Passion Sunday – 5 April 2020 – Year A

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The Holy Gospel reading for this meditation is written in the 27^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verses 11 – 54:

¹¹ Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” ¹² But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. ¹³ Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” ¹⁴ But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

¹⁵ Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. ¹⁶ At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. ¹⁷ So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” ¹⁸ For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. ¹⁹ While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.” ²⁰ Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. ²¹ The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” ²² Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let him be crucified!” ²³ Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

²⁴ So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” ²⁵ Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” ²⁶ So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

²⁷ Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. ²⁸ They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹ After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

³² As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots; ³⁶ then they sat down there and kept watch over him. ³⁷ Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

³⁸ Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁹ Those who passed by derided him, shaking 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 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, ⁴² “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’” ⁴⁴ The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.

⁴⁵ From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ⁴⁶ And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ⁴⁷ When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” ⁴⁸ At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. ⁴⁹ But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” ⁵⁰ Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. ⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 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 After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. ⁵⁴ Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

  

Let us pray: Father open our ears, minds and hearts that we may hear and experience your message to us this day; And may the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight our Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. Amen

The crackle of dried palms crunches under the feet of the crowd. The sound is but a faint crackle lost in the din of angry voices. The meaning of the sound is lost on the mob now shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him! CRUCIFY HIM!” 

That crackle of dried palm branches covered by the shouts of an angry mob is the sound of a world turned upside down. The King of Creation and Judge of all humankind was on trial before Rome’s puppet governor in Judea, Pontius Pilate.

Historical records tell us that that there were over two million Jews in Jerusalem for the Passover at the time. We can’t know that any of the people are of the same opinion. One crowd could have greeted Jesus as a King when he entered Jerusalem, and another crowd could have shouted for Pilate to put him to death, to us they are Jews gathered for the Passover. What we do know is that over centuries of Christian preaching and teaching, the separate crowds within the church, openly divided by the sinful whims of the human mind, are also seen from the outside as one; division among those who gather around Jesus provide a ‘Headline Message’ for the evil one to send to the world.

More than once in history crowds have been known to turn even more quickly and with just as such a violent effect. The mob wants you as King, and then they want you dead. You see, the mob’s criteria for success and popularity is to live up to their expectations!! But Jesus was not there to please the mob; He was there on His Father’s business, and so now beaten and bruised, he stands before the mob, on trial.

This was no sudden decision of Jesus to come to Jerusalem,  [“yeh-roo-shah-LIE-eem” in Hebrew]. Ironically Jerusalem means “foundation of peace”. Jesus arrived on a donkey as the King of Peace as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9. This was the culmination of His mission on earth. He had no doubts about His fate; in His courageous resolve, He came in the strength of unconditional love. 

We know the response of the people; “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”;  “Hosanna”, “Hosanna in the highest”, “Hosanna to the Son of David”. We, in modern society, tend to interpret the ‘hosannas’ as an acclamation of “Hail”; A joyous welcome call. The fact is however, that their shouts were those of desperation. “Blessed is our Saviour sent from God” – “Hosanna – Save us now” – it was a desperate cry for help – “save us we beseech thee oh Lord”.  “Hosanna in the Highest – “Let the angels in the highest heights cry unto God; save us now”.

Yes, there were hosannas that day, but the crowd didn’t want peace. They wanted violence. Years of oppression at the hands of Rome in general and Pilate and Herod in particular, had taken their toll.

Yes, Rome brought work, water projects, road projects, and Herod’s endless building projects. And with all this came the “pax Romana”, the peace of Rome. But for the Jews gathered in Jerusalem that fateful Passover, the peace was peace for Romans only, not peace for Jews. The back-breaking tax burden contributed to the nagging feeling that the arrangement between Rome and Jews was nearing a flash point. It’s true that this deal left them free to practice their Jewish faith, but even that was not without its’ problems.

Pilate was not a kind man, he continually reminded the Jews of his superiority by placing Roman standards, or military insignias, within his palace so that they could be seen within the Jewish Temple. The Jewish leadership saw this as blasphemous provocation in sight of their holiest of holies. This was an affront to their faith. Jews revolted. Pilate had them put to death. More Jews rose to take their place until even Pilate had to stop killing. A governor can only put so many people to death and still govern. Pilate relented and an uneasy peace returned. It was into this uneasy peace that Jesus rode on a donkey as the crowd shouted Hosannas and cried out, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”. Our loving Saviour; a symbol of revolution for the Jewish people and a blasphemous humbug to the Temple leaders and Pharisees. So much for the peace.

