”Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” (KJV Luke 22:46)
On the night Jesus is betrayed by Judas, what is it that worries Jesus with the other disciples? What is this “enter into temptation” that he is concerned these other disciples will do?
Though he says one will betray him, Jesus also tells his other disciples that, “All ye shall be offended because of me this night” (KJV Matthew 26:31).
The direction that this whole movement will go is about to take a turn that none of the disciples are fully expecting and are not really prepared for despite the fact that Jesus has been trying to prepare them for this moment for a long time. He knows that what is about to happen is going to disappoint them. Many of their expectation are going to unravel as events unfold. What they want and hope for is about to be severely contradicted by events. Such “offense” to their expectations may cause them to doubt everything that ever went on in this journey. It is going to be soul crushing. It will try their very souls to the breaking point and beyond. He knows this. What he doesn’t want to happen is for them to experience all of this crushing disappointment and then walk away from it all. He doesn’t want them to accept defeat and leave.
To accept a different narrative than what Jesus is offering or to view this whole experience and what is about to happen as nothing more than a colossal failure is one way to “enter into temptation”. It is to accept a view of their experiences and what they will yet experience from a “less than divine” point of view. It is to accept a devilish perspective. Such a view can cause them to begin to resent all that has gone on. The disappointments being so great that it may cause them to turn away from it all.
When so much is not going to make sense and a divine perspective will take time to unfold, what can keep them from “entering into temptation”? When contradicted by experience and current perceptions, the lifeline they do have in this moment can be obtained through prayer. It isn’t just praying by itself, or praying for the sake of prayer. It is to obtain from God, a reason to hope for something better than what can currently be seen. Prayer of this kind is to put themselves into a state of mind where it can at least be possible for them to be open to understanding from a divine perspective, a greater purpose of the horrible events that are about to transpire. The response, if it can be obtained at all, will only be small. It will simply be in the form of words alone, spoken from the mouth of God. Later, these words will be vindicated.