The chief priests and the teachers of the Law were looking for a way to arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death.
I know that this isn’t the first time you have heard the story of the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus. When we hear it so many times we’re inclined to think of the injustice and the tragedy of an innocent man dying, but overlook the violence that lies behind the Gospel accounts. "… the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him … and kill him …"
He was killed in a particular cruel, painful and violent way. The Gospels don’t give us much of the detail about what happened to the man who was beaten to a pulp, was spat on,
a crown of thorns pressed on his head,
hands and feel nailed to wood,
side pierced with a sword,
and hung up to bleed and suffocate in utter agony. The violence of the cross wasn’t something short and swift, it went on for hours.
The Gospel writers simply give us the barest outline of what happened that awful day 2,000 years.
Today when we think of the cross we are more inclined to think of the cross of smooth polished wood, or a piece of jewellery we wear around our necks rather than blood-soaked wood. It’s easy to read this story and miss the violence it contains. But the events leading up to Good Friday were anything but violent.
Today Palm Sunday we hear of the magnificent occasion when Jesus entered Jerusalem. Jesus riding on that humble donkey, into the city of Jerusalem the city became alive as children spread palm branches on the street in front of him and those on the side shouting "Hosanna, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord".
Perhaps to some this occasion didn't make much of an impact. Jerusalem was crowded as these were festival days. During the Passover it became a large city with the addition of pilgrims and worshippers from all over the known world. No, this man riding on a donkey and the cheering crowd probably didn't make a big impression on the Holy City.
But those people who stood on the side knew that something special was happening. Someone special was entering their city. And so they shouted "Hosanna". Amid all the happiness, cheering, and waving of palm branches there was only one who knew that this week would end in violence.
The one who rode the donkey was fully aware that "… the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him … and kill him …". In just a few days he would experience the pain and cruelty reserved only for the worst and most hardened criminals.
As he stood before the ruling Council, was beaten and mocked by the soldiers and then died on a rough wooden cross outside Jerusalem one would could hardly imagine that this bleeding and forsaken man is truly God, the King of kings, Lord of lords, Wonderful Counsellor, and the Prince of Peace.
As they drove the nails in his hands and feet and his blood soaked the wooden beam of the cross, one could hardly believe that they were shedding the blood of God himself, they were wounding the man who had come to save the very persons who were striking the blows and driving in the nails. He was dying to save the men who raised the cross so that all Jesus weight pulled on the nails.
He was dying for those people who called out, laughed and made fun of him, taunting him to come and down save himself. This man on the cross did not look like God. But he is God. The apostle Paul summed it up like this, "He (Christ Jesus) always had the nature of God … Of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant. He became like a human being and appeared in human likeness. He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death— his death on the cross" (Phil 2:6-8).
He had it all. He gave it all up. And what sometimes is devastating for us to realize is that he did it for us and because of us. We put those scars in his hands, his feet, his side.
When the great artist Rembrandt came to paint the scene of the crucifixion, he painted his own face on one of those people in mob. He knew that it was for his sins that Jesus was nailed to the tree. There was nothing sweet and gentle about the crowd that called for Jesus death – they called for the violent and excruciating death on a cross.
On Good Friday 1972 the youth group of our parish in Ghana presented a drama of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. The youth leader (Joseph) played the role of Christ, the young people the jeering mob. "Crucify him! Crucify him!" they shouted, and then they dragged the youth leader into the back yard of the church and hung him up on an improvised cross.
Everyone was quiet, as "Christ" hung there and spoke these words to the audience: "Even though you are doing this to me, I still love you." There was a young teenage girl standing in the front, fascinated by the scene. Tears were streaming down her face. For most of the audience that was a performance.
For her, it was the real thing. She was there. She had been transported back to Calvary and it was if she was there when the Saviour of the world hung there, suffering and dying for her sin, and said to her, "Father, forgive her".
That African-American spiritual song "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" haunts us. One verse says, "Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?" There is only one answer to that question. Yes! It was your sin and my sin that crucified Jesus on the first Good Friday.
When we look at the figure stretched out on the cross, or read the story of Jesus death in the Gospel accounts God wants us all to see that it is our sin that is being paid for. He wants us to see that through the violence, the suffering and death of Jesus our peace was being made with God.
He wants us to see what lengths God had to go to get rid of the punishment we deserve and to restore our friendship with him again. He wants us to see that what Jesus did it for us. The Son of God, Lord of all lords, the creator and ruler of the universe, had it all, and he gave it all up just for us. He became a human like us. He endured so much violence just for us.
In a Peanuts cartoon, Charlie Brown and Linus are standing next to each other, staring at a star-filled sky. "Would you like to see a falling star?" Charlie Brown asks Linus. "Sure..." Linus responds. "Then again, I don't know," he adds, after some thought. "I'd hate to have it fall just on my account".
But you know what a star did fall on our account. God came down to us as Jesus: like a lamb led to the slaughter, he died on our account. I’d guess that’s why the Gospel writers don’t give us a lot of detail about the violence that happened that day.
They want us to realize that this death has brought about reconciliation between God and us.
In 1927 a man named Asibi, a West African native, was stricken with the deadly disease, yellow fever. Hundreds if not thousands people died from this dreaded disease. However, Asibi lived. It seems that his body had conquered the disease. Asibi's blood contained the antibodies from which to begin to develop a successful vaccine.
Today doctors and drug companies have developed an efficient vaccine against yellow fever, and their cure has saved the lives of untold numbers of people around the world. Each dose of vaccine, though, can be traced back to one original blood sample - that of Asibi.
You might say that one man's blood saved the lives of millions of people.
You can see how this relates to Jesus. The blood of this one man has saved us and million upon millions of others. In a mysterious way, we have been saved by the death of Jesus.
As we enter Holy Week once again and recall again the love, the suffering, the dying and the rising of our Saviour, let us do so first of all with a humble spirit. It is our sin that put Jesus on the cross.
And secondly, let us enter Holy Week with a repentant heart, aware of our sin, ready to turn away from the sin in our lives that grieve God and those around us. Let us take the time to reflect on what kind of relationship we really have with God. Let us recommit ourselves to following Jesus more closely in everything we say and do.
And thirdly, as we enter Holy Week, we do so with an attitude of praise and thanksgiving for this act of God. Because of the cross and the resurrection, God has given us the assurance that we have complete pardon for all of our sin, and that we have a place in his eternal kingdom.
God bless us all as we reflect on and celebrate the passion of our Lord. Amen.
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
April 9, 2006