Daily Devotions

There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.  Mark 15:40-41

When I entered the seminary, in the fall of 1983, I was fresh out of college.  It did not strike me as unusual that roughly 50% of my class were women.  Fairly quickly I learned that the Lutheran Church in America first ordained a female pastor in November, 1970, followed quickly by the American Lutheran Church in December, 1970.

(I also learned, especially when a male professor had an audience of male students, with a wink and a nod and a bad joke, that there was significant lingering resentment about the long lost days of yore when the seminary was the ultimate good ole boys club before they let women in to play.)

A couple of years ago, when I was working in our synod office, I had the responsibility of putting together teams of people to work on specific projects.  I wanted those teams to reflect reality, which meant that they had to reflect the diversity of people in our synod.  But it was hard to find those voices.  At one point, (in 2009, after 39 years of ordaining women), I looked at the list of clergy in our territory and discovered that only 17% of our pastors were female.

One Sunday I was scheduled to preach at a little church out in the country.  They had lost a previous (male) pastor as a painful consequence of misconduct but had been well served by a gifted (female) interim pastor.  In their search for a new pastor they had identified a strong (female) pastor with great leadership gifts who was willing to come and serve in what promised to be a difficult setting.  They would be voting on her one week later.

I got to the church quite early.  It was just me and the person who unlocked the door and started the coffee.  I went out to the sidewalk as the first car drove into the gravel parking lot.  “Good morning,” I said with a smile as I met the older couple that got the prize for the first people to arrive to church that day.  They smiled back as we exchanged handshakes.

The mood dramatically shifted when I next said, “I hear that you’ll be voting on your new pastor next week.”  The woman’s face darkened when she barked back at me, “Well I wish the Bishop would read his Bible and send us a MAN to be our pastor like the Bible says.”

I honestly can’t remember what I said in return.  I was…flabbergasted.  I was angry.  And I was instantly convicted by how much I take for granted as so many doors magically open for me as a tall white male in a society that continues to struggle against God’s gift of the diversity of creation.

2000 years before, women had played a central role in the life and ministry of Jesus.  Over against the cultural norms of the day, Jesus went out of his way to bless women, heal women, listen to women, serve and be served by women.  Women stood closest to the cross.  Women were the first to the tomb.  Women were listed among the leaders of every church Paul started.

2000 years before, the letter to the Galatians had circulated among Christian communities which included the strong message:  “Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

Oh that such faith would come….

Let us pray:  Dear Lord, our eyes see but are blind.  Our ears hear but are deaf.  We, though all standing together at the foot of the cross, continue our incessant game of divide and conquer.  Thank you for the courage of those who confront us in our blindness and who lead the way in celebrating the gift of diversity.  Thank you for the boldness of their witness and remind us that their work begins anew each day.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”  Mark 15:33-39

Irony, surprise, the unexpected, immediacy – these have been features of how Mark has told the Jesus story from beginning to end.  And now we see all of these in this last moments as Jesus dies on the cross.

At high noon, the brightest time of day, the whole land is reduced to darkness.

At 3:00 PM, the hour of sacrifice in the Jewish Temple, the sacrifice to end all sacrifices dies on the Roman altar of a shameful cross.

Even his last words, a confession of utter godforsakeness, is misunderstood by the crowds who have misunderstood him from the very beginning.

The cup, which Jesus prayed to avoid but drank to the end, was a spongeful of sour wine.

The breath of life, God’s gift to animate Adam, is breathed one last time as the Son of God dies in shame.

But in this death – as the heavens were torn open at his baptism, as the veil separating the heavens and the earth lifted on the mountain of his transfiguration – tears open one last time that screen separating the “God in a box” that was the holy of holies in the majestic Temple.  Never again could God be confined, even in our imaginations, to a man-made space.  Now, revealed once and for all times, God was on the loose as God had always been on the loose.  No longer subject to man’s control, to man’s rejection, or rebellion.  Even to man’s religion.

In this death there is freedom for in this death there is life.  And who should be the first to see Jesus for who Jesus ever will be?  Of course, the most unlikely of all, it is a Roman soldier, the dried blood of Jesus on his hands, who first confesses, “Truly this man was God’s son.”

