Isaiah 62:11-63:7/Revelation 1:5b-7/St Luke 22-23
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
On Monday we heard from St Peter: He himself bore our sins in His body on the Tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (1 Pt 2:24-25).
St Peter is referencing Isaiah, from whom we shall read on Good Friday. And the word he used, often translated as “stripes” in the King James Version or “wound” in the English Standard Version, is actually in the singular. It is the word for wound or welt. A deep gash. The Roman lash was a mop head of leather straps embedded with bits of bone and metal. Our Lord’s back wasn’t striped with many different cuts. It was one giant open wound. Even if they hadn’t crucified Him it is likely that He would have died from the scourging.
What sort of evil could cause one man to do that to another? No man, no matter how evil, would do this to a dog or any animal. And then, having opened His back in this way, as He is bleeding and dying in complete agony in front of you, to take Him to the barracks, slap Him, and push a crown of thorns down upon His head. How is this sort of cruelty even possible?
Now consider this: one way of reading the Passion Narrative according to St Matthew from Palm Sunday is in three parts. A narrator, the pastor reading the words of Jesus, and you, the congregation, reading the shouts of the crowds. We’ve never done it. But it is quite poignant. You greet your coming King with shouts of Hosanna; palm branches in your hands. The triumphal entry is played out before your eyes of faith. Then, you take upon your lips and in your mouths, the vengeful cries of the priests, the pettiness of the crowds, the feigned allegiance to Caesar and the cursed, Let His blood be upon us and our children!
What sort of evil could cause a man to do that to another man? The sort that exists within each of us. Evil that proceeds from the heart and defiles a man. Evil that is inherited down the generations through the sickly family tree of your first father, Adam. As we go into the Triduum, the three days, do not hear the passion narratives and presume that “they” killed our Lord; we did. You crucified Jesus.
Our Lord has warned the crowds, You are of your father the devil and your will is to do your father’s desires (Jn 8:44). Pilate delivered Jesus over to their will, St Luke records; Barabbas goes free and Jesus is condemned. Barabbas is a generic sort of name. It means, “son of a father.” He is known as an insurrectionist and murderer. In modern terms we would call him a terrorist. Yet even that is almost too tame. He is a serial killer, a rapist, the cause and perpetrator of the Holocaust. He is whatever is most repulsive in mankind.
As this generic sort of character with this theologically insightful name, he is the everyman. He is the who world. Barabbas is you, “a son of a father,” Adam. The devil. But you are set free and the innocent Son of the Father is condemned. For this is our Lord’s passion: you; your salvation.
While the disciples argue about who is the greatest at the Table, the Greatest among them, God in the flesh, stoops down to wash their feet, serve them bread and wine, His Body and Blood, and proceeds to suffer the desecration of the Cross in order to make them true sons again, children of the heavenly Father. This is His passion. You are His passion.
He is slandered and ridiculed for men who desert and flee from Him in His hour of need. He is forsaken by the Father for the one who betrays Him. He bleeds for those who scourge Him. He is crucified for those who cry for His death. He is the Substitute for the disciples, for Judas, Pilate, the priests, Barabbas, the thieves and centurions. What sort of love could cause a Man to do that for another man? This is His passion. You.
He takes your place under the Law. He is your Substitute. The centurion understood this when he praised God and confessed, Certainly this Man was righteous! Surely this Man was the Son of God! He willingly lays down His life for you, for you sons of a father, either Adam or the devil, so that He can make you His again, sons of your Father in heaven who loves you; who has freed you from your sins by the blood of His Son and made you a kingdom and priests.
He has procured your salvation. He is your Substitute and your Atoning Sacrifice. You are His holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, sought out, and not forsaken. He comes in the garments of His vindicated righteousness and brings His reward with Him. This is His compassion. He who suffered for you - His passion - also suffers with you - His compassion, as Isaiah spoke. This is His deep mercy, His sheer grace, His ransoming of sinners and rebels. Pilate rejected this. So did Judas and most of the Sanhedrin; even so, they will see Him and wail.
Yet to you, elect of God in Christ, the joy of His passion and suffering, the recompense of His agony, the reward of His sacrifice, behold your crucified and risen King and rejoice. He has become your Salvation.
It is a strange story, full of sad events, but in this way the Scripture is fulfilled. Satan is cast out. The cherubim guarding paradise are removed. Here is the great mystery: the evil lust of the crowd and the will of the Father are one. The Father and the Son desire that the thief go to paradise, that sinners be given a place in heaven and become sons of the Father by grace. The beloved Son was willing to give up His rightful place to make room for you. The Father forsook the Son for Barabbas, for Pilate, for Caiaphas. He forsook the Son for you. You are His passion.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
On Monday we heard from St Peter: He himself bore our sins in His body on the Tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (1 Pt 2:24-25).
