Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done

 

 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  And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but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 His 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.

 

- Luke 22:39–51 

 

Yesterday we read 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 much 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 His 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 comments that Christ's agony was the product of His human nature.  In asking that the cup be taken away, it notes, Jesus reveals His human will.  But by submitting His human will to the Father, Christ reveals His divine will to be one with the Father's, and moreover shows that every person must submit one's own will to God's will (Luke 11:2).  My study Bible quotes St. Gregory the Great, in affirming that Christ willingly takes in Himself the voice of weak humanity, thereby conquering weakness:  "The words of weakness are sometimes adopted by the strong in order that the hearts of the weak may be strengthened."

 

 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.  My study Bible tells us that this healing is recorded only by St. Luke the physician.  It indicates how we are to treat our enemies, it says.  There is a spiritual meaning in patristic commentary, in which it is Christ who gives people the ability to hear the truth and thereby come to salvation (Luke 8:8; 14:35).  

 

 Jesus goes as He has prophesied, despite His very human resistance to the prospect of death and what lies before Him.  To die on the Cross isn't just an agonizing procedure reserved for the worst criminals and punishment met out by the Roman Empire.  It is a whole host of disparaging, and humiliating, and grinding aspects of cruelty and spectacle.  To be crucified was to be cast before the society as worthless and degraded.  To die slowly, and naked on the Cross before all, is a humiliating and utterly depraved destiny for a religious Jew.  Jesus has been careful, at the Last Supper, to fulfill all righteousness, and He has continued to do so by overriding His human impulses in order to follow the Father's will for Him in faith.  These moments He faces give us a picture of what evil is and does, and they make it clear that we can never discount the words of St. Paul, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  Who but one who hated God and opposed Christ and God's plan for the future of humanity could possibly desire such a horribly cruel outcome for Him?  Yet, Christ expresses clearly for us that His opponents are not merely flesh and blood, as St. Paul says, but He seeks the defeat of the devil on our behalf.  This is made clear when He heals the ear of the servant of the high priest.  Jesus is not going after the religious leadership, nor the people who take part in this railroading of Him as an innocent man (Matthew 27:24).  St. Matthew also reports Jesus saying to the one who drew his sword on Christ's behalf, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?" (Matthew 26:52-54).  Jesus will face the worst the world can give Him, but it is an act of spiritual warfare in condemnation of the devil and his power, as will be confirmed in the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ.  In so doing, He claims all the world, and all of creation for Himself, and all authority given to Him by the Father including that of judgment (Matthew 28:18), which He in turn will share with His followers (see Thursday's reading).  He goes to the Cross for us, and to give us the most powerful sign of all, that which takes on the evil and defeats it; for this is the victory of the Cross and its power on our behalf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled

 

 And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.  Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."  Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?"  Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"  In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.  But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

 

- Matthew 26:47-56 

 

Yesterday we read that, after the Passover Supper, Jesus came with the disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch with Me."  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."  Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What?  Could you not watch with Me one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."  And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.  So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.  Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

 

  And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.  Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."  Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?"  Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"  In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.  But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.  My study Bible comments here that Jesus rebukes Peter (who is identified in John 18:10) for using the sword.  Peter still does not understand that Christ goes to His death willingly, so that salvation for humankind might be fulfilled.  A legion is 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions is equal to 72,000 angels.  That Christ's death was foretold in the Scriptures would strengthen the disciples at their time of greatest test.  

We note that the Gospel tells us that when Jesus was arrested, then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.  He will not fight in a traditional sense with material power and weapons, but He accepts what happens as a fulfillment of the Scriptures, and knows that the occasion of His Passion will also be the occasion for bringing Resurrection to the world.  This great paradox of acceptance of what is unjust -- because there is a greater justice being served by God's activity -- becomes something we must wrestle with.  How do we know God wants us to walk through something difficult and unfair?  How do we know, when we are going through a type of injustice, whether or not fighting in a conventional sense -- or even a judicial one -- is appropriate to us?  We know, moreover, that these events do not happen "because the Scriptures say so," but in fact the truth is the reverse:  the Scriptures say so because God foresees such events.  There is a well-known expression that says that one must pick one's battles.  But how do we know what battles God wants us to fight and in what way?  Certainly Christ's way of "fighting" in this particular battle will be with His words and His testimony, and all that He has preached and taught has already come before and will serve as refutation to the false charges made against Him.  But He will also go through His Crucifixion and suffering, even though Jesus could "pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels."   His reliance is not on the sword, but on God.  There have been times in my life where in prayer and according to my faith I have felt that God did not want me to try to correct every injustice, even every lie someone might want to tell about me.  This is so even for things I cared deeply about, even when I was going to lose people I cared deeply about.  But there are spiritual reasons behind such movements of faith, just as God has a salvation plan for the world in which Jesus' Crucifixion, even as an enemy of the Roman state and the Jewish nation, will play a key and inescapable role.  It will become the occasion for the greatest revelation of one of the miracles of God, the great sign that Jesus is the Christ.  This is the sign Jesus has repeatedly prophesied Himself when signs were demanded of Him, which He called "the sign of the prophet Jonah" (Matthew 12:39 16:4).  We live in a climate that is intensely focused on righting all wrongs, and it's quite possible that the story of Jesus and His Crucifixion has been entirely instrumental in our hyper-awareness of injustice, and even the demands of conscience that ask to correct such wrongs.  But in our personal lives, we live in a world where injustices happen, where evil is not conquered once and for all, where -- thanks to media of all types -- lies, half-truths, and deliberately misleading stories continue unabated and in ever-expanding ways.   Had Christ lived today, we can only imagine what means would be available for slandering His life and cause, deliberately misleading people as to His motivations.  But in our own personal experience of the world, especially in carrying our own crosses and following Him, we need to see our lives in the same way that Christ now faces His life.  That is to declare for ourselves that we must rely upon God and our faith to lead us through such times of trial and difficulties, even when we're lied about, even when an injustice is happening, for it is God who may bring us through them and use them as instruments of God's spiritual power and truth in the world.  We don't know all the ways and means and outcomes that may be effected even through our suffering when we do so with Christ at our side, and through strengthening our faith in all the ways that we can.  Sometimes we will be called upon to fight with words, as Christ so eloquently does, by clinging firmly to the truth and refusing to go along with lies.  Sometimes we will go into an arena with powerful testimony, and prepared as we might be.  But sometimes, when it is futile to speak even for the sake of the accusers, we might be prayerfully silent, as we will see Jesus do as well when He knows they are beyond repentance.  But nothing is lost or wasted in the economy of God and of our faith.  Jesus has told the parable of judgment, of the Sheep and the Goats in this reading, and, like the prophets and martyrs Christ has repeatedly mentioned, we don't know when our own suffering in our faith will be used as an occasion for God's purposes, for judgment, for the work of the Holy Spirit in the world (John 16:8-11).  We don't know how even our own suffering might be used by God when our faith tells us to accept.  We know that we will face difficulties in life; although we all could envision a life where every injustice is corrected, where we may right every wrong and challenge every slight, perfect justice does not exist in this world.   It is still beset with the effects of sin and evil, where every temptation to manipulate and abuse power remains with us, and may even be magnified through new methods of manipulation and coercion.  But our lives are meant for more than the simply worldly, and when we lose the rock of faith we lose this perspective.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus called upon the disciples to "watch and pray."  In the world of temptations which proliferate on social media, to participate in bullying or "canceling" others, to believe false stories or half-truths promulgated to encourage us to join a kind of mob, let us always watch and pray.  Let us be awake to the realities that are around us, trusting in prayerful faith to walk us through, to practice our own just behavior and righteousness toward others.  Let us remember that humility is a key to our faith.  Jesus teaches us to be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16), so that we may pick our battles wisely, to stand in the deep truths of faith that matter, and remain a part of the foundation Christ has brought to us.  For this is the higher ground, the place we need to be, the place in which Christ stands and to which He calls us at all times -- even when our friends may flee.

Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?

 

 And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."  As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.  

And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  Then they all forsook Him and fled. 

Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body.  And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

 

- Mark 14:43–52 

 

Yesterday we read that, after instituting the Eucharist at the Last Supper, Jesus said to the disciples, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:  'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'  But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  But he spoke more vehemently, "If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And they all said likewise. Then they came to a place which was named Gathsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray."  And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch."  He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.  And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."  Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words.  And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.  Then He came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  It is enough!  The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

 

  And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."  As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.  My study Bible notes the phrase for Judas, described as "one of the twelve."  Once again, as in Mark 14:20, the text emphasizes the level of betrayal here.  That Judas was one of the twelve makes him one of Christ's closest friends.  Let us note that this betrayal is to all of the others of the twelve as well.  My study Bible comments that the fact that a kiss is needed to signal the mob is a statement about those who were in that mob.  The Jewish leaders and even the most common people would have recognized Jesus.  This shows that the soldiers were mercenaries, dispatched by the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  According to John's Gospel, this group included Romans (John 18:3).  In the Orthodox Church, there is a prayer at each liturgy for the strength not to kiss Jesus in betrayal as did Judas.

And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  Then they all forsook Him and fled.   The one who stood by and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest is identified as Peter in John 18:10.  Jesus rebukes him for using the sword, as Peter still does not understand that Christ is going to His death willingly, a fulfillment of the Scriptures which prophesy Christ's salvation for humankind.  That Christ's death was foretold in the Scriptures, my study Bible tells us, served to strengthen the disciples at their hour of greatest test. 

