Text: Matthew 27:11-54 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
Pilate Questions Jesus
11 Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” 12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge; so that the governor wondered greatly.
Barabbas or Jesus?
15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a notorious prisoner, called Barab′bas.[a] 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Barab′bas[b] or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much over him today in a dream.” 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the people to ask for Barab′bas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barab′bas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified.” 23 And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified.”
Pilate Hands Jesus over to Be Crucified
24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood;[c] see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released for them Barab′bas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. 28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, 29 and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 And they spat upon him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
32 As they went out, they came upon a man of Cyre′ne, Simon by name; this man they compelled to carry his cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Gol′gotha (which means the place of a skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots; 36 then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.
The Death of Jesus
45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land[d] until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, la′ma sabach-tha′ni?” that is, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” 47 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “This man is calling Eli′jah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Eli′jah will come to save him.”[e] 50 And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split; 52 the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son[f] of God!”
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.
It might seem that today is a bit muddled – on the one hand, we have just enjoyed watching our children re-enact the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, with the acclamations of “Hosanna!” that accompany it. But now our Gospel lesson strikes the somber note of the trial, betrayal, and crucifixion of Jesus.
For most of us growing up, this Sunday used to be reserved exclusively for that triumphal entry – the Passion was observed on Good Friday. Given that, theologically, every Sunday is meant to celebrate the Resurrection – even Sundays in Lent – reading this passage on any Sunday, but particularly this Sunday, is almost indefensible. Nonetheless, the custom has changed over the years for two reasons – the first is that many people these days don’t have the opportunity to attend Good Friday services, so they go directly from the Hosannas of Palm Sunday to the Alleluias of Easter Sunday and miss the critically important observance of the crucifixion – there can be no Easter without the cross – so talking about the crucifixion today is intended to be a remedy of sorts.
As David Lose tells us, though, the second reason is more important. In the Gospel lessons over these 40 days, we have seen Jesus reveal himself to different people in different settings – Nicodemus, the Jewish leader, who was clearly a member of “the Establishment” of the day, the Samaritan woman, who as a Samaritan and a woman was anything but, the man who was born blind, who had absolutely no social standing, Lazarus and his sisters, intimate friends and followers – and we have seen the reactions of all these people, as well as those around them, to what Jesus says and does. And each of these people has an opinion as to just who Jesus is, and a response.[1]
Lent is the time when we need to do the same. As Professor Lose points out, Lent was originally not intended to just lead up to Good Friday, but was meant to be a season of “spiritual orientation” for Christians to better follow Jesus as his disciples. Of course, we’re called to be disciples in every season of the year; but Lent especially (more than Advent, which is also meant to be a time of introspection and preparation) focuses on our efforts to get our priorities in order so that we can really be the disciples we want to be. So Lent is a deeply personal time. This is the season when we ask, and answer for ourselves, the same questions his first followers asked, questions like: Just who is this Jesus for me personally? What do his sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection mean for me? How will I live out the answers I come up with?
Just what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in these latter days?
A short definition of “disciple” might be “one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of Christianity”; but that’s really just the starting point. For each of us, the answer will be as different as each of us is different from one another. There is no one “right” answer to any of these questions; this is not a case of “one size fits all.” Our responses will be varied, and that is exactly the way it’s supposed to be. As the Apostle Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 12:4-14, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. 12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many.” (RSV)
In short, every one of us brings something to the table. Each of us has more than one talent to share with the rest of us co-workers in the fields of the Lord. No talent is insignificant. No act of love is too small. Every single one of us is cosmically important to the mission Jesus sets before us. It’s easy to forget this in the face of what we see going on in this story – the trial, the scourging, the mocking, and the crucifixion itself.
But where in all this do we find a link between our Lenten reflections and our call to be disciples of Jesus, on the one hand, and the horrible events portrayed in today’s lesson, on the other? After all, the word “disciple” does not appear anywhere in the text for today, and at this point in the story, Jesus’ own disciples had gone into hiding (except for Judas Iscariot, who’d already killed himself out of remorse). Well, part of the answer to this is, as David Ewert writes on his Holy Textures blog: “[R]emember that then – as now – the Bible is all about bonding; about unhesitating loyalty; about honouring and trusting God – holding nothing back.”[2] Jesus came to proclaim one all-important message: That the Kingdom of God has come near, and that we, God’s children, need to repent – to turn away from all the nonsense we think is so important, to refocus our attention on what matters, to be reconciled to God and to each other. He spent his life, he staked his life, and he lost his life on that hideous cross, for the sake of that message. He held nothing back. Today’s passage in its entirety illustrates that.
So, to add to the definition of discipleship from a moment ago, we can also say that discipleship is the attitude of honoring, trusting, giving our all for God, and holding nothing back.
Hear again the very first words of Jesus himself when he began his ministry: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mtt 4:17, RSV) Prof. Lose says this about why Jesus was crucified: “It wasn’t just an accident. It wasn’t because he simply offended the religious authorities of the day. It was because he proclaimed another kingdom – the kingdom of God – and called people to give their allegiance to this kingdom first. He was, in other words, a threat. And even the briefest of readings from the Passion narrative reminds us of the consequences of Jesus’ challenge to the powers that be.”[3]
When we seek to be true disciples of Jesus, we come face to face with a similar challenge to our own world view, the challenge to recognize that, first and foremost, we owe allegiance to that other kingdom that Jesus proclaimed, that kingdom that is not of this world, that kingdom that is Now and Not Yet: “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God.” (Mtt 6:33. KJV). It is a fact of human life that we spend the bulk of our time in attempting to achieve security for ourselves and our families, by whatever measure we use, in getting ahead in the world, in this world. This is not necessarily a “bad” thing – even though we are not of the world, we are nonetheless still in the world, and we need to live accordingly. Yet we all know that, in the end, we will be disappointed, for all the things we depend on for security and meaning are simply not up to the job. Only Jesus, the Logos, God’s Word made flesh, God’s Son, our Savior, the One who calls us to repent and who died on the cross and was raised from death to save us – the One who held nothing back – can declare us not just acceptable to God, but blessed and beloved by God!
Once we truly hear that message of saving grace, mercy, and love, then we can’t help but wave our palm branches and shout Hosanna for all we’re worth!
Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!
Let us courageously go forth into the week ahead, holding nothing back!
[1] Lose, David, “Palm/Passion Sunday A,” …in the Meantime, April 5, 2017, http://www.davidlose.net/2017/04/palmpassion-sunday-a/
[2] Ewert, David, “Matthew 27:11-54,” Holy Textures, http://www.holytextures.com/2011/03/matthew-27-11-54-alternate-year-a-lent-6-passion-sunday-sermon.html
[3] Lose, David, “Palm/Passion Sunday A,” …in the Meantime, April 5, 2017, http://www.davidlose.net/2017/04/palmpassion-sunday-a/