Let us pray:  Jesus, Lord, Savior, you are life itself.  Though rejected and forsaken, you loved to the very end.  No armies of angels to protect you.  No earthly armies to force you to a throne.  You died.  Our greatest fears, our deepest wounds, were all inflicted on you.  You died for us, that we might live.  Oh that our tongues would confess, and our lives reflect, the lordship of your kingdom of love from now to the end of time.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him. Mark 15:25-32

At some point earlier this year I had the idea of slowly walking through every verse from Mark.  Now that we are nearing the end, I am finding it excruciating.  If nothing else, this exercise will come back to me again and again as we nonchalantly fly through these verses each time we read them on Passion Sunday or Good Friday.

Each morning, I wake up knowing that my daily post deadline is 9:00 AM.  Now I’m reminded that it was 9:00 AM when Jesus was crucified.  Another day at the office for the Roman soldiers.  Another look for us at this grisly scene.

Today in Jerusalem there are two sites associated with the crucifixion.  One, inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, we talked about yesterday.  The other is located in a small park called the Garden Tomb.  Also a “must see” tourist destination, the Garden Tomb site was identified in the 1800’s by a group of people who questioned the traditional site based especially on the account of the crucifixion in the gospel according to John.

If you click on the link and take the virtual tour, you will see that “it’s all there” in the Garden Tomb. It is located outside of the walls of historic Jerusalem.  The site includes the rock formation that looks like a skull, Golgotha.  The tomb with the track for rolling the stone into place.  The Christian inscription in the wall marking a possible ancient worship site.

But best of all, in my opinion, is that it is located right next to the new bus station.

Roman crucifixions weren’t private or secretive.  They weren’t about punishing people; they were all about terrifying everybody else.  Their favorite locations were alongside the main streets heading into an occupied city.  So it was that Jesus was crucified beside two common criminals – all the more likely that it happened along the main road so that all the religious pilgrims entering Jerusalem for Passover would see a crystal clear message about who was the boss in the big city.

2000 years later we still remember this event but…we argue about where it happened just as we argue about what it means.  But this morning, let’s simply hear what it says:

The Savior of the world was rejected by everyone.  There is nothing pretty, romantic, heroic, or edifying in that.  It is simply ugly.

Let us pray:  Dear Lord, our minds are so clouded with pious images and religious cliches that we use to insulate ourselves from the simplicity and tragedy of your death.   We are so quick to see your death “for us” that we utterly disconnect it from our calling to be in the world as you were in the world, and thus to open ourselves to the same kind of self giving, the same kind of courage, the same willingness to take the hard path, the same kind of compassion and love for the lost and the least.  As you died for us, may we die to ourselves.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. Mark 15:21-24

What happens when we bump into Jesus?

Simon of Cyrene had no idea what the day would hold when he got out of bed that morning.  He thought he would be going into the city to celebrate Passover.  He thought he would sing the old prayers, offer the appropriate sacrifices, “get right with God” in the traditional ways, and maybe even spend time with some old friends.

He saw the commotion, the crowds lining the narrow passageway.  He saw the parade.  Maybe he heard a gruff voice call out, “Hey you!”  And then the next thing he knew, he was carrying the crossbar of a crucifixion.  No longer the audience, he had become an actor on the Via Dolorosa.

The Via Dolorosa is little more than a narrow passageway winding its way through the Old City of Jerusalem from the Roman garrison to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  It is the traditional path marking the journey to the cross.  Today it is lined with shops, stores, apartments, occasionally opening into larger squares at the intersections and always full of crowds of tourists.

Along the way, nine stations of the cross tell the story of Jesus as he made his way to the place of crucifixion.  The fifth station remembers Simon of Cyrene. Five final stations lie within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a huge cathedral with many chapels, including the traditional sites of the cross and the tomb.

One of the great ironies of this place is the Christian in-fighting that has always marked the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  Because the various Christian sects who laid claim to sites within the church couldn’t get along, the Arab conqueror Saladin entrusted the key to the Muslim Nuseibeh and Joudeh families.  For over 800 years, a Muslim opens the church door at dawn and locks it again at 8:00 pm.