 

 Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body.  And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.  My study Bible says that to flee naked is a great shame and humiliation (Ezekiel 16:39; Amos 2:16).  It notes also that some teach this young man was James, the brother of the Lord (Galatians 1:19), while others claim it was the apostle John, who was the youngest of the twelve.  Most others believe that this was Mark, the author of the Gospel, as it was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (as is the case in Luke 24:13; John 21:24).   My study Bible points out that the other evangelists do not report this incident.  It says that they would not have been inclined to humiliate Mark, whereas Mark would have been more likely to relate such an event which concerned himself.  

In yesterday's reading, Jesus quoted from the prophesy of Zechariah:  "Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered" (from Zechariah 13:7).  In today's reading, the Shepherd, Jesus, is struck through betrayal and arrest on behalf of the authorities, committed by outsiders -- those who cannot even recognize Him.  Today's reading asks us to put ourselves in the places of the disciples, the other members of the twelve now betrayed by Judas who gives Christ a kiss to do so.   Imagine their disarray, and panic, and unpreparedness for this moment.  But even until He is taken away from them, Christ guides them to the last moment, teaching Peter, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52).  They've been with Him all this time, and so He has taught them His way.  But no one is really prepared for this particular time, and this very particular depth of betrayal.  Like the naked young man who does his best to follow the Master as he can, but who must run naked after they try to seize him too.  Christ follows the teachings of the Old Testament, for He is the same Lord who taught Israel not to put their faith in weapons and the power of sheer material might.  In both the Letters to the Romans and the Hebrews, St. Paul quotes from Deuteronomy, in which the Lord proclaims, "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay" (Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30; Deuteronomy 32:35).  We might think of their disciples and their fledgling movement.  How could they know what would happen?  How would they know what to do?  There is a report in the Acts of the Apostles of the time in which the Church continued to grow, and the high priest and the Council grew more indignant, having Peter and others thrown into prison.  But the prison doors were opened, and again the apostles were preaching, so that members of the Council plotted to kill them.  But the teacher Gamaliel (spoken of by St. Paul in Acts 22:3) advised the Council:  "Now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God" (see Acts 5:12-42).  Today we must consider, as the disciples had to at that time, in what do we place our faith today.  The world is filled with weapons capable of enormous destruction many times over, with technologies that may exert enormous control, and wield all kinds of influence and power in ways we might not even understand or be conscious of over our own lives.  We grow increasingly dependent on material power, technology, and our social interdependence based upon these structures, including that of telecommunications and even the waging of wars.  But we need to consider, despite this enormous-seeming material power and capacity to manipulate, where we place our faith first.  That power of the sword to which St. Peter turned in order to defend Jesus from betrayal and arrest is with us today, in so many ways no one at that time could have considered.  And yet, we are still to turn to these words as our words of faith:  "Vengeance is Mine," says the Lord.  "I will repay."  If we put our faith in the sword then we will die by that sword.  Our faith must continue to be in something else, something beyond, as the wise words of Gamaliel once taught.  In this particular struggle we each have our own battle to wage, but with what weapons?  St. Paul urges us to "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."  For all the weapons of this struggle, see Ephesians 6:10-18.  For if we do not remember these things first, before all else, how will we know where we are going?  How will we be assured of what it is we are to be about?  How can we be aware of what Christ asks us to do at this time?  We cannot worship God and mammon, we will put our faith in and serve one, or the other (Luke 16:13).  We must know which we serve first, and that must lead the way for all else.  As He teaches us, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).  For the disciples from this moment, they will be scattered as the prophecy teaches, and eventually in hiding.  But shortly after Christ's death will come a revelation to the women at the tomb, the hope of the hopeless, the good news of the Resurrection.  Let us remember the power of the Lord and seek first God's kingdom, for our struggle is not confined simply to the things we see in the world, but involves so much more.

 

 

Your faith has saved you. Go in peace

 

 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him.  And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.  And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  So he said, "Teacher, say it."  "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.  One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.  Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?"  Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more."  And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."  Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."  And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."

 

- Luke 7:36-50 

 

On Saturday, we read that the disciples of John the Baptist reported to him concerning all the things that were happening in Christ's ministry.  And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  When the men had come to Him they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?'"  And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.  Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard:  that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."  When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written:  'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.'  For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."  And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.  But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.  And the Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and the Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?  They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:  'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not weep.'  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by all her children." 

 

 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him.  And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.  And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  So he said, "Teacher, say it."  "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.  One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.  Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?"  Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more."  And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."  Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."   My study Bible comments on today's reading that this Pharisee is intrigued by Christ, which is shown by his invitation to Him.  But he clearly does not believe in Him, as shown by his reaction to Christ's mercy ("This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner"), and by his lack even of common hospitality shown toward Jesus ("I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil").  My study Bible adds that this encounter with the sinful woman is an icon of the grace found only in the Church.  Through her, comments St. Ambrose of Milan, "the Church is justified as being greater than the law, for the law does not know the forgiveness of sins, nor the mystery in which secret sins are cleansed; therefore, what is lacking in the Law is perfected in the Gospel."

