Palm / Passion Sunday, Year A

What About You?

Readings: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 26:14-27:66

There is a painting by Rembrandt entitled the Three Crosses that depicts the crucifixion. Your eyes are first drawn to the figure of Christ on the cross, lifted high above the crowds. Then you start to examine the people in the crowd. You notice the various facial expressions and actions, some praying, some jeering, some disinterested, looking away. If you keep searching through the crowd, you will catch sight of a figure hidden in the shadows. Many believe it to be a representation of Rembrandt himself, recognizing his own complicity in the death of Christ.

Have we not all wondered what we would have done had we been on hand to witness the events first hand? The Passion narrative challenges us to reflect on exactly that. There were as many reactions to Jesus’ plight as there were people in the story.

Would we have reacted like the disciples? The disciples, his closest friends, those who listened day after day to Jesus’ teachings, could not stay awake with him. They could not watch and pray even for one hour. And when it came time to make a decision to follow him they ran away in fear, unable to face the consequences, the danger that knowing Jesus put them into. Even Peter, his words still ringing out loud and clear, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.” Under the strain he too runs away. All the good intentions in the world are not enough. When life gets difficult do we blame God and run away?

Judas betrayed him for what he could get. And yet somehow I wonder if he really did want to betray him. Did he think that somehow he might be able to save Jesus? Did he want to give Jesus the opportunity to fight back, to become the kind of Messiah that he had been expecting? No matter! He betrays him. He takes what he can get. Is that our approach to the faith? Are we simply in it to get what we can? Is our job or wealth more important to us than those we love? Do we pay more attention to work than to family? Are we faithful to God’s call despite personal sacrifices? What impact do Christ’s death and resurrection have in our lives?

The crowds jeered at Jesus. The same people who had shouted hosanna just a few short days before turned on him. “Crucify him!” they shouted, the mob mentality taking over. Do our lackadaisical attitudes, our inability to stand up against the crowd, our opting in to the ways of the world, crucify Jesus?

And then there is Pilate. His is surely the most subtle way to react. He is the one person who has the power to release Jesus. He knows that this is an innocent man standing before him. He even has his wife’s dream to corroborate it. “Have nothing to do with that innocent man,” she pleads. “I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.” And yet he turns his back on Jesus. He releases a known criminal to the crowds. Not that he takes responsibility for his actions. Instead he calls for a bowl of water. He washes his hands. “I am innocent of this man’s blood.”

We humans are very good at doing that. We wash our hands of it. As if that is going to change anything! Throughout history we have washed our hands of event after event. For two hundred years we have washed our hands of our responsibility towards our Aboriginal peoples. Many still refuse to understand the impact that the Residential Schools had on them. Many refuse to understand the impact of the abuse or the family dysfunction that has arisen because of it. As so often happens in cases of abuse, we blame the victims and further their victimization. We continue to say that it has nothing to do with us and wash our hands of it as we have for two hundred years.

Thank God that God has not simply washed God’s hands of us. God could have looked at humankind and given up. But that is not God’s way. It is not what God did. Instead, God acted. God sent salvation into the world. It was not about making life easy for us. It was not about manipulating us into making a decision to follow God. It was to enable us to reach out to others, to lead people back to God, to act.

It is easy for us as Easter people to say what our reaction to Jesus’ plight would have been. And yet so often our actions show differently. Daily we crucify him.

On Ash Wednesday we began a journey that has led us through wilderness times. The journey ends at the foot of the cross where we await the joyful resurrection to new life. The call of the cross is a call to share in God’s unconditional mercy and goodness. It is a reminder that God’s power is able to transform even the most terrible suffering. It is a reminder that God is with us. In our encounter with the crucified God may we learn that the sharing of suffering is the beginning of its transformation to wholeness and joy. Amen.