Amazing, isn’t it?  Given all the anger, the division, and war, between Christians, Jews, and Muslims through the years, right there at the epicenter of the Christian faith, in a Jewish City, a Muslim opens the doors every day.  They co-exist in peace.  The lion lies down with the lamb.

And yet we continue to seek Jesus in the wood and rocks of relics and churches – and fail to see him in the pilgrims.

What happens when you bump into Jesus?  You never know…but it might involve carrying a cross that you didn’t see coming.

Let us pray:  Dear Lord, as Moses lifted up the snake high in the wilderness, that all who looked upon it might live, so too we see you lifted up high for all to see.  In the pain and horror of your death, may we see the path that leads to life and may your love support us along the way.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. Mark 15:16-20

Now the soldiers go on trial.  Guilty!

Mark tells us that they gathered the whole cohort.  While this might be an exaggeration (a cohort could include nearly 500 soldiers and Jerusalem was a busy place during Passover), it emphasizes Jesus’ powerlessness.  He is all the more alone given the sheer number of soldiers who are doing everything they can to humiliate him.

We see them, don’t we?  We remember the gang of bullies surrounding that day’s victim on the playgrounds of our elementary schools.  We’re read of the horrors of concentration camps.  We’ve seen torture scenes in movies and television shows.  Whether we want to or not, we think of Abu Ghraib and secret “detention centers” and it sickens us to see what happens when people tear others apart.

I exchange letters with people I know who are in prison.  I’ve been a volunteer chaplain in a prison.  I know there is a vast difference between the myths people on the outside carry about how prisoners are treated and the realities on the inside.  Prison guards have very difficult jobs.  They are not well paid.  They are most often the conduits for contraband.  They can take their frustrations out on the prisoners in cruel and demeaning ways.  There is nothing pretty or romantic about that.

We imagine this scene – a bloodied Jesus surrounded by cruel men, all the more cruel as the “crowd effect” kicks in as they dehumanize and debase him.  They cover the open wounds on his back with a royal purple cloak.  They dig thorns into his head.  They laugh as they kneel before him, oblivious to the irony that they are in fact kneeling at the feet of the King of kings.  Then they tear the cloak off his back, re-exposing his whipped back to the pain of the air.

And then, as they had so many other times, in so many other places, to so many other nameless faceless sacrificial lambs, they led Jesus out to crucify him.  They have had their fun with him.  Now it is back to work.  Another day, another dead body.

Let us pray:  Dear Jesus, as we listen again to this darkest of times, as we walk so slowly through these last days, strip away the veneer that protects us from what this story is really saying.  Expose in us the depth of the brokenness of sin, of cruelty, of pain, that our rejection of you and of your way of being in the world creates.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. Mark 15:6-15

Now the trial shifts to the crowd.  Guilty!

It is the crowd that asks Pilate to release Barabbas.  The crowd shouts, “Crucify him!”  The crowd that has no answer to the question of what exactly Jesus is guilty of and deserving death for.  The crowd then takes responsibility off the shoulders of Pilate – which ever remains the quickest and easiest way for politicians to shirk responsibility in their offices…just do what the electorate wants rather than what is good, right, and true…whether the electorate wants it or not.

Pilate isn’t interested in keeping the peace (the presence of justice); he just cares about keeping the peace (an orderly crowd.)  Like Bill Cosby would say about parents, “We aren’t interested in peace and justice, we just want peace and quiet.”

So Jesus is flogged and handed over to the executioners.  (Such an antiseptic word, “flog”, for the inhuman practice of skillfully tearing the flesh off a defenseless person’s back.  This practice still happens around the world today and it still remains an arrogant, humiliating, abusive practice of the powerful imposed on the powerless rather than a tool of justice.)

No one speaks up for Jesus.  No one shouts to shout down the crowd.

The  crowd chooses a murderer over the Savior.

Ironic, isn’t it, that even the decision to condemn Jesus meant freedom for the condemned?

Let us pray:  Lord, you were scorned, rejected, yet with your stripes we are healed.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.” Then the chief priests accused him of many things. Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.  Mark 15:1-5

Now we come near to the end…of the new beginning.