And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."   According to my study Bible, that a man could forgive sins was beyond the bounds of the Law as the Pharisees understood it (see Luke 5:21).  But Christ was not a mere man, but rather the very Lawgiver Himself.  St. Cyril of Alexandria asks, "Who could declare things that were above the Law, except the One who ordained the Law?"

In our previous reading, on Saturday (see above), Jesus acknowledged the criticisms He (as well as John the Baptist) receives from the Pharisees and lawyers:  He's a friend of tax collectors and sinners!  He's a glutton and a winebibber!   On Saturday we read that even the tax collectors justified God, for they'd been baptized by John the Baptist, but not the Pharisees and the lawyers.  Here in today's reading, Jesus is invited to dine with a Pharisee, but is not treated with the courtesy usually given to honored guests in a home.  The one who does show Him  great courtesy and welcome -- and love -- is the sinful woman.  We don't know who this woman was; she's not the only woman in the Gospels who anointed Christ with oil.  But we can see her great act of love and honor.  In the anointing itself we can see the glory that she gives to Christ.  This gift, according to the commentary of St. Clement of Alexandria, is the most precious thing she had, her perfume, the one thing fitting to pay the greatest honor to Christ.  St. Ambrose writes, "The grace of many flowers gathered into a bouquet scatters different sweetness of fragrance. Perhaps none but the church alone can produce that ointment. The church has innumerable flowers of different fragrance."  Let us note that she first stood behind Christ, weeping, and then began to wash His feet with her tears, before she anointed His feet with this ointment.  If we understand the symbolism clear to the ancient world, her weeping and tears are evidence of her repentance for her life and the way she has lived it.  The perfume is akin to the healing ointments of the ancient world, a pure olive oil base with essences of flowers added, and so it is seen as a comfort to Christ.  The washing of His feet, drying with her hair, and anointing with oil is seen as a way to comfort the One who will comfort others.   We may even see that, as Christ Himself took on the likeness of a sinner (scandalous to the religious authorities, and crucified like the lowest of criminals), so this woman, appearing in the likeness of a sinner, reveals the Church in her love for Christ.  What today's passage undoubtedly shows us is the power of love that must be at work in our faith, for it is love that has truly saved her.  As Jesus pronounces it, love is the key to forgiveness.  For how do we show love to someone but through loyalty and faithfulness to them?  This is an important key to understanding what faith or belief means to Christ.  In John's Gospel, Jesus preaches to the people who've followed Him, after He fed them in the wilderness:  "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  And they respond, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus tells them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  It's important to understand how "belief" is meant to work in this context.  This kind of belief is more than intellectual assent to something.  The word for "faith" has as its root the word that means "trust," and that is the Greek word translated as "believe."  But what Jesus is asking for may be better translated as "faithfulness," as many scholars have commented.  That is, to be faithful to His teachings, to be faithful to what He asks of us, to be loyal.  And all of these things are signs of love, visible aspects of what it means to actively love someone, to be true to them.  So when Jesus teaches the parable on debts forgiven, He's speaking of this kind of relationship of love and trust and loyalty.  What makes covenant?  This woman clearly expresses love for Christ with her tears, as He has moved her to this great evidence of repentance in her desire for relationship with Him.  If we grasp the love of Christ, it is there repentance may happen, where shame is dropped for transformation instead.  She also gives the greatest gift she can give in terms of something valuable and precious to her.  And He responds with forgiveness, as He is the One capable of forgiving sins.  In a sense, her expression of love is a promise, one that must be ongoing to continue in relationship.  In the end, He does not say that her love has saved her, although the topic here is love in Jesus' dialogue with the Pharisee.  But linking the two concepts, He says to her, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."   Let us take this journey into faith and forgiveness, and understand more deeply how faith must include love and loyalty, for without this understanding we cannot understand Jesus or His teachings to us.

How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?

 

 And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.  Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."  Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?"  Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"  In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.  But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

 

- Matthew 26:47-56 

 

Yesterday we read that, after the Last Supper, Jesus came with disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and said to them, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch with Me."  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."  Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What?  Could you not watch with Me one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."  And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.  So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.  Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

 

  And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.  Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."  Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?"  Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  Let us take note that Christ is still trying by any means to save Judas.  He has given him a warning at the Last Supper, even as it was made clear that Judas was intending to betray Him (see He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me).  Here again, at this scene of open betrayal, Jesus asks, calling Judas Friend, "Why have you come?"  It is yet another prompting for Judas to think about what he is doing, to repent, a last chance even as he betrays Christ.

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"  In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.  But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.  Here Jesus gives another rebuke to Peter (identified as the one who stretched out his hand and drew his sword in John 18:10).  My study Bible says that Jesus rebukes Peter for using the sword because Peter still does not understand that Christ is going to His death willingly, that salvation of humankind might be fulfilled.  My study Bible explains that a legion is 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions equal 72,000 angels.  That Christ's death was foretold in the Scriptures served to strengthen the disciples at their hour of greatest test. 

