Some Thoughts and selected verses from Luke 22 and 23

Over the years I have found that people wonder why we don’t just do a full-on celebration of Palm Sunday on this day, like they did when I was a kid.  I think that back then this day was known as Little Easter.  Our new Easter dresses that my mom had sewn were to be worn on Palm Sunday, and I tell you, I was miserable in those dresses.  They were fussy and frilly, and that was not me! 

It’s no wonder that I came into this season with a bit of dread so many years ago.  I have had to allow Palm Sunday and Easter to be reborn for me because my experience as a young person was that we went from the Hosannas of the Palms to the Alleluias of Easter Sunday dressed up in “special” outfits. 

But, here’s the thing, by doing that, the whole devastation of Good Friday and Jesus’ crucifixion was left out.  There is no Easter without Good Friday, no rising without the dying.

            One very clear memory I have as a teenager is that our church had a woman preacher who substituted for our male preacher either on Palm/Passion Sunday or Good Friday.  I can’t remember for sure.  She made the crucifixion VERY graphic in her sermon.  Now, this was the first woman in the pulpit that I had ever experienced, and I admit, she was not a great role model for me.  It had never occurred to me at that time that I would ever receive a call to ordained ministry.  But, because we had been brought up on going from Palm Sunday to Easter, her attempt to preach the whole Gospel was not well-received by me or my family, or the church, to say the least.

            So, some might wonder still, “Why do we have to mix up the celebratory partying with the sad crucifixion stuff on Palm/ Passion Sunday?”  Well, if this holy season is to be meaningful, we need to hear the whole story.  We cannot erase Jesus’ suffering, the betrayal, or the Disciples’ failure to stay with and support their beloved teacher. 

            Now, some of you will be unable to attend Maundy Thursday service when we will observe Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples.  That evening we will experience the stripping of the sanctuary and the draping the altar area in black.  That is why we tell the whole story today.  It will not be in a crude and graphic way but in the way stories should be told, not withholding the sadness and the suffering, or the guilt and the shame.

            It is so very powerful in its completeness, so longing for hope in its despair, so trusting in God despite its darkness.  So I invite you now to walk this lonesome valley, this road to Calvary.  And may God be with you as we begin our Holy Week listening to this morning’s lesson.

Then Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people.  He said to them, “You brought this man before me as one who was misleading the people.  I have questioned him in your presence and found nothing in this man’s conduct that provides a legal basis for the charges you have brought against him.  Neither did Herod, because Herod returned him to us.  He’s done nothing that deserves death.  Therefore, I’ll have him whipped, then let him go.

But with one voice they shouted, “Away with this man!  Release Barabbas to us.”  (Barabbas had been thrown into prison because of a riot that had occurred in the city, and for murder).

Pilate addressed them again because he wanted to release Jesus, but they kept shouting out, “Crucify him!  Crucify him!”

…As they led Jesus away, they grabbed Simon, a man from Cyrene, who was coming in from the countryside.  They put the cross on his back and made him carry it behind Jesus.  A huge crowd of people followed Jesus, including women, who were mourning and wailing for him.  Jesus turned to the women and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me.  Rather cry for yourselves and your children”….

They also led two other criminals to be executed with Jesus.  When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left.  Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” 

…The people were standing around him watching, but the leaders sneered at him, saying, “He saved others.  Let him save himself if he really is the Christ sent from God, the chosen one.”

The soldiers also mocked him.  They came up to him, offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you really are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”  Above his head was a notice of the formal charge against him.  It read “This is the king of the Jews.”

One of the criminals hanging next to Jesus insulted him: “Aren’t you the Christ?  Save yourself and us!”

Responding, the other criminal spoke harshly to him, “Don’t you fear God, seeing that you’ve also been sentenced to die?  We are rightly condemned, for we are receiving the appropriate sentence for what we did.  But this man has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus replied, “I assure you today you will be with me in paradise.”

It was now about noon, and darkness covered the whole earth until about three o’clock, while the sun stopped shining.  Then the curtain in the sanctuary tore down the middle.  “Crying out in a loud voice, Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my life.”  After he said this, he breathed for the last time.

When the centurion saw what happened, he praised God, saying, “It’s really true: this man was righteous.”  All the crowds who had come together to see this event returned to their homes beating their chests after seeing what had happened.  And everyone who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance observing these things.

Now there was a man named Joseph who was a member of the council.  He was a good and righteous man.  He hadn’t agreed with the plan and actions of the council.  He was from the Jewish city of Arimathea and eagerly anticipated God’s kingdom.  This man went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.  Taking it down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid it in a tomb carved out of the rock, in which no one had ever been buried.  It was the Preparation Day for the Sabbath, and the Sabbath was quickly approaching.  The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph.  They saw the tomb and how Jesus’ body was laid in it, then they went away and prepared fragrant spices and perfumed oils.  They rested on the Sabbath, in keeping with the commandment.