What does it mean that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak?

Answer

Just before His arrest, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and He said to His disciples, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” «Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. », (Matthew 26:41). The command came after Jesus had been praying to the Father and had found the disciples sleeping instead of praying (verses 38–40). He had admonished them to stay awake and pray with Him, but “their eyes were heavy” (verse 43), and they kept falling asleep. They slept right up until the time the armed mob came to take Jesus away (verses 45–47).

Because “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak,” the disciples were caught unawares in Gethsemane. The word for “spirit” in this passage is the Greek word pneuma, which in this context refers to the soul of man or the mind. The word for “flesh” refers to the human body and nature, with its moral and physical frailties. When Jesus first found the disciples sleeping, He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” «And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? », (Matthew 26:40), and then afterward told them all to watch and pray in order to avoid temptation.

The disciples’ spirits were willing to do what was right. In fact, just a few minutes earlier, all of them had pledged their lives to Jesus: “Peter declared, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the other disciples said the same” «Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. », (Matthew 26:35).

(Matthew 26:35). However, they couldn’t pray with Jesus for an extended period. Their flesh was weak, causing them to fall asleep due to physical human weakness and fatigue. By acknowledging that “the spirit is willing,” Jesus indicated that He understood the disciples’ desire to remain awake and pray, but the weakness of the flesh had overridden the spiritual intention to pray and keep watch. Jesus wasn’t reprimanding them but urging them to be cautious of the weakness of the flesh. The Lord Himself faced the same struggle against the flesh but had conquered it (verse 39).

The account of the disciples in Gethsemane resonates with all of us. We can easily get sidetracked from prayer, worship, or acts of kindness by hunger, exhaustion, sexual desires, feeling too cold or too hot, thirst, pain, or even a persistent itch. The flesh clamors loudly for its desires, often drowning out the promptings of the spirit. Even when the spirit is willing to obey God’s will, the flesh remains weak. The solution is just as Jesus stated: watch and pray. What does it mean to watch and pray? How can this help us overcome the weaknesses of the flesh?

Prayer is simple. We understand that we can request anything we need from God. Jesus emphasized that whatever we ask “in His name,” He will do «And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. », (John 14:13). Asking in His name means aligning with His will. Is having the strength to obey, worship, and do what is right and true according to God’s will? Absolutely! Jesus will answer prayers for spiritual strength to overcome the flesh. When we sense the weakness of the flesh about to overwhelm us, we can always pray.

Vigilance is the other tool we possess against the weakness of the flesh.The apostle Paul said, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” «There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. », (1 Corinthians 10:13). We should watch for the “way out.” Spiritual watchfulness sees the temptation coming and prompts prayer. The fact that the flesh is a natural ally to temptation makes spiritual alertness all the more important. “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty” «A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: But the simple pass on, and are punished. », (Proverbs 22:3).

The spirit of a believer is willing to follow God, but the flesh is weak. The demands, desires, and fears of human nature can pull us way off track. Satan has set up the world to appeal to the weaknesses of the flesh: lust, greed, gluttony, and other sins are directly related to the demands of the body. Is it any wonder that almost every advertisement you see and hear speaks to the fulfillment of the lust of the flesh? Another weakness of the flesh is the fear that we will not be taken care of. But Jesus spoke to this fear too: “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (1 John 2:1-2).