Jesus repeatedly emphasizes the fulfillment of the Scriptures.  My study Bible explains, quite importantly, that the prophecy of this death being foretold in the Scriptures served to strengthen the disciples at this hour of their greatest test.  This emphasis illuminates for us the essential function of prophecy.  It is not simply to foretell, or to give people a sort of expectation, although these functions remain a part of prophecy.  But Jesus, for example, prophesies about the destruction of the temple, together with end times to a lengthy extent in Matthew's Gospel (see chapters 24 and 25).  We need to ask ourselves why this is so.  It is not simply for those who immediately hear, although of course it was important and essential to the first apostles, the followers of Christ, and to the Church they would go on to establish.  But as was observed throughout our commentary on those chapters, and in the notes quoted from my study Bible, prophesy is not given so that we make timetables of events to come.  Neither do those prophesied events occur simply to fulfill prophecy, as some conclude from Christ's words here.  The prophecy exists so that when we see such events unfolding, we might comprehend them with the perspective of the Scripture.  Jesus gives the parable of the fig tree (Matthew 24:32-35) with just this admonition:  "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!"  His constant injunction is to watch and pray:  prophesy is given to us so that we are aware of what is happening and not asleep to the reality and meaning of events we observe.  Here Jesus speaks of the fulfillment of the Scriptures in the secrecy and stealth with which He is taken, not in the light but in darkness, and that He is treated as a thief ("numbered with the transgressors" reads Isaiah 53:12), so that the disciples may understand with certainty what is truly happening here -- and that we who follow understand as well.  Events do not happen in order to fulfill prophecy, but we are given prophecy in order to understand those events when they do happen.  It is the event itself of the Crucifixion, in all its meanings and effects which reach even beyond our understanding, that is at the center and cause of the prophecy, and not the other way around.  The prophecy of what is happening, of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah (among other Scripture) allows us to understand these events in a true perspective given by God, so that we know what we serve and Whom it is we worship, so that we understand the meaning of these events.  And the prophesy serves the foundation of faith of these disciples, even through the events they experience are so devastating and so terrifying.  As my study Bible puts it, at this hour of their greatest test.  And this, once again, is our own reality as well, with the Scriptures giving insight even to our own suffering in His name, our understanding of what it means to call ourselves "Christian" and to be His followers.  For He gives us a light through the darkness, even the worst sorts of darkness we can imagine in our lives.  He challenges us -- even through these events -- to maintain our faith, that there is a way through the darkness, and even that God is capable of using the greatest evil, through our faith, to create good, even to bring salvation to the world.  Let us have faith and know what it means to have prophecy, to follow our faith through all things, and know that even the darkest moments of our own lives can serve the power in the Cross, for redemptive strength that is possible for the One with whom all things are possible (Matthew 19:36).  Jesus tells Peter, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword," raising for us the question:  In what (or Whom) do we put our faith?  Christ teaches us to rely upon God, and that message remains as important as it ever was, and perhaps now more than ever.

 

 

 

 

I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled

 

 And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."  As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.  And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  Then they all forsook Him and fled.

Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body.  And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

 

- Mark 14:43–52 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus said to the disciples at the conclusion of the Last Supper, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:  'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'  But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  But he spoke more vehemently, "If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And they all said likewise.  Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray."  And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch."  He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.  And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."  Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping?  Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words.  And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.  Then He came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  It is enough!  The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

 

  And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."  As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.  The phrase one of the twelve once again indicates (as in verse 20 of this chapter) the depth of betrayal involved here, that this was done by a friend and one of Christ's closest disciples.  The fact that a kiss is needed to signal the mob, my study Bible points out, is a commentary on those who comprised the mob!  The Jewish leaders and even the most common people would have recognized Jesus, as we have observed from the times of debate in the temple (see, for example, Mark 12:37).  It shows that these particular soldiers were mercenaries, dispatched by the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, a group with included Roman soldiers according to John's Gospel (John 18:3).    My study Bible notes that Orthodox Christians pray at every Liturgy for the strength not to kiss Jesus in betrayal as did Judas, but to be like the thief who confessed at the Cross (Luke 23:42).

 

And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  Then they all forsook Him and fled.  In John 18:10, we learn that it is Peter who has used the sword.   In Matthew 26:52-54, Jesus rebukes him for using the sword, as he still does not understand that Christ is going to His death willingly.  But here Jesus affirms that salvation for mankind, as indicated in the Scriptures, will be fulfilled through the Cross, and He goes to His death willingly.  It is at this point that they must give up ideas of defending and protecting Him from arrest, and they all forsook Him and fled.  That His death was foretold in the Scriptures, my study Bible says, served to strengthen the disciples at their hour of greatest test.

Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body.  And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.  My study Bible explains that to flee naked is a great shame and humiliation (Ezekiel 16:39, Amos 2:16).  Some teach that this young man was James, the brother of the Lord (Galatians 1:19), while others say it is the apostle John, who was the youngest of the twelve.  But most others believe that this was Mark, the author of the Gospel, as it was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (see Luke 24:13, John 21:24).  Also, my study Bible adds, the other evangelists do not report this incident.  They would not have been inclined to humiliate Mark, but Mark would have been more likely to relate such an event concerning himself.  To my mind, it is a testimony to the humility of the disciples, and of Mark in particular.

Again, in today's reading (as in yesterday's, above), Jesus shows His great strength.  He has a most difficult, almost impossible, mission to complete.  It is a mission solely for the Son, for the Christ, as He indicates when He says, "But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  It's important to understand the notion of prophecy and the fulfillment of the Scriptures, as my study Bible indicated in a note on a passage in Thursday's reading.  In Mark 14:20-21, Jesus prophesies to the disciples the one who will betray Him is "one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish."  He then adds, "The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."  In a note on this passage regarding prophecy, my study Bible states that divine foreknowledge of the betrayal doesn't take away Judas' moral freedom, nor does it take away his accountability.  For God, all things are a present reality:  God foresees all human actions, but does not cause them.  So it applies also in today's passage, when Jesus speaks of the fulfillment of the Scriptures.  It is in this context that we can almost hear Jesus marveling that they did not manage to take Him as He openly taught daily in the temple.  He asks, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?"  And as my study bible notes, clearly the people they've brought with them are mercenaries, and include Romans as well, for even the temple police were unable to arrest Him as they listened to Him preach.  They came back empty-handed, telling the chief priests and the Pharisees, "No man ever spoke like this Man!" (John 7:45-46).  The added statement, that the Scriptures must be fulfilled, is a testimony to the vision of God, that although this event seemed so unlikely given Jesus' ministry, openness, and popularity among the people, God's vision is supreme.   The prophecy is written in Scripture because a future event is revealed in a divine way by God -- the event does not happen because it is in Scripture.  When Jesus makes this remark, we can only conclude that He is affirming God's supremacy and omniscience regarding the life of the Christ, such as God revealed to Isaiah who wrote of the Messiah as the Suffering Servant.  It's in some sense an affirmation that no matter how things look to us as human beings, we can trust to God's vision and word.  Moreover, it is an affirmation to His disciples that this is so, and that He goes voluntarily to His death, even after having prayed for God to take the cup of death from Him in yesterday's reading:  "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."  In all ways, we can rest assured, Jesus does not go to His death as One who seeks death, nor who simply wishes to emulate something because it has been written.  There are several times that Jesus flees persecution in the Gospels, and evades those who wish to kill Him, or travels even to Gentile areas to avoid the scrutinizing and increasingly hostile eyes of the leadership, especially after an open conflict with them.  Right to the end, Jesus prays that, if possible, God can make another way for the salvation plan of the world to be fulfilled.  He is here, now, in this circumstance because it is absolutely certain that this is the way that God the Father allows to happen, and He will acquiesce to that will simply because He is assured that this is the hour and the way the Father allows and wishes for Jesus to accept.  It is impossible for us to know the mind of God; it is only by revelation that this can happen, and even then what a person such as a prophet or saint is given is just a glimpse of that reality.  It isn't until Christ goes to the Cross that anyone could know how the Scriptures would be fulfilled, or what the complete picture of the plan for salvation would unfold, or what the life of the Messiah would be like.  It isn't until the Passion that we can understand what the notion of the Kingdom means, or that the Scriptures would be fulfilled in a way that the faith of human beings becomes an essential part of its fulfillment and the ongoing plan of God after the time of the Messiah.  It isn't until these events unfold that the Scriptures regarding Christ's divinity could be manifested and understood.  The signs of the Incarnation may fill the prophetic writings in the Old Testament, but the fulfillment of such could only be fully understood after the life of Christ in this world.  And so it is in today's reading:  the Scriptures must be fulfilled, even if the leaders have gone so far as to hire mercenaries to bring Him in, including Roman soldiers (in other words, paid Gentiles), to do it.  It is, if we but take a closer look, a testimony to the shocking and surprising depth to which evil will go; but nonetheless despite the depravity -- which includes Judas, one of the Twelve, betraying Him with a kiss -- even this evil was foreseen by God and becomes part of a plan through which the salvation of the world will be achieved.  These are complex paradoxical concepts, but they are nevertheless testimony to the nature of God.  For human beings, paradox becomes the one way in which we can approach God whose ways are not our ways and whose thoughts are not our thoughts.  For despite the evil that continues in this world, we are assured that our faith in God is not misplaced, and that, as great saints of the Church have taught, with God infinitely more good can come of evil than the sum of the evil alone.  That, in a nutshell, characterizes the salvation of this world, and although seemingly paradoxical to our minds, we must understand that this is the way of God for us.  God does not come into the world as a "conquering hero" and fixes everything, eradicating all evil permanently so that we can live in a kind of perfect peace and prosperity and infinite health.  Instead, we human beings are invited to the Cross, to take up our own crosses, and to participate in this struggle with the Son, who is the suffering Messiah.  It is paradox that invites us into the ways of God, into faith and prayer, and to participation in the life of Christ who loves us and asks us to follow Him.  The risen Christ stands at the door and knocks and desires for us to invite Him into our hearts, where He will dwell to show us all things to do so (Revelation 3:20).

