“Journeying to the Cross” (Matthew 27:11-54)
April 17, 2011 (Palm/Passion Sunday)
Rev. John B. Erthein, Euchee Valley Presbyterian Church
This Sunday is called both Palm and Passion Sunday. From my experience, Palm Sunday is more often celebrated. It is an occasion of rejoicing, as Jesus is received with rapture in Jerusalem. Palm fronds are often handed out at worship to mark the occasion.
But I believe it is vital to remember this is also Passion Sunday, and because there will not be a Holy Week service at this church (although I encourage you to attend the Maundy Thursday Service at the Red Bay Community Churches), I am concentrating on Jesus’ Passion today. Before we can reach the heights of Easter and the celebration of the Resurrection, I believe we should spend a little time in the depths of the passion, and the somber commemoration of Christ’s Passion.
In a way, what happened to Jesus was not all that unusual. Think of what happens to a criminal defendant accused of a capital crime in this day and age. The accused is brought before a judge and jury. If convicted by the jury, he is led away. He may be sentenced to death for a capital crime. Now, in our system of justice, someone awaiting execution has a long time to wait, especially if he appeals his conviction or sentence. It easily takes more than ten years for a sentenced execution to occur. That may be a good thing, whatever your opinion of the death penalty, because sometimes evidence will turn up that casts doubt on the conviction, or even completely exonerates the accused.
But if that does not happen; if the conviction and evidence are affirmed; if the appeals are exhausted; then comes to day of execution. In Hollywood movies there is usually the condemned man’s final journey down death row to the place of execution, followed by the execution itself, which is usually over in a few minutes.
Something along these lines happened to Jesus, except that it was much, much worse. He received no trial by jury. Instead, he was tried by a brutal, cynical and yet nervous governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. Pilate was not stupid. He could see that Jesus was likely innocent of the charges against him. In the account from Matthew, Pilate’s wife warned him she had a dream that showed Jesus was innocent. And yet Pilate did nothing more than wash his hands of Jesus, turning him over to the enraged crowd’s conception of “justice.” Pilate imagines that he somehow is avoiding the responsibility for what he knows will happen to Jesus. But of course we know that is not true. We know that Pilate has the power to order Jesus released, but he will not do so. Like a politician, he does something and then tries to evade accountability for his action. But he is accountable before the bar of history, and more importantly, before the throne of Almighty God. And so are we. All of us must decide what to do with this Jesus. Pilate made his choice. He rejected Jesus and sent him to the cross. We can do that as well. We can turn away from him. We can, by our indifference to him, contribute to his crucifixion. You see, while the physical event of the crucifixion took place at a particular time, all sins that have ever been committed or ever will be committed spiritually contribute to the crucifixion. So there is no other choice. Either embrace Jesus or send him away to the crucifixion.
The crowd referred to in this Gospel narrative had that choice as well. What they say is chillingly significant. “Let his blood be on us and on our children.” Because they demanded the death of an innocent man, his blood would be upon them. It is not necessarily the case, however, that his blood would be on their children. They are assuming that any fault for their actions will carry over to their children. That was not an uncommon belief at the time. But I believe Jesus himself refuted that idea when he healed the blind man, something I preached about two weeks ago. While the disciples asked if he was born blind because of his sin of that of his parents, Jesus quickly disabused them of that notion. But what does it say about the spiritual confusion and corruption of this crowd that they can say such a thing, clamoring the death of a man who they did not know was guilty, willing to have his blood counted against them and their children?
In any case, Jesus has been condemned and will begin the final journey to the cross. He has been handed over to the Roman soldiers and is mercilessly flogged by them. The scourging by the Romans was incredibly cruel, with bits of bone tied to the multi-stranded whip. Frequently men died from shock after such horrible agony. I mention this to underscore that we cannot begin to realize the pain Jesus went through because of our sins and for our sake. As it was prophesied in Isaiah 53:5: “he was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities …”
Jesus is marched up to Golgotha, stumbling under the burden of his cross, until Simon is forced to carry it. Jesus was offered an awful concoction to drink … wine mixed with gall. Jesus was probably very thirsty, but such a drink was undrinkable. And then he was nailed to the cross, a slow and unspeakably agonizing form of execution. The Romans did not care about “humane” methods of execution for common criminals. In crucifixion, the wrists would be roped or nailed (in Jesus’ case nailed) to the cross. The torso would sag of its own weight, making it difficult to breathe. Involuntary movements by the legs to aid breathing caused increasing pain in the feet. This continued until total exhaustion resulted in asphyxiation. The dying process could last for days. In Jesus’ case it lasted for three hours … still a horrifying ordeal.
The very sky turned dark as this was happening. From noon until 3 pm, the sky was an unnatural black. G. Campbell Morgan believes that this mysterious, unnatural darkness came from Satan himself. In John’s Gospel it is written that Jesus is “the light of the world.” And so the darkness tries to smother the light, and even succeeds for three hours. A physical darkness and spiritual darkness grip the land and the hearts of the people. And in the midst of this darkness, Jesus cries out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus is suffering not only in body, but in spirit. The darkness of evil has penetrated him in his inmost being, and he feels not the love and care of his Father. That is the worst thing about the crucifixion … that Jesus Christ felt the agony of separation from his Father. And I believe the Father felt his Son’s agony, and yet let the divine plan play out to the end. He did not comfort his Son at that time, for it was not the time for it.
Can you imagine that? As Jesus ended his journey on the cross, he died in desolation and abandonment. He could not be comforted. Those of us who are parents can perhaps understand the sadness of this situation at least a little, for who among us would not want to comfort his or her suffering child? Who among us has not experienced the tears of our children as something that rends our hearts? And that from us sinful people! How much more was the compassionate grief of God the Father as his Son approached his death, swallowed up in darkness.
And my friends, how is it that this darkness came to be? How is it that the sun hid his face from our world for those three hours? How is it that Jesus was convicted unjustly, abandoned, humiliated, abused, and executed in agony? It is because of the sin of mankind. Sin allowed Satan a foothold into creation, corrupting everything, including us. And so Jesus came to bring the light into a sin-darkened world. And at Golgotha, it seemed as if the darkness had swallowed up the light.
I saw the movie 2012 (about end of the world) last January. I thought it was quite good, especially in its dramatic special effects. But one thing I remember above all else is a line spoken by the movie’s American President, who told a fearful people, as the world was approaching its end, that “we step into the darkness together.”
“We step into the darkness together.” That is the fate of sinful mankind, to step into the darkness together … to be eternally separated from the light. And it is truly no more than we deserve. I have been talking about death row inmates and Jesus being judged and condemned by sinful man. But in reality, we stand before the dock. We are not spectators in this great drama of judgment; we are the leading participants.
We can be thankful, however, that our judge is not Pontius Pilate. We can be thankful that our judge is not the Council of the Sanhedrin. We can be thankful that our judge is not a fickle mob. Our judge is the very One who suffered, but not in vain. He suffered for our sake. Jesus, the spotless lamb of God, shed his blood for us. This man without sin became sin for all of us, so that we might shed our sins. This man who is eternal tasted the second death for us, the darkness of separation from God, so that we may still live in the light for eternity.
Will you remember and reflect upon what Jesus suffered for your sake? Will you consider how the light allowed the darkness to overwhelm it so that you might live in the light and not go into the darkness forever? Will you rededicate your whole life to the One who gave his life to you? In the Name of Him who came to save us from our sins. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment