A Reflection for Wednesday, March 12 by Alex Hofmann Macias
Lectionary reading for 3/12/2025: Psalm 17; Job 1:1-22; Luke 21:34-22:6Selected passage for reflection: Luke 21:34-22:6
Read
Luke 21:34-22:6, New Revised Standard Version
34 ‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’
37 Every day he was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called. 38 And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the temple.
22 Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. 2 The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people.
3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; 4 he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. 5 They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.
Reflect
While not much of a social media person, I recently logged in to my only account so that I could catch up with a friend. Immediately, a highly charged post on my feed caught my eye. Then another had my attention. Then another. Then another. When I finally logged off, noticing that I was feeling agitated and holding my breath, I opened the screen time app to see just how much time I had spent on this anxiety-riddled excursion. One hour and twenty-seven minutes. Yikes.
In this two-part passage, Jesus warns of a tumultuous future before the coming of the Son of Man and Judas makes a deal to betray Jesus in exchange for money. Passages like this are difficult for uplifting devotional material. To be honest, when I read “Be on guard” and “be alert at all times,” I find myself asking, aren’t I already alert at all times? To be sure, with tech-dependent lives, we are constantly distracted with notifications and alerts dinging on our devices. In the connected age of the internet and social media, we are perpetually reminded of every bad thing that is happening everywhere in the world at all times. We’re not just on alert, we’re on high alert.
But I don’t think this passage is a call to doom scrolling. Perhaps, being alert is not the same as ruminating in fear. In fact, the text says to be alert so that you are not distracted by worries.
The second half of this lectionary text can help us to sort out what we take from this admonition. Prior to Judas’s betrayal, the text states that Satan entered him—and we are reminded of the last time we met this character in the book of Luke. Prior to his ministry, Jesus is tempted in the desert by the deceiver who promises him money, power, and security in exchange for his allegiance. How is it that even in his physical weakness in the desert, Jesus does not succumb to the temptation, but Judas later does?
At the start of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen Covey urges us to “begin with the end in mind.” When we have a picture in our minds of what the end looks like, we are more intentional in our actions because we know the direction to move in. In our passage, Jesus both evokes the imagery of the Son of Man in his teachings and returns to the Mount of Olives to rest each night. This figure was understood to bring judgement and deliverance to the people at the end of time, and the Mount of Olives was believed to be the site of this action. Jesus is rooting himself in God’s future justice—and he does so even when he knows he is headed for suffering.
As one of the twelve disciples, Judas would know Jesus’s teaching, but he wasn’t able to do this. Instead, we see Judas aligning himself with the authorities of his day and with the financial security they offered. Are we conscious of the ways we do the same? When tensions rise and the world feels uncertain, it is very tempting to look for security in our finances, in our political alignments, in our shared grievances. But Christ urges us to see that God’s justice is the ending, and with that knowledge, we know the direction in which to move.
Rather than operating on high alert, let us at all times be discerning. Let us be conscious of where we are finding our comfort and what is motivating our actions. Let us align our hearts with God’s justice and love, and let us pray for the strength to do the hard thing that God calls us to even, perhaps especially, when we are anxious and afraid.
Respond
Take a moment to put distractions aside and sit quietly with yourself. Close your eyes and allow whatever is bubbling up in you to do so. It may be something that saddens or scares you. You may find yourself resisting this. We don’t like to think about our fears but prefer to cram them into the back of our minds. This time, acknowledge the discomfort instead. Allow it to rise to the surface knowing that God holds it all with you. Breathe deeply. You may even say a breath prayer. Let yourself be seen and embraced by our loving God.
Rest
God of justice and mercy, you meet us in the silence of our hearts. You know our desires, our discomforts, our fears, and our mistakes. Help us to find ourselves in you each day and give us the strength to face any challenge ahead with grace and solidarity. In the name of Jesus, the Son of Man, Amen.
About the Author
Alex Hofmann Macias is a spiritual director and administrator at North Park Theological Seminary where she has served for over fifteen years. A native of Tucson, Arizona, she now lives just outside of Chicago with her husband, two children, and dog. Alex loves international films, good food, novels, laughing (often at herself), and singing really loud in the car.
This reflection is part of a series called Prayerful Reflections: A Daily Devotional for Lent 2025. Join us on the blog each day, for a new reflection from a different writer, or download the pdf of the entire devotional by clicking the link above.
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