 

 

 

Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation

 

 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 His 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. 

 

- Luke 22:39–51 

 

In yesterday's reading, 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.  My study Bible explains that Christ' agony was the product of His human nature.  In asking that the cup be taken away, He reveals His human will.  Christ submits His human will to the Father, and thereby reveals His divine will to be one with God the Father's.  This further shows that each of us must submit our own will to God's will (Luke 11:2).  My study Bible notes that Christ willingly takes in Himself the voice of weak humanity, and thereby conquers weakness.  It quotes St. Gregory the Great:  "The words of weakness are sometimes adopted by the strong in order that the hearts of the weak may be strengthened."  Christ's sweat, like great drops of blood falling to the ground, shows us that His agony is real.  He is not simply 'half human and half divine.'  He is both fully human, and fully divine.  The fully divine Son has taken on all that we are and all that we experience as well.

 

 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.  Then He said to them, "Why do you sleep?  Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation."  In the context of everything that we have read so far this week, we must understand the importance of these words.  It is a time of great influence by spiritual sources of evil.  Satan has been mentioned many times in the text.  So we need to understand the importance of prayer:   to rise and pray, to be alert about their circumstances and awake, so that they not enter into temptation, is for the disciples especially essential at this time of great darkness and fear.   As the text has taught us, Satan works through the weaknesses and temptations of human beings.  Specially at this time, we see this work in the religious leaders who envy Christ, and Judas whose weakness is greed.  Notice Jesus speaks of the urgency to avoid entering into temptation; that is, we will all be tempted by in some ways, but to enter in and engage in that temptation is another step into a snare.  We pray for the strength not to do so.

 

 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?"  What this question, Jesus continues, even at this time, to attempt to save Judas from what he is doing.

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.  My study Bible tells us that this healing is recorded only by St. Luke the physician.  It indicates the way in which we are to treat our enemies.  There is also a patristic perspective here which gives this event a spiritual meaning, in that it is Christ who gives people the ability to hear truth and thereby come to salvation (see Luke 8:8, 14:35).  This event also demonstrates Christ's complete reliance on and obedience to the God the Father.

At this stage, we might wonder why Christ does not resist His arrest in the garden of Gethsemane.  In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus is reported to have said, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"  (Matthew 26:52-54).  But we truly have to understand Christ's full dependence upon God the Father, and that He is fulfilling a mission in a particular way that it must be fulfilled.  In Christ's Passion, we are confronted with what is called a theodicy.  That is, we're confronted with the question of why God permits evil to happen.  In this case, we can clearly see an atrocious evil, one that imperils, tortures, and seeks to put to death the greatest Savior of the world, One who is completely good.  Why should it happen thus?  But God does not work in the ways that human beings work and think.  God works through circumstances to bring about a greater plan, a more powerful goal.  And as we have seen via the witness of Luke's Gospel, in these evil events and working through human beings there is also a spiritual force of evil behind them.  On that greater battlefield is our answer, for Christ's death is a snare to that evil, to "hell" itself, for He will conquer the power of death through His death on the Cross.  These are hard things to grasp; they are not easy, and they are not simple.  We can only understand and experience them through faith, and sometimes through our own experience of going through a dark or evil time and clinging to our own faith even through times characterized by injustice, and witnessing the outcome.  Whether we perceive or understand these realities beyond worldly life, they are nevertheless part and parcel of the Gospel narrative, and we are being taught about the greater importance of faith in our lives than we can usually consciously appreciate.  The reliance upon God is consistent throughout the Old Testament and the New.  St. Paul clearly emphasizes the same when he quotes from Deuteronomy in his epistle to the Romans:  "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord (Romans 12:19).  That is, God's justice is not absent, but we are invited to participate in its fullness through faith.  There are elements of God's justice at work which are beyond our understanding.  But Christ's Passion, and the roles of the disciples which we have observed throughout this work, offers us something greater than we can perhaps know -- and that is, that we are also invited into this spiritual battlefield as Christ's disciples.  We, too, are asked to find God's will for us in all circumstances, to rely on God's justice, to practice prayer and call upon the strength to avoid entering into temptation, to be aware of our own weaknesses and passions.  This is not simply a struggle in heaven and unseen places of what is called the "invisible" or "unseen" realm; this struggle is in the battleground of our hearts and we are invited by Christ to participate fully engaged in our own lives, with Him.  St. Paul echoes the same.  It's not about picking out worldly enemies, but about an awareness of deeper spiritual truths at work that lie behind the patterns we observe and the struggles in our own lives by choosing what we will serve.  Everybody has choices to make, everybody is tested at times of darkness and fear, illness and death, tragedy and violence.  But even in the simplest life the choices are there:  in the fleeting moments and the pressure of dramas we can't control.  Often, in a modern context, we can understand such struggle in the healing from trauma, in the resistance to some powerful media manipulation or collective push into a struggle for political power, in our own struggle to overcome anger or envy and to find that thread in prayer where we turn to Christ -- and all the help available to us -- to find the right way to go through a hard time.  There is always the temptation to panic, to give in to easy answers and slogans, to stop the struggle against what we know is wrong, to follow the crowd we don't really trust, and a host of other temptations.  When we feel alone, or betrayed, or abandoned, we are especially vulnerable.  In our own time, we have powerful forces of manipulation of purely earthly natures which work through media and money, slogans and movements.  The dangerous motivations of envy, greed, power, and position are equally present as in the story we read in the Gospels.  We still live in a world of those who lord it over others and terrify with their might.  The history of the 20th century has taught us nothing if we do not come to understand that, and we now move into a new century with far advanced technology for such ends.  Let us rely upon God, and follow as Christ has taught, through all things.  Let us not sleep through these times, but always remember to "Rise and pray, lest [we] enter into temptation," and know what we are to be about -- and what we're up against.  Ultimately the victory must be the Lord's.  "For," as St. Paul has written, "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12), and these remain with us as well.

