Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 26:41

"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." — Matthew 26:41 (ASV)

Watch and pray — The first word is highly characteristic of our Lord’s teaching at this period (Matthew 24:42; Matthew 25:13). It became the watchword of the early disciples (1 Corinthians 16:13; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:6; 1 Peter 5:8). It left its mark on the history of Christendom in the new names of Gregory and Vigilius, or Vigilantius, “the watcher.”

That you enter not into temptation — This means, as in the Lord’s Prayer to which our Lord clearly recalls the minds of the disciples, the trial of coming danger and persecution. In their present weakness, that trial might prove greater than they could bear. Therefore, they were to watch and pray so that they would not, through carelessness, come too close to its power.

The spirit indeed is willing — Better, ready, or eager. There is a tenderness in the warning that is very noticeable. The Master recognizes the element of good in their higher nature: their readiness to go with Him to prison or to death. But the spirit and the flesh were contrary to one another (Galatians 5:17), and therefore they could not do the things they wanted to do without a strength greater than their own.