I chose for the whole story of Jesus’ passion, suffering, and death to be read today for a couple of reasons: 1) We rarely have the time (or take the time) to hear the whole thing at once. We get bits and pieces throughout the year, but we need to hear the story, the drama, the starkness, the completeness of the events leading up to, and including, Jesus’ death.
2) This is the word of God. Scripture is vital to our life as a spiritual community. The Bible is a gift from God and one that we underestimate.
Some of us will get that, and some of us won’t.
Always been that way when it comes to God. Same was true then. Some get what God has done in Christ and some don’t. Often a surprise.
· Peter, James, and John: Could you not keep awake one hour? · Judas: betrayed with a kiss
· One of them cut off the ear of the slave of the high priest.
· All the disciples fled · Chief priests and whole council: looking for testimony against Jesus.
· High priest and whole council condemned him, spit on him, blindfolded him, struck him, made fun of him.
· Peter: denied him three times.
· Crowds: “Crucify him!”
· Roman Soldiers and whole cohort: purple cloak, crown of thorns, mocking, “Hail, King of the Jews.”
· Roman soldiers: hit him, spat on him, pretended to honor him, stripped him · Roman Soldiers: crucified him.
· Those passing by: “Save yourself and come down from the cross.”
· Chief priests, scribes, “come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.”
· Those crucified with him also taunted him. · Bystanders, “Let’s see if Elijah will take him down.”
· Centurion, one of the Roman soldiers, as Jesus died, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” · Joseph of Arimathea, asked for the body and buried him.
· Mary Magdelene and Mary the mother of Joses remained there until the body was buried.
In that whole account, only three or four people show any sign of getting who Jesus is and what this whole thing is about. And only one person acknowledges that this man, dead on a cross, is the Son of God. Not because of the signs, wonders, healings, teaching – but because he saw how he died. You can bet his life is changed forever. Someone always gets it. Someone always shares it. Maybe today it’s you. God is saving the world. Through the life and death of Jesus, God is saving the world, us, you. Some of you get it. Some of you will have lives that are changed forever.
Others are looking for it. God is serious about you –Jesus is for you.