The Passion of Jesus of Nazareth

 

SERMON

Monday – Holy Week

March  29, 2021

 

Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem. Triumphantly riding on the young colt provided by his disciples, Jesus has arrived at his destination. His intentional journey from rural Galilee to the bustling city of Jerusalem; home of God's Temple; site where he will be crucified. His journey is completed.

After the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, depending on which gospel you are reading, the unfolding of events that leads to Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday differ in both date sequence and story content. But the point that Jesus is making in all four gospels, indeed in all of his teachings is clear. The Way – capitol "W" – is to be found by following Jesus. The Way is to be found by laying down self and taking up the cross. The cross, a metaphor, that represents an absolute commitment of self to God.

It is this point of total commitment to God that Jesus makes when in Luke he rebukes the money changers saying, "It is written, my house will be a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers." (Luke 19:46)

Jesus is clear - his house – God's Temple - will be a house dedicated solely to the passionate worship of God and God alone; not a house in which those who have sinned come to offer monetary bribes in exchange for forgiveness, only to return to their sinful ways again and again. Not a house that worships the empire while proclaiming that it is worshipping God.

Marcus Borg in his book The Last Week, makes the point that the passion of Jesus is not simply about passion as taken from the Latin noun passio, meaning suffering. But it is also about the passion of Christ – his passion for the Kingdom of God. His passion to incarnate the justice of God. It was this passion for God's Kingdom that led to Jesus' passion, his passio – his suffering. It is the former passion - Jesus' passion for God's Kingdom that he is now asking us to take up. It is this passion that he is referring to when he commands, "Follow me."

As we walk with Jesus these few days of Holy Week, it is critical to see him as he was, Jesus of Nazareth, an impoverished Jew from the northern town of Galilee. A passionate young man who was the definitive definition of God in the world. God incarnate.

A passionate young man who asked, and is asking, his followers (you and me) to take up our crosses and to join him in the procession that entered Jerusalem, and to walk with him on his passionate journey to the cross. Jesus is asking that we join his procession and passionately commit to God, with no fear of the consequences.

The psalmist writes, "For with you is the well of life, and in your light we see light. Continue your loving-kindness to those who are true of heart. Let not the foot of the proud come near me, not the hand of the wicked push me aside." What beautifully poetic and passionate words that express the hopes and dreams of an ancient people who understood God to be a "Lord whose love reaches to the heavens." A people who yearned for the priceless love of God. A people who understood their well-being to be dependent on "taking refuge under the shadow of God's wings."

As we journey with Jesus of Nazareth this week, the pain and the sorrow we experience while hearing the passion week stories will sting our souls and render us deeply saddened. A sadness that, this year will be compounded by the past twelve months of suffering and pain experienced by so many of us; experienced by so many millions of people throughout the world; victims of the coronavirus, Covid 19. Many of us will mourn not only Jesus as he hangs on the cross; we will also mourn other significant losses of this past year. This is a painful time for us and for God.

But we cannot be on the journey without experiencing the pain – not if we are passionately on the journey - not if we have passionately joined the procession. But, in our pain we must also see the light. We must remember the words of the psalmist, "Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens…how priceless is your love, O God!...For with you is the well of life, and in your light we see light…Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, and your favor to those who are true of heart."

Holy Week is only holy if it is a sacred journey based in our passionate commitment to God's Kingdom. Only if we enter into this sacred week passionately, with our whole heart and mind and soul, will we recognize the stark contrast of the pain and injustice inflicted by the empire on Good Friday, and the triumphal glory and power of the love offered by God's Kingdom on Easter Sunday.

"Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens. How priceless is your love, O God."