St Peter is referencing Isaiah, from whom we shall read on Good Friday. And the word he used, often translated as “stripes” in the King James Version or “wound” in the English Standard Version, is actually in the singular. It is the word for wound or welt. A deep gash. The Roman lash was a mop head of leather straps embedded with bits of bone and metal. Our Lord’s back wasn’t striped with many different cuts. It was one giant open wound. Even if they hadn’t crucified Him it is likely that He would have died from the scourging.
What sort of evil could cause one man to do that to another? No man, no matter how evil, would do this to a dog or any animal. And then, having opened His back in this way, as He is bleeding and dying in complete agony in front of you, to take Him to the barracks, slap Him, and push a crown of thorns down upon His head. How is this sort of cruelty even possible?
Now consider this: one way of reading the Passion Narrative according to St Matthew from Palm Sunday is in three parts. A narrator, the pastor reading the words of Jesus, and you, the congregation, reading the shouts of the crowds. We’ve never done it. But it is quite poignant. You greet your coming King with shouts of Hosanna; palm branches in your hands. The triumphal entry is played out before your eyes of faith. Then, you take upon your lips and in your mouths, the vengeful cries of the priests, the pettiness of the crowds, the feigned allegiance to Caesar and the cursed, Let His blood be upon us and our children!
What sort of evil could cause a man to do that to another man? The sort that exists within each of us. Evil that proceeds from the heart and defiles a man. Evil that is inherited down the generations through the sickly family tree of your first father, Adam. As we go into the Triduum, the three days, do not hear the passion narratives and presume that “they” killed our Lord; we did. You crucified Jesus.
Our Lord has warned the crowds, You are of your father the devil and your will is to do your father’s desires (Jn 8:44). Pilate delivered Jesus over to their will, St Luke records; Barabbas goes free and Jesus is condemned. Barabbas is a generic sort of name. It means, “son of a father.” He is known as an insurrectionist and murderer. In modern terms we would call him a terrorist. Yet even that is almost too tame. He is a serial killer, a rapist, the cause and perpetrator of the Holocaust. He is whatever is most repulsive in mankind.
As this generic sort of character with this theologically insightful name, he is the everyman. He is the who world. Barabbas is you, “a son of a father,” Adam. The devil. But you are set free and the innocent Son of the Father is condemned. For this is our Lord’s passion: you; your salvation.
While the disciples argue about who is the greatest at the Table, the Greatest among them, God in the flesh, stoops down to wash their feet, serve them bread and wine, His Body and Blood, and proceeds to suffer the desecration of the Cross in order to make them true sons again, children of the heavenly Father. This is His passion. You are His passion.
He is slandered and ridiculed for men who desert and flee from Him in His hour of need. He is forsaken by the Father for the one who betrays Him. He bleeds for those who scourge Him. He is crucified for those who cry for His death. He is the Substitute for the disciples, for Judas, Pilate, the priests, Barabbas, the thieves and centurions. What sort of love could cause a Man to do that for another man? This is His passion. You.
He takes your place under the Law. He is your Substitute. The centurion understood this when he praised God and confessed, Certainly this Man was righteous! Surely this Man was the Son of God! He willingly lays down His life for you, for you sons of a father, either Adam or the devil, so that He can make you His again, sons of your Father in heaven who loves you; who has freed you from your sins by the blood of His Son and made you a kingdom and priests.
He has procured your salvation. He is your Substitute and your Atoning Sacrifice. You are His holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, sought out, and not forsaken. He comes in the garments of His vindicated righteousness and brings His reward with Him. This is His compassion. He who suffered for you - His passion - also suffers with you - His compassion, as Isaiah spoke. This is His deep mercy, His sheer grace, His ransoming of sinners and rebels. Pilate rejected this. So did Judas and most of the Sanhedrin; even so, they will see Him and wail.
Yet to you, elect of God in Christ, the joy of His passion and suffering, the recompense of His agony, the reward of His sacrifice, behold your crucified and risen King and rejoice. He has become your Salvation.
It is a strange story, full of sad events, but in this way the Scripture is fulfilled. Satan is cast out. The cherubim guarding paradise are removed. Here is the great mystery: the evil lust of the crowd and the will of the Father are one. The Father and the Son desire that the thief go to paradise, that sinners be given a place in heaven and become sons of the Father by grace. The beloved Son was willing to give up His rightful place to make room for you. The Father forsook the Son for Barabbas, for Pilate, for Caiaphas. He forsook the Son for you. You are His passion.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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