Luke 22:39-46
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.”
Luke, as we’ve seen, takes a very charitable view of the disciples. Again and again, he portrays them in a more sympathetic light than the other Evangelists.
For instance, whereas in Mark and Matthew the disciples fall asleep three times – three times! – while Jesus is praying, Luke only records that happening once. Moreover, Luke gives a reason: they fell asleep because they were worn out by grief. Nor does Jesus scold them. Rather, he simply encourages them to pray that they may escape this kind of trial.
We’ve said before that Luke may take something of a longer view of the disciples than some of the other gospel-writers. After all, he tells the rest of their story in The Acts of the Apostles. So perhaps he sees — and narrates — their potential. Or perhaps he realizes that if these folks are going to be the believable “heroes” of his second volume, he can’t paint too poor a picture of them in his first.
Whatever the case, I think we all need a friend like Luke from time to time. A friend who sees the best in us. A friend who is willing to overlook some of our faults and put the best construction on our words and actions. A friend who sees our potential and believes in our “future story.”
Or maybe I should say that we each need to be that kind of friend for another. Because if we did – that is, if we took the initiative to see and call out of others their best selves – then suddenly we all would have friends like that. Compassion and concern, you see, are infectious, and there’s no reason you and I can’t help spread that kind of beneficial virus starting today.
When you do, think of Luke; indeed, give thanks for Luke and his fine example.
Prayer: Dear God, we give you thanks for Luke and for his charity, compassion, and vision, and we ask that you would inspire us by his example to see and regard others as you see and regard us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
This is an important concept, especially for clergy as they think about their congregations. (And congregations as they consider their clergy?) Seeing what is wrong with the congregational system, who the troublemakers are, how far we are from where God wants us to be . . . that’s an important skill, but easy. Harder is the charity and mercy Luke shows, which actually might help a faith community move in the right direction. Was it in this blog? that I read my favorite quote of the year: Augustine (maybe) wrote: “We change one another by pleasure and delight.”