How to Overcome Temptation (Matthew 26:31-46)

 Have you ever succumbed to temptation. We’ve all been faced with temptation, sometimes the temptation was simply too great, and we gave in. Maybe when it come to the little things in life like the slice of cake, we have all been tempted. It’s almost like asking are you breathing. In one way or another all of us succumb to temptation on occasion. Sometimes this can be in a more serious area, like, lying, stealing, sexual immorality, including pornography. What do you struggle with, what’s your temptation? Is it a temptation to get angry, or is it laziness, or is it the abily to get going and do the things you know you need to do in your life, procrastination. Are just not doing what you are supposed to do when you are supposed to do it. Today the real question, the big question when we consider all these things, is how you  overcome temptation, and that’s what I’d like for us to discuss today.

Jesus himself was tempted, as matter of fact he was tempted twice, in Matthew’s account anyway. He was tempted at the beginning of his ministry, and he is tempted in the build up to his impending crucifixion. As we’ve been going through the Gospel of Matthew together, we today have arrived at that second temptation. I want us to look at it closely and glean from it any insights into how we can overcome temptation.  

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd,
 And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”33 Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples.

The Prayer in the Garden

36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” 39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” 40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father,]if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour]is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”  (Matthew 26: 31-46)

In this passage Jesus makes a prediction about the fact that all people stumble, and Peter in particular is going to fall. Then after that prediction there is a time of prayer described for us. That’s the simple two-fold division of this passage, but during the prayer time Jesus prays 3 distinct and different times. So, let’s look at it and when I get to the end, I want us to look at how we use this as a model for overcoming temptation, not only from some things found in this passage but from some things found in the wider New Testament as well. 

Let’s begin with the prediction that Jesus makes in the opening verses. Jesus says, “all of you will stumble because of me”, reminding them that it was written that, “when the shepherd is struck the sheep of the flock scatter”. Jesus has just had the Lord’s supper with them, it started as a Passover meal at which he then instituted the Lord’s Supper, a time of communion. During that time if you will recall it was the passage just prior to this, he said, one of you will betray me, and we now know that one person was Judas. At this point they have now left the upper room and they’ve descended down through the Kidron valley, and they stop at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Now he says all of them, “All of you are going to stumble and then he quotes from the Old Testament a passage that says, “when the shepherd is struck down the sheep will scatter”.

So, he is the shepherd that’s about to be killed and he’s simply suggesting that when that happens his disciples like sheep, will scatter. But the initial point is that all are going to stumble. Jesus of course is speaking directly about the disciples but the truth of the matter this is true of all of us. James says something similar in James chapter 3.

There is a pattern of people failing and succumbing to temptation throughout the whole Bible. Moses was said to be one of the meekest men upon the earth at that time, but he still lost his temper once and lashed out and killed someone. Abraham was the faithful follower of God, but he failed more than once at crucial point of his faith journey, especially when it came to facing dangerous situations involving his wife, Sarah. Elijah was bold before the prophets of Baal, but a weakling before the woman Jezebel. We could also look at Samson and Delilah, or David, a man after God’s own heart, but still messed up. The simple reality is we all stumble on occasion.

Notice carefully what the text says, he not only says you’re going to stumble, but immediately after that he says, after I have been raised how he will go before them into Jerusalem. You need to put these two verses together as they appear that way in the text. First, he says you’re going to stumble, but then he says I’ll meet you later. The point being, that even though they stumble that’s not enough to terminate their relationship with him. What a comforting thought, we all stumble, that’s a sad fact but the Lord’s is still going to meet with us later, that is a reassuring fact. 

At any rate he predicts that all are going to stumble and then Peter effectively says to him, even if everyone else does, I will never do that. (Famous last words?) Do you get the sense of arrogance here, Peter is saying, even if all these other disciples mess up, not me, I would never do that. To which Jesus responds, “oh yes you will”,  Jesus says, in fact, before the night is over, before the rooster crows you will deny me three times. Jesus says to Peter you’re not only going to deny me, but you are going to do it tonight and you are going to do it more that once before the night is over.

Peter then says, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you and then all the other disciples chimed in and they all said not us, either Lord, not us. Peter led the charge, but the others followed. They were convinced that they would never stumble, and they would never fall. There is a sense in which their reaction is simply a mirror of ours when we hear about stories like this, we naturally think oh that’s really serious to deny the Lord, that’s something somebody else would do.  I would never do that. The simple truth is the, flesh is willing, but spirit can be weak. Given the right set of circumstances, the truth is that we're all capable of just about anything. We aren't as strong as we think we are, and when we deny our or refuse to recognise out potential to sin, we are actually much more likely to end up doing exactly that even to the point of denying the Lord.

The point thus far is Jesus made a prediction that all of them we’re going to stumble and that included Peter in particular. What follows next in this passage is a sort of prayer meeting.

The text tells us then they came to a place called Gethsemane and Jesus said to his disciples, sit here while I go and pray over there. But he takes with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, the two sons of Zebedee are obviously not named in the passage, but we know from other passages that they are James and John. Jesus took the three of his  inner circle Peter, James and John with him and then it says he began to pray and become sorrowful and deeply distressed. 

