This is your hour, and the power of darkness

 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and his disciples also followed Him.  When He came to the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."  And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."  Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.  And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly.  Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.   When He rose up from prayer, and had come to the disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.  Then He said to them, "Why do you sleep?  Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation."

And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"  When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?"  And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.  But Jesus answered and said, "Permit even this."  And He touched his ear and healed him.  Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?  When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me.  But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."

- Luke 22:39-53

On Saturday we read that the Lord said, "Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."  But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."  Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."  And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?"  So they said, "Nothing."  Then He said to them, "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a  knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.  For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me:  'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'  For the things concerning Me have an end."  So they said, "Lord, look, here are two swords."  And He said to them, "It is enough."

Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and his disciples also followed Him.  When He came to the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."  And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."  Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.  And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly.  Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.   When He rose up from prayer, and had come to the disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.  Then He said to them, "Why do you sleep?  Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation."  My study bible says that Christ's agony was the product of His human nature.  When He asks that the cup be taken away, He reveals His human will.  In so through prayer, He submits His human will to the Father.  Thereby He reveals His divine will to be one with the Father's.  Furthermore He shows us that each person can and must do the same (see 11:2).  Christ has willingly taken into Himself the voice of weak humanity.  Thereby He conquers weakness, and shows us the way.  My study bible quotes Gregory the Great:  "The words of weakness are sometimes adopted by the strong in order that the hearts of the weak may be strengthened."  The apostles sleep from sorrow -- not an uncommon reaction to depression and sorrow of any kind.  But Jesus wants them to be awake, an important understanding of the state of mind He asks of each of us.  It is not simply to be alert, wakeful, but also in order to pray:  wakefulness and prayer go together.  Jesus tells them twice:  "Pray lest you enter into temptation."  We are not to ignore nor deny times of temptation and difficulty, but to watch and pray.  Prayer is the closest thing we have to a weapon of strength, help that is at hand when we are weak or fearful.

And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"  When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?"  And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.  But Jesus answered and said, "Permit even this."  And He touched his ear and healed him.  Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?  When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me.  But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."   My study bible points out that the healing recorded here is only done so by St. Luke.  It says that it indicates the manner in which we are to treat our enemies.  Church Fathers see a spiritual meaning in that it is Christ who gives people the ability to hear the truth and thereby come to salvation (see 8:8; 14:35).  The power of darkness is that which refuses and hides from the light, those who have no eyes to see nor ears to hear  (see John 3:19-21; 13:30).   In this case, these things are literally done under cover of darkness, rather than during the day when Jesus is always teaching in the temple. 

At the time of Jesus' crucifixion, Luke records that "it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.  Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two" (23:44-45).  What is the power of darkness?  Cyril of Alexandria writes in a commentary on today's passage that Jesus indicates this an hour that in some sense is "given" to the power of darkness, as if Jesus says, "You have one hour against Me."  He likens it to the limited time between the crucifixion and the resurrection from the dead.  The word power in the Greek indicates a type of authority, the spiritual darkness of Satan or evil, that which blocks out and resists all light.  It is a type of deliberate ignorance.  In Genesis we're told that God made lights for night-time, the lesser light (the moon) and the stars (Genesis 1:16).  But here even the elements of life collude with the metaphorical deep darkness of evil, as night is used to cover up deeds that harm the innocent -- that which must be hidden both from God (if such thing were possible) and the people.  John's Gospel tells us:  "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God" (John 3:20, 21).   The power of darkness is also akin to a lie, a kind of lying that comes in many forms.  Denial, manipulation, direct falsehood, omission, half-truths -- all these things are forms of lies.  Revelation tells us that among those who remain cast out of the holy city is "whoever loves and practices a lie" (Revelation 22:15 NKJV).   When Jesus is put on trial, false witnesses will be the only ones found against Him.  All of these things are related to darkness, and to the power of darkness:  an unwillingness to perceive or let in the light, deliberate omission and lying, that which refuses grace and the authority and power of God.  Such things are tied to that which harms the innocent.  But in the story of Christ, what we find is a permitted time of such effect, which in the end will be used for the salvation of mankind, for the Resurrection of Christ, for a greater good and more powerful light in the world than was possible otherwise.  We perhaps need to deeply ponder what it means when Christ says above, "Permit even this."  His sacrifice is willing and deliberate.  The power of God the Father through all things is the greatest mystery of all.  But that it is working, even through the time of the power of darkness, is something we can only find through prayer, and discernment, the works of faith.  We are always to watch and pray, to remain wakeful and not sleeping, to know what we are about.  That is where the power of the Cross lies, in the midst of all things, enduring even through the time of the power of darkness, to bring about that which is far greater than we know.  When we bear our own crosses, let us remember His words and His teaching, the Light that shines in the darkness.  It is the power of the Cross that is greater than anything that would oppose it.