The Hour and Authority of the Darkness

Eliza Fletcher, a 34-year-old young mother, frequently ran in the early hours of the day in her safe neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee. But on September 2, 2022, an SUV pulled out of nowhere, and an evil man grabbed her, shoved her into the SUV, and drove off. Days later, her bullet-driven body was found near an abandoned duplex. Every morning, the pleasant coolness of the early dawn gave Eliza Fletcher vigor and purpose to run and start the day well until that day when the hour and authority of the darkness descended on her.

For nearly three and a half years, the Lord went in and out of Jerusalem, preaching, teaching, and turning tables in the temple. Yet, the high priests, magistrates of the temple, and presbyters didn’t raise a single hand to capture him (Luke 22:52a). But on that fateful night, they had come with swords and clubs to capture him as if he were a thief (22:52b). So, he said to them,

“Daily, I was with you in the temple. Yet you didn’t stretch your hands against me.” (22:53a)

Without waiting for them to say anything, he stated the reason for their action that night:

“This is the hour and authority of the darkness.” (22:53b)

Earlier, the Lord had taught the people, “People love darkness more than they love light because their works are evil” (John 3:19). Every major crime — rape, murder, stealing, vandalism, etc. — often happens in the cover of darkness. Surprisingly, nowadays, some people are boldly breaking into stores and grabbing whatever they want. But in general, people do evil deeds at night. The religious leaders were no exception. They came to Gethsemane with swords and clubs at nighttime to capture Jesus as if he were a thief. Truth be told, they didn’t want to capture him at the temple during the daytime because they would have had a riot on their hands—the people thought of Jesus as a prophet, healer, teacher, rabbi, godly man, and even their Messiah. To capture and sentence him publicly would have been troublesome for the religious leaders, especially when nearly a million people were in town for the Passover festival. So, they waited for the “hour and authority of the darkness” to wield their evil.

Even now, darkness (a metaphor for Satan) continually looks for opportunities to harm unsuspecting people, like Eliza Fletcher. We don’t know the hour and authority and might fall prey to it. Jesus knew and yet fell prey because he had a goal—to resurrect and bring redemption. Ours is not that but to stay alert and awake and cover us with prayers so we might not fall prey to the darkness’s schemes.