 

 

But 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 His 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 to Simon Peter at the Last Supper, "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 His 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 comments that Christ's agony was the product of His human nature.  As He asks that this cup be taken away, Jesus is revealing His human will.  In submitting His human will to God the Father, Christ reveals His divine will to be one with the Father's, and this moreover shows that each person must do the same:  seek to submit one's own will to God's will (Luke 11:2).   My study bible makes the point, moreover, that Christ willingly has taken in Himself the voice of weak humanity, and thereby conquers weakness through transfiguration.  This is the crucial focus of the Incarnation and its power to heal our brokenness.  St. Gregory the Great comments:  "The words of weakness are sometimes adopted by the strong in order that the hearts of the weak may be strengthened."

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 comments that this healing is recorded only by St. Luke the physician.  It is an indication of the manner in which we are to treat our enemies, it notes.  In patristic commentary, a spiritual meaning is seen in that it is Christ who gives people the ability to hear the truth (as it is the servant's ear that is cut off and healed) and thereby come to salvation (see Luke 8:8, 14:35).   Regarding the power of darkness, see John 3:19-21, 13:30.

 

 So what is the power of darkness?  Certainly darkness is the absence of light.  We say the light of the sun is dimmed when there is an object in the way, such as a cloud, or even the earth's face is turned away in our orbit around the sun, the axis of the world at certain times leaving our particular area of the planet in night's darkness, illumined only by the light of the moon and its phase at that time (also a function of obstacles in the way of the light).  In John's Gospel, its Prologue affirmatively declares that Christ is the light of the world that has come into the world; John 1:4-5 declares, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."  The cause of this darkness is the absence of the light, and in this case that light refers to Christ and all the things that are in Christ, particularly the light of spiritual truth, but also all the things implied in the Word, the Logos:  order, reason, wisdom, creativity, and a myriad host of good things that make for good life.  True peace and joy are also found in this light of Christ (John 14:27, 15:11).   St. Paul writes to the early Christians at Philippi, "Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:8-9).  All of these things, and the capacity to give us grace that bestows them upon us and magnifies them in us, are in that light.  And the darkness is its absence, through whatever cause.  Sometimes that cause is deliberate choice.  The Gospel of John tells us, "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 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."  Sometimes it is ignorance through no fault of the person who is in darkness.  Matthew's Gospel quotes from Isaiah:  "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:  The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned" (Matthew 4:15-16, Isaiah 9:1-2).  Judas is betraying that light, but Christ the true light continues to try to save him, by asking, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"   This is another quality of that light in Christ, to love and to save and to heal, all on display in today's reading.  The brokenness of this world is essentially its darkness; but nevertheless John's words remain true, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  And we can see this all around us in our world.  But nevertheless, Christ gives us a mission, to spread His light in the world, and that light is in the word of the Gospel.  Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the light.  No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).  Soon we will be celebrating the birth of Christ into the world, the Light who comes to us and lives a fully human life in order to heal all of our own darkness.  Let us consider the darkness we may observe around us in corruption and violence and lies and all manner of problems, and understand that His mission to bring that light to the world continues with every new generation, every new worker that comes to join the harvest (Luke 10:2).