Again
he went away, and prayed, saying the same words. Again he returned, and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they didn’t know what to answer him. He came the third time, and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let us be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.”
Mark 14:39-42
Mark 14 [37.] He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you watch one hour? Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Mark 14 [39.] Again he went away, and prayed, saying the same words. Again he returned, and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they didn’t know what to answer him. He came the third time, and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let us be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.”
Mark 14 [43.] Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came—and with him a multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. Now he who betrayed him had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I will kiss, that is he. Seize him, and lead him away safely.” When he had come, immediately he came to him, and said, “Rabbi! Rabbi!” and kissed him. They laid their hands on him, and seized him. But a certain one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
Meaning:
These verses close the scene in Gethsemane. Jesus prays a second and a third time, and each time he finds his disciples asleep. Then everything changes. The time of prayer is over and the hour of betrayal has arrived. The Jesus who was “greatly troubled and distressed” (Mark 14:33) now rises with calm resolve to meet those who have come to arrest him.
- “Again he went away, and prayed, saying the same words”
Jesus did not pray once and move on. He returned to the same request and the same surrender, “not what I desire, but what you desire” (Mark 14:36). Repeating a prayer is not the empty repetition Jesus warned against when the heart is in it. He taught his disciples “that they must always pray, and not give up” (Luke 18:1). Paul too asked the Lord three times about his thorn in the flesh, and received the answer, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
- “Their eyes were very heavy, and they didn’t know what to answer him”
The disciples were ashamed and had nothing to say. Mark notes the same confusion on the mountain of the Transfiguration, where Peter spoke because “he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid” (Mark 9:6). The three men who saw Jesus in glory were the same men who slept through his agony. Three times Jesus prayed and three times they failed to watch, a sad foreshadowing of Peter’s three denials later that night.
- “Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough”
These words may be a sorrowful question, “Are you still sleeping?”, or a gentle irony. Either way, the moment when the disciples could have stood with him in prayer has passed. “It is enough” marks the end of waiting. Jesus has received the strength he sought. The disciples have missed their opportunity, but he has not.
- “The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners”
The hour Jesus prayed about is now here. Again and again he had told his disciples this would happen: “The Son of Man is being handed over to the hands of men, and they will kill him” (Mark 9:31) and “The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes” (Mark 10:33). The Son of Man, the glorious figure of Daniel’s vision who comes “with the clouds of the sky” (Daniel 7:13), is given over to sinners. The holy one is placed in the hands of the unholy.
- “Arise, let us be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand”
Jesus does not run into the dark hills, though he easily could have. He rises and goes out to meet his betrayer. This is the courage of one who has settled the matter with his Father. As he said, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). His death is not an accident that overtakes him, but a sacrifice he willingly offers.
The Significance of Mark 14:39-42
- Persevering prayer
Jesus prayed until he was ready. When we face hard things, we too can return to God again and again with the same burden until his peace and strength settle our hearts.
- Missed opportunities
The disciples slept through a moment they could never have again. Following Jesus calls for alertness now, not later, because the hour of testing often comes suddenly.
- Facing the hour with courage
Strengthened by prayer, Jesus walked toward suffering instead of away from it. Those who trust him can face their own trials knowing that he has gone before them and that the Father’s will is good.
Cross-References:
Mark 9:31: "The Son of Man is being handed over to the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, on the third day he will rise again." Jesus foretold the betrayal.
Mark 10:33: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes." The road to Jerusalem.
John 10:11: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." A willing sacrifice.
Luke 18:1: "He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up," Persistence in prayer.
Conclusion: Jesus prayed a second and a third time with the same words, while his disciples slept, heavy-eyed and ashamed. When he came the third time he told them that the waiting was over: the hour had come, and the Son of Man was being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rising from prayer, he went out to meet his betrayer. The passage contrasts human weakness with the steady resolve of Jesus, who freely gave himself up for us.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible