Now the men who were holding Jesus
began to mock him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and kept
asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” They kept
heaping many other insults on him.66When day came, the assembly of
the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered
together, and they brought him to their council. They said, “If you
are the Messiah, tell us.” He replied, “If I tell you, you will
not believe; and if I question you, you will not answer. But from now
on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of
God.” All of them asked, “Are you, then, the Son of God?” He
said to them, “You say that I am.” Then they said, “What
further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own
lips!” Luke 22:63-71
My friend, Ben, who is the pastor of a local Christian church, recently told me this story:
A couple of weeks ago, a church member of his passed away on her 89th
birthday. They were gathered around the graveside and the service had
formally ended and Ben decided to improvise a bit. It's a dangerous
thing for ministers to improvise. Improvising means there's a chance
that something bad or good will happen. Improvising means there's a
chance God shows up.
Ben continued his story: “The service
formally ended and then it happened, I asked if anyone would like to
share a word. It was unplanned but seemed to be the right thing to
do.” Ben went on to say that the woman's 52 year old son with down
syndrome opened his mouth and said, “I just want to say one thing.”
He paused and everyone waited, wondering what he would say, if he
would have been able to speak. And then it happened. He sang, “Happy
Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you.” As the second line ended
the 30 some gathered joined in.1
In that moment something beautiful
happened.
It seems like we were just beautifully
singing “Hosanna” and suddenly we find ourselves standing the
presence of Jesus and in the presence of the chief priests. We see
Jesus being struck and mocked. We see him being questioned. We see
something monstrous happening and there is nothing we can do about
it. Jesus does nothing to defend himself. He goes willing with the
soldiers when the arrest him in the garden. He stands there willing
and takes the abuse, mockery, false witnesses, and angry mob without
once raising his hand or voice to defend himself.
When asked if he is the Christ, he
replies in riddles, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if
I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man
will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”
No parables of the end times. No
cursing a fig tree and using the moment as a lesson. No confession of
Peter, who is out in the courtyard denying to know this Jesus. No
healing, no miracles, no feedings, no walking on water, no calming
the storm, nothing but answering when asked, “Are you then the Son
of God?” “You are right in saying I am.”
Something tragic is happening.
We have a tendency to romanticize these
events. We try to water it down by saying that Jesus is going
through all of this for us. While I believe that to be partly true, I
feel that we miss what is really going on. I feel we miss seeing
something beautiful in this tragic moment. We miss seeing God making the world right. We
miss seeing God take the very worst of us and making something new
out of it. At this moment in our story we should hear God say as God
said in Genesis, “I will wipe away all humankind for I am grieved
that I have made them.” or as God said in Exodus, “Now leave me
alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy
them.” But we do not.
We do not hear God's anger or feel
God's wrath. The trembling of the ground and the thunder when Christ
takes his final breath is all we hear or feel of God. We miss God's
amazing work when we romanticize this part of our Christian story. We
cheapen what it is happening when we make all about us. The truth is,
this is not about us. This is about making what is wrong in the world
right again. It is about showing us the true meaning of the kingdom
of heaven. It is about breaking every barrier, tearing down every
wall, and unbinding every strand that holds this world captive to a
way of life that is death giving.
The kingdom of heaven is breaking in
through this tragic moment. The world is changing before our very
eyes in this story. Something beautiful is happening in this tragic
moment. Let us not miss it because we are too eager to get to the
good part. Let us lose ourselves in the tragedy with the faith of
Christ in the hopes of what is to come.
A crowd stares at me
Waiting to hear words
Some magic words
I might say
Words to appease the soul,
Words to calm the mind
Words to open the heart
And ease the eyes.
There are no words today
That can sum what is
There is tragedy in the air
As fists come across your face
Beaten and bloody you stand
Accused before others
You refuse to defend
It's clear something tragic is
happening
What are we to see
Through the blood stained tears
Is something new breaking through
The midst of this tearful moment
The kingdom of heaven is breaking in
We are being told
How can such a beautiful thing
be seen
From such a horrific cross
Oh God, what is it that we might see
In this tragic moment
Is something beautiful happening
Is something beautiful happening
In this tragic moment
1Ben
Moore, “Generous, Holy, Beautiful”
http://heisntwearinganythingatall.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/generous-holy-beautiful/
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