Using images of conquering power;
evoking for Jews and Romans alike
the, “vanquishing victor;”
This
warrior,
this ruler,
this King:
rode
into Jerusalem on a
humble colt.
Wore
homespun not polished
armor
Spoke of
sin, redemption, forgiveness, and reconciliation
not,
national sovereignty, revenge, resentment, or
retaliation.
Jubilant
crowds lined the roads,
knowing
they witnessed a winner,
completely misunderstanding
God’s vision of success.
And
that is what makes this day, this week,
uncomfortable.
Zealots
and true believers
did not understand:
Jesus
had come to conquer;
not just a back water province,
nor just a Roman empire.
His,
was not a cause,
nor a campaign.
Jesus
had come,
to reclaim
all of creation.
They
did not understand:
Jesus came to the Holy City
not to deal death
nor to sidestep death
but to meet death
head on.
He
would conquer
the world and death itself
by dying.
In
so doing,
he vanquished all that separates us.
By the cross,
there is no more
Gentile nor Jew
no more ally nor
opponent
no more liberal nor
conservative
no more master nor
slave
no more person that we
like or don’t like
no longer is there someone
who has wronged me
By
dying to death
Jesus
made a world
populated with neighbors
whom you and I are
asked to help
whose hurts we are to
bind
for whose welfare we
are responsible
Such
radical love calls us to forgive
and when we can’t or won’t
we wound his sacred
head
we drive another nail
into the hands of Christ
we pierce his side
This
is what makes
the passion story
so familiar,
so challenging,
so painful,
and so
personal.
In
our arrogance,
we hold grudges
and cling to the pain of past slights and
violations.
We
nurture resentments and tote them around –
holding
them as so precious
that we would sacrifice
the sweet possibility
of God doing something awesome
for the bitter gall of our own way
We
would rather join the jeering crowd
than trust the Lamb of God
In
our ignorance
we judge others:
preferring to “tsk – tsk” in finger pointing contempt
than to heal with
forgiveness
The
crowds that ripped branches from trees
and
screamed with excitement
did not understand:
their hunger would be eased
and
their emptiness filled
not by conquest
nor power
nor wealth
nor even condemning others
but
only by the challenge, the grace, the power, of
the
cross.
No
branch of science, nor bible study class,
can explain the cross completely.
No
homily or lecture
can
fully outline its meaning
give justice to its weight
or unravel its mystery
Yet,
all
of us
will
eventually find ourselves
walking
that dusty,
lonely
path to Calvary ,
and,
standing
before the cross
we
will face our self
Naked
Without pretense nor excuse
Without crutch of resentment or grievance or
blame
Then,
we will hear from the heart of the cross
“whenever you have done
it to the least of these
you have done it to me.”
Our
hearts will tremble, tremble, tremble
When
we hear from the heart of life:
“Whoever
wishes to come after me
Must deny themselves
take up the cross,
and follow me.”
For
there, on the cross
in
the person of Jesus Christ:
the Holy Mystery of God
turns to us a human face saying;
“Fear, not, for I have come to
redeem you.”
This
week, this holy week,
the Garden of Gethsemane
redeems the Garden of Eden
The
human fear and treachery of every Adam and every Eve
within each of us
meets
the human trust, love, and obedience
of Jesus of Nazareth
This
week
standing bare
before the cross
words
well up from our very souls
“O
Lamb of God
who takest away the sins of the world
have mercy upon me.
O
Lamb of God
who takest away the sins of the world
have mercy upon me
O
Lamb of God
who takest away the sins of the world
please, O please,
grant me thy peace.
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