Sleeping friends

It is the night before his arrest. After praying, Jesus finds his disciples asleep. He speaks to Peter, but the verb is plural, as the King James shows: could ye not. Shortly before, Peter had said he would die with Jesus. Mark tells it even more sharply. There Jesus says: Simon, sleepest thou? Not Peter, the rock, but his old name.

Jesus didn't ask for a heroic deed. He asked for one hour: stay awake, be there. That is exactly what failed. The grand gesture seemed easier than simply being there. His question carries disappointment, and you don't need to polish that away.