I’m not sure I have the vocabulary to express what that feeling must have been like. Imagine facing death, he knew it was going to be by crucifixion, and he was deeply distressed, some bible translators reaching for a word that captures the emotion here have come up with the phrase, deep anguish of the soul, that’s what is being expressed here.

Then he says the disciples, stay here and watch with me. The term, watch, means to stay awake and that certainly is included in this word, but most would say that it goes beyond just physically staying awake this has to do with being on guard, so it has an element of protecting yourself and others in your charge. It’s the word from which we get the military term of a soldier being on watch, so fitting it is translated that way here. The text tells us that then Jesus went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, “father, if it is possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will but as you will”.

The question here is what the meaning of the term,  “cup”? He’s about to be crucified, and the cup referred to here is what was called the “Cup of Judgement”. That is the meaning of the word, cup,  in the Old Testament, it was used to describe judgment being poured out. If you can imagine a cup full of the anger of God being poured out on people, when they had sinned against God or God’s people, then you’ve grasped the image that’s being used here. This is why Jesus was in such agony, it was not just that he was going to die, it’s not just that he was going to be crucified, it’s that he was going to experience the cup of the judgment of God, that would be poured out against sin, but not his sin, our sin.

Paul says, “He was cursed in our place and for our behalf”, he also says in, Second Corinthians, “he who knew no sin became sin for us”. What caused this sorrow and deep distress and anguish here was the fact that the holy sinless son of God was to face becoming, sin on our behalf, and he’s saying father if it’s possible if there’s some other way then let’s do it another way, but at the same time, it’s not my will but your will, then, so be it.

That’s the first prayer in this prayer time, but in the next verse it tells us then he came back to the disciples, and he found them sleeping and he said to Peter, could you not watch with me for just one hour. Imagine that the Lord asked them to stay awake and watch and they almost immediately fall asleep. Physical fatigue overcame spiritual alertness, interesting. These were fishermen, they should have been used to staying up late and getting up early, often they would have staying up all night fishing, and yet when Jesus asked them to watch and stay awake, they fell asleep. So, Jesus found the disciples sleeping and he says to Peter, could you not even stay awake for one hour and then he says one of the most important verses in this passage.

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

                                            (Matthew 26: 41)          

This is not just about them on that day, it is a warning to us today also. Then the text tells us that again, a second time, he went away and prayed saying, ““O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, your will be done”. Then he comes back and finds them sleeping again. Finally he goes and prays a third time, and the same thing happens again, he finds them asleep, yet again.

Let’s just focus for a second on what’s happening to the Lord and then we’ll return to how we can avoid failing like the disciples did. In the context of his ministry Jesus, is becoming more and more isolated. Within one chapter he has gone from speaking to large crowds, to meeting with just his twelve disciples in an upper room. Which time he announced that one of them was going to betray him and that one person left, that left 11. This passage now tells us that he took the 11th, and he went to the garden of Gethsemane  then he left eight behind and took three, Peter, James and John and he took them a little further into the garden and he asked them to keep guard whilst he went off alone and prayed. He’s gone from the crowd, to 12, to 11, then he went to down the three, and apparently now he has focused on just Peter, and they have all already in a sense, failed him. There is a sense in which he is now alone, but he’s not alone in the sense he has his father to lean on, and so he ends his prayer with, not my will but yours. He prays, I would prefer I avoid what is coming, but it’s not my will it’s your will that I will do. It’s your will that’s more important than my will, so not my will, but your will be done.

What we’ve seen in this passage is that Jesus predicted that they would stumble, and they did, he predicted that Peter specifically would fail and the beginning of that is also recorded in the verses.  So, what’s the point, of this passage?

I think the key to this passage for us is verse 41, when Jesus says plainly, “Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation”. Would you like to know how to avoid temptation, how to overcome temptation, well that’s the formula, watch and pray.

I’d like to conclude by suggesting that from the rest of the New Testament along with this passage there are four things, I can tell you to do to help avoid falling into temptation.

The first is in this passage, and it simply is watch, watch be alert. You see, as we’ve seen from this passage Peter did not recognise his own weaknesses, Jesus finally said you are going to fail, he said all are all going to stumble, and Peter denied that he would do that. Peter didn’t understand his own sinful nature and his own weakness, which is why the apostle Paul says, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”. Perhaps the fact that Peter was not aware, signals to us the issue of pride, he was proud of the fact that he thought he would not deny the Lord. So, watch, watch out when you think you can stand upright, because the scripture says, that is when you're in the danger of falling the most.

What is your area of temptation, what is your area of continual temptation, are you even aware of it? if you can’t state it, be doubly aware. I suspect most of us can because we are so familiar with it rising up or even overcoming us. Keep watching and don't let the world lull you to sleep. Keep watching and don’t let anything else become your you and the Lord. If you want to overcome temptation the first thing you need to do is be aware of what your weakness, so watch and be alert in case that situation comes along, and tempts you to take the first step.