Surprisingly enough, it is here that we find discussion and division amongst the modern theologians as to why Jesus was crucified. Some say He was a threat to the leadership of Rome; others move the blame to the outraged Pharisees.

For the sake of our clarity in faith, we must be certain that in spite of all human pondering, the principle cause of Christ's death was no contingency, accident or chance, but the sovereign will and eternal foreknowledge of God.  It was God Who planned it, Who ordered it, and Who ordered all things concerning it. This in no way implies that the murderers of Christ were forced into their evil act. They acted freely in all their deeds. Yet they are accountable to God for their sin, and are not excused on the ground that it was all the work of God's predetermined advocacy. It is true that God was pleased to use their malice, cruelty and wicked hands as instruments to accomplish His own holy purpose. From the human side, it was a violent death.  A voluntary death; He laid down His life of himself; no man took it from Him. He had power to lay it down, and power to take it again. It was a painful death. The pains which He suffered were the pains of torture and hellish agonies. His body was wracked with pain. He endured bitter sorrow and heaviness of soul. Further, it was a shameful death. Only slaves, and the basest and vilest of men were crucified. It was a humiliating spectacle.  But Jesus "endured the cross" and "despised the shame." 

In Matthew’s account of the Passion, Pilate is particularly reluctant to put Jesus to death. Perhaps this is because of his wife’s dream. Or having already put quite a few Jews to death, he learned along the way that it is best not to incite the crowds during a festival. With Jerusalem’s population swelled by all who came to the capital for the Passover, this is no time to get an angry mob going.

Pilate offers a choice. Following his custom of letting one prisoner go free, he asks whether that man should be Jesus, who is called the Messiah, or alternately another prisoner, Jesus Barabbas. The choice in the Aramaic language of the time is quite stark. “Barabbas” is not a name, but something like a nom de guerre, a revolutionary’s  nickname. It means “Son of a Father.” The dramatic irony is that we are to see the crowd choose Barabbas, the “son of a father,” instead of Jesus, the “Son of the father,” our Father in heaven.

When given this choice, the mob shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” Pilate gives in to mob rule, hoping that the anger of the mob will spew out over Jesus. Pilate literally washes his hands of the matter, hoping the mob will leave him and his palace in peace.

In addition to this, the idea of killing Jesus to bring peace is clearly found here in Matthew 26. The Sanhedrin are unanimous, this man Jesus preaching that we should love everyone – sinners and outcasts alike, is a trouble making revolutionary. So the formula was simple: remove the one, and  harmony returns. The status quo is preserved.

Without doubt, there would have been voices on the edge of the crowd. People who wanted to speak and remained silent. There would have been voices of reason in the angry mob – voices silenced by the shouting crowd, by fear. Sadly, their silence equalled consent. Remaining silent in the face of injustice is a way of standing with the unjust. Many in the mob that Good Friday did just that.

As the sky darkened that noon when Jesus hung on the cross, there would have been those who felt foolish to have ever proclaimed Jesus as a King. Some had waved palm branches and shouted at the tops of their lungs, who would now wish they had remained silent. From the joy of that Sunday entrance, to the darkness of the Friday we call “Good,” the crowd went from praise to derision. When Jesus failed to vent their anger at Rome, to enact their violent will for revenge, the violence turned against the very son of David whom they hailed in glory only six days hence.

By three o’clock, the darkness of that day is complete, and Jesus cries with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It is time for the crowd to go home. The dry palm branches crackle under their feet as the mob shuffles home, vented of their anger. The promise of hosannas now crushed into dust.

The earth shook, and few heard the words of the centurion as Jesus died, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” The only voice of hope to be heard until Jesus own feet stepped on the dust of those palm branches three days later, proving that love could conquer the wrath of the evil one and the sting of death forever.

And so as we begin our journey through Holy Week, we do so in circumstances unprecedented in our life time. Our journey to the Cross and beyond will be a lonely one without the comfort of human fellowship and tradition in worship. Whilst we step forward with feelings of anxiety, frustration and uncertainty, we can do so in hope knowing that the one who walked the lonely road to the agony and humiliation of death on the Cross of our redemption, again walks that road beside us. Jesus will take us to the cross where we will die with him to sin, and He will lead us on to join Him in the joyous resurrection and victory over death into eternity. Such unconditional love and boundless grace are expressed so eloquently by the great hymn writer, Isaac Watts:

When I survey the wondrous cross, Oh which the Prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride

Where the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small,
Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. Amen.

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen