trenches, as he did David, likely, 2Sa 11:2; out of your stronghold, as Joshua did the men of Ai. "Little children," saith St John, "abide in God," 1Jn 2:28; keep home, keep close to your Father, if you mean to be safe, if that evil one shall not touch you, 1Jn 5:18, nor thrust his deadly sting into you, &c.

The spirit indeed is willing] q.d. Though the spirit purpose otherwise, yet the flesh will falter, and ye will be foiled else. Or, our Saviour speaks this by way of excuse of their infirmity, q.d. I see you are willing, so far as you are spiritual and regenerate; but the flesh is treacherous and tyrannical. It rebels ever and anon, and would gladly reign. It hangs off, when called to suffer, and makes shy of the business. So Peter was carried whither he would not, Joh 21:18. So Hilarion chides out his soul (which plaid loth to depart) with Egredere o anima, &c. So Mr Sanders, martyr, in a letter to his wife, a little before his death, Fain would his flesh, said he, make strange of that which the spirit doth embrace. O Lord, how loth is this loitering sluggard to pass forth in God’s path, &c. So Mr Bradford going to his death. Now I am climbing up the hill, said he, it will cause me to puff and blow before I come to the cliff. The hill is steep and high, my breath is short, and my strength is feeble. Pray therefore to the Lord for me, pray for me, pray for me, for God’s sake, pray for me. {See Trapp on "Joh 21:18"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Watch ye and pray, &c. We watch by being intent on good works, and by being solicitous that no perverse doctrine seize our hearts. Thus we must first watch, and then pray. (Origen) --- The spirit indeed is willing, &c. This is addressed to the disciples; that they were not to trust too much to their own courage; for although their spirit was ready to undergo any temptation, their bodies were still so weak, that they would fail, unless strengthened by prayer. (St. Hilary)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

41. Watch — The words wake and watch are different forms of the same term. Yet to watch is more than to be awake. It implies that our wakeful powers are exerted to guard against the evil. Pray — While we exert our own energies against the evil powers, let us also supplicate divine aid. That ye enter not into temptation — As a fragile boat would avoid the rocks and rifts, so should the feeble Christian avoid the dangers of trials that may wreck him. The spirit — Of the sincere but wavering disciple. Is willing — Both to wake and to conquer the tempter. The flesh — Of that disciple. Is weak — It is weighed down and conquered by the tempter’s influences, or it is overcome in the hour of conflict.

How true a description was this of the disciples, as, for instance, Peter! His spirit was willing to watch, but Satan weighed him down through the flesh. His spirit was willing to adhere to his Master, but Satan overcame him through fleshly fear. But does our Lord intend this as an excuse for Peter, and an exemption from guilt? Rather, he renders it as a reason for his admonition to watch and pray, the neglect of which gave Satan his advantage over their earthly nature.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Watch (ye) and pray. A summary of Christian duty. Watchfulness sees temptation coming; prayer gives strength to withstand it. The apostles needed the injunction at this moment; for their great trial was close at hand. That ye enter not (in order that ye may not eater) into temptation. The phrase is usually interpreted to mean either to fall into temptation, to be tempted, or to run wilfully into temptation; but it seems to be better, with Grotius, to take it in the sense of succumbing to, falling under, being vanquished by temptation, like empiptein in 1Ti_6:9, "immergi et succumbere." That Peter and the rest were now to be tempted was certain, (Luk_22:31, Luk_22:32) and it was too late to deprecate the trial; but it was right and expedient to ask of God grace to withstand in the evil hour. The spirit (pneu ma) indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. This was an added motive for vigilance and prayer. The apostles had shown a certain readiness of spirit when they offered to die with Christ (ver. 35); but the flesh, the material and lower nature, represses the higher impulse, checks the will, and prevents it from carrying out that which it is prompted to perform (see the action of these contrariant forces noticed by St. Paul, Romans 7). "For the corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthy tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things". (RAPC Wis 9:15) Our Lord at this very time was experiencing and exemplifying the truth of his saying, though in his ease the weakness of the flesh was entirely overmastered by the willing spirit. It is noted that Polycarp quotes this maxim of Christ in his "Epistle to the Philippians," ch. 7.

The recognition of good intentions.

"The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Our Lord dealt very tenderly with these disciples. No reproachful word passed his lips. He was considerate of the influence which bodily frailty can exert upon the will; and did not immediately take up the idea that the will had swerved. "The priests on duty in the temple were expected to keep awake all night, and were severely punished if the temple captain found them asleep. Peter and James and John could not watch for one-tenth part of that time, yet their Lord upbraids them very gently, and ascribes their seeming indifference to physical exhaustion." When God refused to permit David to build his temple, he graciously recognized his good intention: "Thou didst well that it was in thine heart." And yet we have a familiar proverb showing the uselessness of "good intentions:" "Hell is paved with good intentions." On what conditions, then, can our intentions be recognized and accepted? We can ourselves see that an intention may be sometimes right and sometimes wrong.

I WHEN AN INTENTION IS A MERE SENTIMENT, IT IS WRONG. It need not be wrong as a sentiment; it is wrong if it is treated as an intention, and its acceptance is expected as such. It is a mere sentiment when there is

(1) no resolve of will in relation to it; and

(2) when there is no watching for opportunity of carrying it out.

Our intentions are revealed as mere sentiments whenever we let the chance of fulfilling them pass. This we are constantly doing, and this fact has created the proverb.

II WHEN AN INTENTION IS A REAL PURPOSE, IT IS RIGHT. Then it is thought. fully, not impulsively, formed. Due account is taken of circumstances and abilities. Fitting occasion is watched for, and energy is shown in overcoming difficulties.

III AN INTENTION IS NOT MADE WRONG BY BEING HINDERED IN EXECUTION. People often mistake by assuming that failure shows our purpose to have been wrong. But there are other things to take into account beside our intentions. We can always have this assurance, God knows whether we would have done what we intended if we could. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The spirit - Your spirit: ye yourselves. The flesh - Your nature. How gentle a rebuke was this, and how kind an apology! especially at a time when our Lord's own mind was so weighed down with sorrow.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

41. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. Our Lord does not direct them to pray to God that no temptation might befall them, but that they might not be overcome by the temptations in which they must be involved. The need of such prayer was shown by Peter's denial.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

41. τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα πρόθυμον κ.τ.λ. The touch of clemency mingled with the rebuke is characteristic of the gentleness of Jesus.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

41.] Luke gives this command at the beginning and end of the whole; but his account is manifestly only a compendium, and not to be pressed chronologically. The command has respect to the immediate trial which was about to try them, and (for γρηγ. is a word of habit, not merely, as ἐγείρω Eph 5:15, or ἐκνήφω 1Co 15:34, one of immediate import) also to the general duty of all disciples in all time.

εἰσελθεῖν εἰς π. is not to come into temptation merely, to be tempted: this lies not in our own power to avoid, and its happening is rather joy than sorrow to us—see Jas 1:2, where the word is περιπέσητε—but it implies an entering into temptation with the will, and entertaining of the temptation. Grotius compares ἐμπίπτειν εἰς πειρασμόν 1Ti 6:9. ‘Plenius Hebræi dicunt, intrare in manum tentationis, hoc est, in ejus potestatem atque dominium, ita ut ab ea subjugemur atque absorbeamur’ (Witsius, Exerc. in Orat. Dom. p. 196, cited by Stier, vi. 237).

τὸ μὲν πν.] I cannot doubt that this is said by our Lord in its most general meaning, and that He Himself is included in it. At that moment He was giving as high and pre-eminent an example of its truth, as the disciples were affording a low and ignoble one. He, in the willingness of the spirit—yielding Himself to the Father’s Will to suffer and die, but weighed down by the weakness of the flesh: they, having professed, and really having, a willing spirit to suffer with Him, but, even in the one hour’s watching, overcome by the burden of drowsiness. Observe it is here πνεῦμα, not ψυχή; and compare ver. 38 and note. To enter further into the depths of this assertion of our Lord would carry us beyond the limits of annotation: but see Stier’s remarks, vi. 237-242.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(M) 41. Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak.] So Mk., with ἔλθητε1 for εἰσέλθητε; cf. Introduction, p. xxvi. Lk. also has εἰσέλθητε.—εἰς πειρασμόν] cf. 6:13. The words seem to be suggested by Christ’s own experience. He, too, had entered into “temptation,” v. 36. See Gould on Mar 14:38.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.