Wednesday 2 February 2022
The Presentation of the Lord
Malachi 3:1-4. Who is this king of Glory? It is the Lord! – Psalm 23(24):7-10. Luke 22-40.
My eyes have seen your salvation
No one likes feelings of isolation and abandonment, of needing a friend and realising you’re alone. It’s gut-twisting agony. On what was to be his last night, Jesus took three friends and hiked up the Mount of Olives. Earlier that evening, he had celebrated Passover where he washed his disciples’ feet. Hours later, he’s here, walking through the cold, up a mountain ridge east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives was 80m higher than the Temple Mount. From there, Jesus and his followers would have been able to see a panorama of the city, with the light of flaming braziers reflected in the bronze doors and marble columns of the temple. This is where Jesus chooses to pray one last time, asking that the cup of suffering be taken from him. This is our fullest picture of Christ’s mental anguish: he is sweating blood, while his three closest friends – meant to be keeping watch – are asleep when an armed crowd arrives to arrest Jesus. I like to think Jesus had this awful night in mind – the night when hope was furthest away – when weeks later, he chooses this same place to ascend into heaven. May God be with us through the pain of our loneliness and the joy of our victories.
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