He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done.” Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial.”
The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus
While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, “Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?” When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as though I were a rebel? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour and the power of darkness!”
-Luke 22:39-53 NRSV
Hello Darkness, My Old Friend
This story of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane is probably very familiar to us, with its images of anguish, exhaustion, grief, betrayal, fear, violence and loyalty.
“This is your hour, and the power of darkness!” Jesus ultimately says to the crowd who comes out to arrest him. This moment is not unexpected – the conflict between Jesus and the authorities has been brewing for a long time. Now Jesus stops his own disciples from trying to defend him by violence and criticizes the mob for not having the nerve to publicly arrest him during the daytime. We know that within hours, Jesus will be killed.
An old song comes to mind: “Hello, darkness, my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again…” Remember these opening lines from “The Sound of Silence,” by Simon and Garfunkel? Darkness is a familiar friend, wrapped up with silence – the silence among people who do not see or listen to one another, who refuse to be reached by one another, who worship manmade idols that blind them to the truth of God’s love for them and for all creation. Darkness and silence are the cold, isolating way of the song’s world – unforgiving, unloving and unredeeming.
This same kind of darkness could be wrapped around Gethsemane, with the arresting mob being held captive by the way of the world rather than choosing to follow the new way of Jesus. And for the moment it looks like darkness could win the battle, with Jesus being arrested and dragged away.
Is this darkness one of our old friends, too? I suspect that it is, and that we all engage in conversations with this darkness from time to time. We all live in the same world marked by complacency, selfishness, pride, greed, fear, and anger. We all see people ignoring each other and failing to care for creation. We know people who, deep down, are not able to accept that God loves them, for any number of reasons. We ourselves might wrestle with feelings of fear, anger, pride, selfishness, worthlessness, sadness, or loss; these feelings can be overwhelming at times and completely prevent us from believing God cherishes us as his beloved children. The darkness of the world and the darkness we see within ourselves can hold us back from moving forward and becoming the people God created us to be.
Sadly, I do not have a ‘magic bullet’ answer for how to move more quickly or smoothly through these dark parts of life to reach the light more efficiently. What I can offer most confidently, though, is this: the darkness does not win. We know that! There is Gethsemane and the Crucifixion, and then comes the Resurrection and new life, for all of us. During Advent, we hold up the whole salvation story and eagerly prepare for and await its conclusion, even as we prepare to celebrate more specifically Jesus’ Incarnation.
In the Prologue to his Gospel, John the Evangelist proclaims, “What has come into being in him (the Word) was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” And of John the Baptist, John says, “He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:4-5, 8-9). We are still waiting and preparing to receive the fullness of this light.
As we move through our season of Advent, we acknowledge the reality of the darkness in our world and in ourselves, and also recognize that Jesus himself came face to face with this same darkness and conquered it. So, we are gently reminded that the darkness will not be forever. God’s light and love, mercy and peace are coming into the world all the time to hold each of us close and fill us with his presence. And we can continue to walk forward with quiet confidence, even in the darkness, however carefully that may need to be, towards the day of Jesus’ final return.
Amen.
The Rev. Therese Starr
Priest in Charge
Trinity, Eufaula