Mark 14:32-41
32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba,[k] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
41 Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
We are really getting Peter’s perspective and insight on these events here. Either he told them to Mark specifically for this gospel or Mark was close enough to Peter so that he heard these stories being told.
There’s a phrase here which I’ve heard many times: “The spirit is willing but the body is weak”, or as I’ve heard it, “The spirit is wiling but the flesh is weak.” Reading this, I wonder whether Jesus is saying that as a remonstration to Peter, or whether he is confessing it as his own failing – i.e., his spirit was willing to go through the death laid out for him, but his body was weak and he was afraid of the pain to come. This is where I see Jesus at his most human, in the God/human hybrid that he is.