Dark Nights

Matthew 26:1-2 – When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, “You know that in two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Humanity will be handed over to be crucified.”

In this season of Easter, while we’ve been celebrating the resurrection, I’ve been thinking about this bald statement coming right after his metaphorical statements regarding the consequences of how we treat others. It was a strange feeling to have read what God wants from her people – to treat others as though they were her/Christ – and come upon this statement predicting even worse behavior than the goats were accused of! The goats were not accused of directly killing people, although their actions may have indirectly led to people’s deaths. 

In any case, I wonder how the disciples reacted. The text doesn’t say; it immediately switches the scene to Caiaphas and the elders at the palace of the high priest. I tend to gloss over things like this because I know the rest of the story. Maybe you do too. On this side of the resurrection, it’s hard to imagine the loss and fear that would accompany this statement. Did they think that they might be crucified along with him? Did they fear for their lives or the lives of their families? How many people left when s#!t became real?

Maybe our current circumstances can give us an idea of such fear and loss. The pandemic is part of, but only part of our fear and loss. As I write this the president has mentioned injecting bleach into bodies as a way of curing COVID-19. He even tried to get Dr. Birx to agree that this should be studied. 

This ignorance is what has led to the pandemic being so bad here in the US, and his refusal to take responsibility has made it worse. When I say ‘our current circumstances,’ I’m including the president and the Republican leaders who keep him there even though he is unfit in every way for this job.

Our president would love to have the power of the Roman legions at his disposal. He fires people when they try to do the right thing. Captain Crozier, for example. Or Dr. Bright, head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, who was fired for opposing the president’s message about hydroxychloroquine. Those are the two most recent examples. To find them I typed in ‘Trump fired’ into Google and came up with many more examples than these. The point is, if he could crucify his enemies, he would. It’s horrible enough what he does to refugees seeking asylum. I don’t want to imagine what he would do with more power.

I woke up this morning thinking I need hope. I wonder if the disciples lost hope hearing Jesus say he’d be crucified. In this dark night of our country’s soul, and maybe our own, where do we find hope? And what do we hope for?

B