The second is to pray. I said at the beginning of this message Jesus was tempted twice, he was tempted at beginning of ministry, and he was tempted at the end of his life. Between that, he gave the sermon on the mount, and he taught us how to pray, do you remember prayer. “Our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day Our Daily Bread, and lead us not into temptation”, that’s interesting. Somebody pointed out to me many years ago that the reason people are not able to overcome temptation by prayer is mostly because they wait until it is too late before praying. We wait until we’re faced with it and then we panic and pray.

Jesus instructed us to pray before we were confronted with the temptation. But note, Jesus put watch and pray together here. If you are aware of your area of weakness, then you know how to pray. You need to pray that God will not allow you to be in that situation without giving you the strength to overcome. The point is that we are to pray before the situation and pray repeatedly that way you can overcome temptation. Prayer is not a manoeuvre by which we can overcome the unwillingness of God to help rather it is the means whereby we are strengthened in the grace of God. When we kneel, before God in prayer that is when we can stand tall in the face of other people. By prayer we have access to the throne room of heaven so that we may face the battles we face here on earth. I submit to you that we fall into sin because we can fall asleep on the job, like these guys did. So, don’t be caught napping spiritually watch and pray.

I suggested there are four steps I’ve given you two watch and pray, there a couple more, not in this passage but from elsewhere in the New Testament and I think they are vitally important principles in learning how to overcome temptation. To put it simply, “We need to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”. (2 Peter 3: 18). We need to grow in knowledge of the Lord and certainly that would include us growing in the knowledge of scriptures. Do you remember how Jesus overcame the temptation of Satan the first time when he was tempted in the wilderness. That was recorded for us earlier in the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew chapter 4, Jesus was tempted in three ways and each time he quoted scripture in response. So, at the point of his temptation he knew what the scripture to apply and was able to use the scripture to overcome the temptation. Often the reason we don’t overcome temptation is because we don’t know the biblical response to it, we’ve not assimilated it, saturated it into our minds. Often, we don’t remember beforehand what the bible says about the issue we are facing, and we succumb to temptation, so we need to grow in our knowledge of the scripture and we need to grow in the application of that scripture. In other words, we need to grow spiritually, not just have our head filled with information but we need to assimilate that spiritual truth so that we grow and then we can be strong enough to withstand the temptations that come.

In second Peter chapter one, Peter lists a number of areas of our lives in which we need to grow. He says add to your faith virtue, and to your virtue knowledge, and to your knowledge self-control, and to your self-control perseverance, and he ends up saying the ultimate is aim is to grow in love. He gives us that list of let’s say step by step areas in which we all need to grow and add those spiritual virtues to our lives. Then he says this in second Peter chapter one verse 10, “Therefore brethren be more diligent to make your calling an election sure for if you do these things, you will never stumble”.

If we do these things, we will be much less likely to stumble, all those things he just mentioned. Add to your faith virtue, to your virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to your self-control perseverance. Peter says if you do those things, you will never stumble. So my point is that if you just grew spiritually to the place where you added those kinds of virtues to your life not the least of which is self-control then you should never stumble and you should never be overcome by the temptations that we all faced with. So, if you want to overcome temptation here’s the list, number one watch, number 2, pray, number 3, grow spiritually. 

But there is a fourth. Paul says in first Corinthians, and that is that we are to flee idolatry. In the same book he says we’re to flee immorality, we are to flee. No matter how much you watch no matter how much you pray, no matter how much you saturate your mind with the scriptures there comes the moment when you have to make a decision when you have to choose and it’s in that moment what you should choose to do is just get out of there.

This is really important, “Make no provision for the flesh”, the bible calls it. Make no provision to fulfil  the lusts of our fallen human nature. The word translated provision means forethought or to care for or give time to. Believers are not to give any forethought to fulfilling the desires of the flesh. If you walk around dwelling on things that you struggle with obviously you more likely to succumb to them. So don’t make provision for them and I assume that includes making provision for them mentally. Don’t do anything that would put you in the place where you know the temptation to do what is harmful, would be stronger than your own personal strength in the Lord. Don’t make provision for the flesh, don’t allow yourself to be in that situation if at all If after starting a new diet then don’t walk into your favourite bakery at lunch time.

A simple illustration, one day a guy who had started his new diet and he had to drive past his favourite bakery on the way home, form work. So, he said, Lord, it’s up to you, if you want me to stop and have any of those delicious goodies then just create a parking place for me directly in front of the bakery, and if there isn’t one I’ll drive on.

And sure, enough there was one there, and he only had to go around the block eight times to grab the space.

That’s the point, don’t drive around the block eight times looking for the parking place. If you are watching and praying, if you are growing you will flee temptation, and remember the benediction at the end of Jude which says, 

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy”.

God is able to keep you from stumbling as you watch pray grow and flee temptation. You can overcome temptation; it can be done.

I’m telling you is that if you do what the scripture says you can not only overcome temptation, but you can be strong in the Lord and the power of his might.