From the Daily Lectionary for Monday in the Seventh Week after Pentecost
Matthew 26:36-46
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”
So things are getting real in Jerusalem. Predictably, the Jewish powers that be, being called out for their callous hypocrisy and self-serving opulence, have made their move. They have coerced Judas Iscariot, one of the insiders of the movement, to give Jesus over to the Temple police. Much has been written about this scene set in the Garden of Gethsemane, just east of the city across the Kidron Valley. Jesus now feels the weight, the backlash, if you will, of his speaking out against the complicity of the elders and priestly class with the Roman overlords. Surely he knew that this day would come.
Many, if not most, commentators see this passage as Jesus’ willingness to be put to death assenting to God’s problematic theology that a very special sacrifice must be rendered in order to atone for the myriad sins of the world. It’s where the church gets its doctrine of substitutionary atonement; that is to say that the only way humanity is saved from its wretchedness is by God willing and bringing about the death of his son. Who would worship a God such as this?
There is a relatively new interpretation among theologians concerning Jesus’ arrest and execution, an interpretive reorientation as to the so-called “sacrifice” Jesus makes for the sins of the world. The atoning sacrifice is seen as Jesus’ life and ministry (not his death) given for the good of the left-out of a system that by willful design disadvantages the poor and powerless. A vital part of Jesus’ life and ministry was to call out and name that which opposed God’s egalitarian and inclusive vision for the world. To stay silent would only serve to perpetuate a destructive and unsustainable system. And to speak out, particularly within the walls of Jerusalem, would certainly spell trouble.
Here in the garden Jesus, along with Peter, James, and John, the same company that witnessed Jesus in all his glory on the mount of Transfiguration, are agonizing over the culmination of their common ministry. Serving the Good and the True always comes at a cost. Shall they attempt escape, or do they see things through and confront, in the very halls of authority, the powers that be. Perhaps there is greater glory to stand face to face with one’s oppressor as a powerful witness to the cause; an incarnate juxtaposition between the Good and that which is evil. Death may come, but this is all about standing for the cause. Love requires our proximity to the evils of the world, lest evil is permitted to continue its mission in the dark.
This passage is not so much about obedience (obedience to God’s difficult will) as it is about loyalty… loyalty to a vision that is the salvation of a world wracked by abusive power. Perhaps now more than at any time in our lifetimes, we are called to be loyal: loyal to the Gospel’s radical vision of raising up the shamed and abused of our world. The cause of Jesus was focused on the poor and the disadvantaged because of an unjust system. That is our cause in our own day and age. The choice between the wrong side of history and the Truth has never been clearer. Keep awake, good people, and guard with your life your loyalty.
A Prayer in Times of Conflict (BCP p. 824)
O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to engage one another without bitterness or hatred, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
