Image:
"According to the Burial Custom,"
Jan Richardson, 2012.
"According to the Burial Custom,"
Jan Richardson, 2012.
March 25, 2016
Given that we have just
heard the greatest story ever told, let us reflect on three great questions in
John’s Passion:
“Who are you looking for?”
“What charge do you bring against this man?”
“Aren’t you another of that man’s disciples?”
In the Passion the
answers run:
“Jesus of Nazareth”
“King of the Jews”
“I am not.”
We would not be here this
afternoon if our answer to the first question was not the same as the soldiers.
For vastly different
reasons we also seek Jesus of Nazareth.
Rather than arrest him,
however, we’re here because his love has arrested us.
Rather than mock the Kingdom he proclaimed, we
are heirs to it, servants of his reign.
Rather than condemn him
to be crucified, we see in his death our path to freedom.
“Who are we looking for?”
Jesus of Nazareth IS the one we seek.
The second question
belongs to Pilate.
On the basis of the
charge that Jesus is a rival king to Caesar, he is condemned to death.
All these years later we
know Jesus still presides over a Kingdom of justice and peace.
He remains a threat to
anyone in our world, anyone here today, who stands against faith, hope and
love.
“What charge do you bring
against this man?”
We stand accused of
claiming his reign in our lives.
The third question is to
Peter.
Although Peter wanted to
remain faithful to Jesus, fear got the better of him. Most of us can be
empathetic to his plight.
Faced with a choice
between Jesus and death, how many of us would choose death?
And because actions
always speak louder than words, every time we compromise the goodness of God
within us
or work to undermine
another person’s rights to dignity and life,
we join Peter around that
fire denying that we are a disciple of Jesus.
“Aren’t you another of
that man’s disciples?”
If only we were more so.
The good news today is
that apprehension, accusation, and denial were not the last words in Jesus’
life.
And because of Him
they’re not the last words in our lives either.
No matter what we’ve done
or what we’re doing, nothing can separate us from the love of God poured out in
Jesus Christ the Lord.
No matter what particular
crosses we carried with us into the Church this evening, we believe that God’s
commitment to us was such that he even went to suffering and death to reveal
his saving love.
If we feel apprehensive,
allow Christ to arrest us with his peace.
If we stand accused of
destructive behavior, allow Christ to convert our hearts and change our lives.
If we deny Christ by what
we say or how we live, let’s decide today to be as faithful to him as he is to
us.
I promise you that by
doing this a surprising thing will happen.
Even in the midst of
carrying our own particular crosses we will feel the weight lifted as the one
who loves us helps shoulder our burdens as well.
It’s no wonder we call
today “Good Friday.”
What greater goodness
could we know than that the Cross of Jesus reveals that our God, whether named
or not, is our companion at every step of life’s journey?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Add