The Night is Far Spent, the Day is at Hand
Psalm 41, 52 • Psalm 44
Joshua 7:1-13 • Rom. 13:8-14 • Matt. 26:36-46
Jesus is at his most human in today’s reading from Matthew’s gospel. He knows he is about to be betrayed and arrested, and with that arrest will surely come a horrific execution. He needs to be, but he doesn’t want to be, alone to pray, so he asks his three best friends, Peter, James, and John to stay awake and keep watch while he walks farther into the garden. He dares to ask his heavenly Father, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” knowing there’s slight chance of that happening. He quickly adds, “Nevertheless, not as I will but as you will.” What a disappointment to return to find his trusted friends couldn’t stay awake even one hour with him. Not once, but three times, Jesus goes back to ask God for “the cup” to pass him by; three times he returns to find his friends sleeping. Immediately, Judas appears to plant that bitter kiss on Jesus’ cheek.
Staying awake with a friend or family member in need can be difficult. It’s easy to relate to the bone-tiredness Peter, James, and John feel. Twenty years ago, when my mother’s body was finally playing out and she was dying of a mild virus, I sat beside her bed for three days and nights. I caught a few minutes’ sleep now and again, but I felt that same bone-tiredness the disciples felt. Finally, one night I put my head down on the bed beside her and fell into a deep slumber of only ten minutes but which felt much longer. I woke to see a nurse standing there, gently shaking her head. I knew that Mother had needed me to let go so that she could let go, her last sweet gift. Perhaps this was the kind of restorative sleep those exhausted disciples needed before being wakened by Jesus to face what was about to happen.
Paul exhorts us in today’s passage from Romans to “Wake up! The night is far gone, the day is at hand!” “Let us cast off the works of darkness,” he writes, “and put on the armor of light,” (13: 12). In the darkness of our isolation, many of us can’t leave our houses to join marches, but we can demonstrate God’s love within our own circumstances, by writing letters to children of incarcerated parents and continuing to donate to the summer camps being held virtually this year; by giving extra to food services for the poor; or by donating to programs that encourage diversity recruitment of students in higher education. There is always work to be done.
Written by Kay DuVal
Kay is a retired English teacher and member of St. Paul’s parish since 1993.