Lucia Matthews
“Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.” - Luke 19:47-48
Foreboding.
My heart races just to think of Jesus at this mid-point between “Hosanna!” and “Crucify him!”
The gospels don’t give us many details of Jesus’ activities on Wednesday of Holy Week. Luke tells us that he was teaching in the temple daily, “and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives.” (Lk 21:37). We are left with more questions than answers, and yet the space for imagining draws me in.
What was Jesus feeling as he preached in the Temple? Did he focus only on the people who were “spellbound by what they heard,” or did he glimpse the hatred and scorn in the eyes of the leaders? Did he know the exact day and hour of his betrayal, or did he wonder with every parable that he told which one would push his beloved enemies over the edge?
We know the story of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane later in the week, but Luke tells us he stayed on the Mount of Olives nightly. Is it possible he prayed those agonizing prayers daily? Did he perhaps ask his friends to pray with him that final night because he could not bear to do it alone one more time?
How many times have we waited with trepidation for suffering we could anticipate?
“While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God.” (Hebrews 5:7, Msg).
When I think of Jesus on Holy Wednesday, I think of everyone who spends their days doing the next right thing and their nights crying out to the Father in desperation. We are not alone.
