Weekly Sermon

"The Story of Holy Week" : April 13, 2003

The Reverend Anne Benefield

Matthew 21:1-27:66; Mark 11-15;

Luke 19:28-23:56; John 12:12-19:16

 

Each year we read the scriptures describing the final week of Jesus' earthly life. They are rich, dynamic texts, but we hear them piecemeal as we travel through Holy Week. We miss the broad sweep and drama of the stories. In addition, stories are often more powerful when told than read.

This year instead of reading the text, I am going to tell you the story. Accompanying the story, we will show you some of the masterpieces that have been painted over the centuries to capture the poignant majesty of the story.

We begin as Jesus prepares to enter Jerusalem. He sends two of the disciples into Bethphage where they will find a donkey that has never been ridden. The disciples are to untie it and bring it to Jesus. Anticipating the disciples' questions, Jesus explains that if anyone says, "Why are you doing this?" they are to answer, "The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately."

Everything happens as Jesus said it would. Jesus knows what is going to happen, even the questions that will be raised. His trip into Jerusalem was planned. The disciples put their cloaks on the donkey and Jesus sits on it. It is interesting that Jesus chose a donkey, a humble animal.

Riding on a donkey, Jesus communicates to all that he comes in peace, a servant leader. A conqueror would have ridden a horse; Jesus doesn't come as a conqueror. Then and now he comes in peace. As he enters Jerusalem, the people throw their cloaks and palms on the road. The garments and branches form a carpet, so that the feet of the donkey do not even touch the soil or stones that ordinary people tread. Jesus is welcomed as an extraordinary person.

He is hailed as "The one who comes in the name of the Lord." The jubilant crowd of pilgrims, by some estimates around 100,000 people, cries out "Hosanna! Save us!" Jesus goes straight to the temple. He is horrified at the noise and squalor he finds inside the courts of the temple. Since lambs were necessary for the Passover sacrifice and only temple coins could be used in the temple, there were animals for sale and moneychangers hawking their coins. The merchants provided a necessity for the pilgrims, but why were they inside the courts of the temple? There were a series of courts, which moved from the least exclusive to the most exclusive.

The outer most court was the only part of the temple where Gentiles could enter and pray. Was it possible to pray among the noise and filth? Jesus forces the merchants out of the temple courts, saying, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers." The rest of the week, Jesus taught and healed in the temple. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the son of David," they became angry and said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes, have you never read, 'Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself?'"

During this time, Judas Iscariot decides to betray Jesus to the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver. Why Judas betrayed our Lord we will never know, but perhaps he became impatient with Jesus for remaining the humble Messiah when Judas expected a conquering Messiah. Maybe Judas thought that by pushing Jesus, he would force him to use his divine power. Do we sometimes we become impatient with our Lord and we try to push God into action, to test God?

As the Passover approaches, the disciples ask Jesus where they will have their meal. An interesting thing happens at this point. Instead of answering them with a specific address, Jesus says, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks, "Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?" He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."

Doesn't it seem strange that instead of giving an address, Jesus told them to find a man carrying water and follow him? I believe there is a reason for Jesus' cryptic words. First, you should know that a man carrying water would attract attention. Since men simply didn't carry water in those days, the disciples couldn't have missed this man. But why the whole charade? I believe it is because of Judas who had already agreed to betray Jesus. The authorities would have preferred to arrest Jesus while everyone was I their homes celebrating Passover, and the streets were deserted.

Therefore, if Judas knew the address where they were going, he could have tipped off the authorities but I think it was important to Jesus to have Passover with his disciples, all of his disciples including Judas. The only way to guarantee that Judas would share the Passover was to keep him from knowing the location before the meal. Jesus wanted Judas at the table. No matter how great our sin, Jesus wants to bring us to his table just as he wanted Judas at the table. The Passover that the disciples shared with Jesus was the Last Supper. Exactly what happened in that upper room?

The gospel writers remember it differently. John remembers Jesus washing the disciples' feet. The idea of washing someone's feet is rather uncomfortable for us. It would have been even more uncomfortable in Jesus' time. Washing feet was reserved for slaves, and even slaves were sometimes excused from this degrading and dangerous practice. In those days, people believed that sickness and other woes came from evil spirits. They also believed that those evil spirits lived on the streets and entered one's body through the feet. In other words, when you washed someone's feet you took the chance of direct contact with evil spirits, but Jesus never shied away from confronting evil especially in sharing a kindness. As he washed the disciples' feet, he proclaimed servant leadership and the new commandment to love one another.

The other gospels remember more about the meal. Gathered around the table, Jesus tells them again that he will be arrested and killed, explaining that the true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He tells them that he is the Passover lamb. The bread symbolizes his body, which will be broken for them. The wine symbolizes his blood that will be spilled for them. The new covenant, the covenant of love will be sealed in Jesus' blood.

The blood of the Passover lamb would have reminded the disciples of the night in Egypt when the Hebrew people used the blood of the lambs to mark their homes so that the spirit of death would Passover their homes leaving their first born children safe. Even as Jesus speaks, the disciples argue among themselves about who will be regarded as the greatest. Jesus tells to them that they will betray him. Although Peter hotly denies that he will betray Christ, Jesus tells him that before the cock crows, Peter will deny him three times.

As the supper ends, Jesus sends Judas off to do what he has planned to do. Jesus and the rest of the disciples go to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. Jesus asks that they remain behind and pray while he goes ahead to pray. Three times he returns to find them sleeping. In agony he prays to be released from the crucifixion, saying, "Take this cup away from me. But not my will but Thine be done." As he returns to the disciples, Judas comes with a great crowd of priests, officers of the temple, elders, and soldiers. When Judas approaches Jesus to kiss him, Jesus says, "Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?" When the disciples realize what is happening, they ask Jesus if they should protect him with their swords. Before he can stop them, one of the disciples cuts off the ear of the slave of the high priest, but Jesus says, "No more of this!" He touches the ear of the slave and heals it. They seize him and lead him away to the high priest's house, but Peter follows at a distance.

He enters the courtyard of the high priest and sits with the servants of the house. A servant girl stares at him and says, "This man also was with him." Peter denies it, saying, "Woman, I don't know him." A little later, someone else says to him, "You are one of them." But Peter says, "Man, I am not!" Then an hour later, another person says, "Surely you were with him. Your Galilean accent gives you away." Peter says, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about!" At that moment, the cock crowed. After Jesus met with Pilate, the soldiers stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They twisted some thorns into a crown and put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews?" They spat on him…stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to be crucified.

He was crucified between two common thieves. And yet, even from the cross he covered the repentant criminal with grace and promised him paradise. From the cross, he offers us grace, too. For on the cross, Jesus accepts the complete agony of being human. He takes on suffering beyond imagination so that we know that in all things we are not alone. Christ shares our pain. He accepts the pain of betrayal, disappointment, and hopelessness.

Perhaps the most important words from the cross are the words of the 22nd Psalm, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" From the cross, Christ accepts the pain of separation from God. He descends into hell, the void, complete separation from God. He enters hell and remains there so that we will know that nothing can separate us from him - not our physical pain, not our spiritual pain, not our emotional pain, not even our sinfulness can keep our Savior from standing beside us, beckoning us home.

We pause in the story now, for Easter is coming, but let us not move too fast through our reflection of this Holy Week in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.