“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour?’
But for this purpose I came to this hour. ‘Father, glorify Your name’” (John 12:27)
St. John rarely repeats what the other gospels relate. We already know the scene in Gethsemane garden. Here he shares with us the intimate struggle that went on in the mind of our Lord Jesus. We sinners can only imagine the agony of One who had never known what it’s like to be anything but open, honest and truthful, yet being hated and persecuted by devious schemers intent on destroying Him in the most horrid manner imaginable. There’s nobody to help Him, because not one really understood Him. His words and actions have led to a crisis, and the moment has arrived for that crisis to manifest itself.
Should they have understood where He was coming from, or was it too much to expect, especially from the religious leaders who came together to eradicate Him from Palestine? They more than others must have known His reference to the prophecy of Daniel in Babylon, dreaming of a day when God would send a son of man to usher in a golden era, a time when brutality would no longer reign as the way men and nations deal with one another. Daniel called it a night vision (Daniel 7:1-12). A series of four great beasts came out of the sea, each one worse than the one before it: A lion, a bear, a leopard and one so ferocious it defied description. They were all cruel, savage and rapacious. They represented the brute kingdoms of the world: Assyria, Babylon, Medes and Persia. All were destroyers of their victims. But Daniel envisioned a time when such as they would be replaced by a new era when human beings would treat one another with compassion, understanding and mercy. The book of Daniel was not alone in lifting up the dream of a bright new day. Many writings much like the Bible’s last book of Revelation sprung up just in the few generations prior to Christ’s life on earth. The Jews never abandoned the hope that arose from Daniel’s dream, despite evidence to the contrary.
What of the time we are living through, and the involvement of our nation in the nations of the world? Our government uses the bold phrase “regime change” to explain what we are doing presently in Iraq, and what they had done to the former Yugoslavia. We can only wonder what effect it is having, and what will be the long-range results of our invasion into other lands. What is the justification for the cost in lives? The second question: Who benefits? Does it make the world “safe for democracy” [meaning safe for America], and do we dare make the claim that we are instituting a democratic form of government in Iraq and elsewhere? More, can we even pretend that we are utilizing our vast powers as the lone Great Empire on earth to manifest and extend humanitarian governments and institutions throughout the globe, or are we simply imposing our felt needs on others for our own interests?
And what do we mean by lifting up in the ectenias petitions: “For our nation, its President, civil authorities and armed forces everywhere”? I presume our intention is safety from foreign invasion, blessings and protection of the lives of our military personnel, and wisdom for our President and all decision makers, that they open themselves to the Holy Spirit, taking account of the welfare not only of Americans, but of all forms of life throughout the earth.