Mark 14:37 - Exposition

And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? Couldest thou not watch one hour? St. Luke says ( Luke 22:45 ) that they were "sleeping for sorrow." So on the Mount of Transfiguration he says ( Luke 9:32 ) that they were "heavy with sleep." This rebuke, which St. Mark tells us here was pointedly addressed to Peter, seems to glance at his earnest protestations of fidelity made not long before. And our Lord calls him by his old name of Simon. In St. Matthew ( Matthew 26:40 ) it is less pointed; for there, while our Lord looks at Peter, he addresses them all. "He saith unto Peter , W hat, could not ye watch with me one hour?" This is just one of those graphic little incidents which we may suppose St. Mark to have received directly from St. Peter.