The religious leaders, having held Jesus overnight, hand him over to Pilate.  Why?

They were under no obligation to do so.  Even though the Romans, as an occupying force, were the political powers-that-be, the religious leaders had no reason to turn Jesus over to them.  Their charges against Jesus, that he, according to them, falsely claimed to be the Messiah, were religious charges.  Their “problem” was heresy, not sedition against the government.  The religious leaders weren’t in the business of propping up or protecting the Roman government, so why hand Jesus over?

The Old Testament law was pretty clear. Deuteronomy 13:6-11 and 17:2-7 both outline the punishment fit for someone who leads others into false belief, into idolatry.  They are to be stoned to death.  The religious leaders could have carried that out and Rome wouldn’t have given them a wink.

As for the idea that the Jewish law had no provision for “hanging someone from a tree” or crucifixion, it actually did.  Deuteronomy 21:22-23 gives instruction on how to handle the body of someone executed for a capital crime and hung on a tree.  Such a practice, the public display of a dead body, performed the same function for both the ancient Israelites as it did for the Romans – it was a warning to the people as a whole not to step out of line or to get in the way of power.

So why didn’t the religious leaders just kill Jesus themselves and be done with it?

Perhaps because Jesus wasn’t really the one on trial.  Perhaps the real reason is that the ones truly on trial in all of this is all of us.  We who either enjoy the privileges of the powerful or suffer under them or both.  We who continue to seek salvation under religious systems and political systems that deal in death, division, greed, and power for the sake of power rather than power in pursuit of justice.

Thus does Jesus simply hand the charge back to Pilate – You say so – and then refuses to defend himself (Isaiah 53).   The sheep is now led to the slaughter.

Let us pray:  Dear Lord, you came among us to teach us the power of love, to cut through our defenses of position and class and gender and all that divides us.  You fed the hungry, healed the hurting, and sought nothing for yourself.  For that you were rejected and are rejected still.  As we follow you through these last days, open our eyes to see what you would have us see, to learn what you would have us learn.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” But he denied it, saying, “I do not know or understand what you are talking about.” And he went out into the forecourt. Then the cock crowed. And the servant-girl, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.” But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about.” At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.  Mark 14:66-72

Who among us has not been there?

Who among us, seemingly firm in our faith and our convictions, has not wilted when given opportunity to “stand up, stand up, for Jesus”?  Who among us, when caught between “what would God think?” and “what would the neighbors think?” hasn’t done the math and quickly tallied that God is far more forgiving than our neighbors.  After all, we still have to live with those people….so we wilt.

Peter followed Jesus to the courtyard.  He was right there among the soldiers.  As long as he kept quiet he was safe.  Maybe he heard the muffled roars, the jeers and catcalls, maybe even the sickening snap of a whip or the thud of a fist.  We can feel the flush of Peter’s face, the churning of his stomach, the lead weight of his feet settling hard upon his soul.

“You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”

That was all it took.  The soft voice of a servant girl.  Just that – to draw attention to Peter, to make his presence public.  That was his chance to stand up for his Lord.  To keep his promise to follow unto death.  The oath that HE would NEVER deny Jesus.

The comedian, Ron White, telling the story of being arrested said, “They gave me the right to remain silent but they didn’t give me the ability.”

Peter didn’t remain silent.  He spoke up.  First quietly, then defiantly, he denied knowing Jesus.  All it took was fear.

So the story goes.  From here on out the disciples will watch from a distance.  They will watch their dreams die.  Their hopes fade.  Fear will take over and win the day.  There will be, for them and for us, only one hope left.

Let us pray:  Gracious Lord, we confess we have sinned against you by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.  We have not loved you with our whole heart.  We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.   We have not spoken up in the face of evil and injustice.  We have quietly taken more than our fair share.  We have worried more about what the neighbors would think about us than who you call us to be and what you call us to do.  You are innocent, we, guilty as charged.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

They took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled. Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” But even on this point their testimony did not agree.

Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?” But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’”

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?” All of them condemned him as deserving death. Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” The guards also took him over and beat him. Mark 14:53-65

The legal guidelines of the Old Testament could not be more clear. Deuteronomy 17:6 is crystal clear: “On the evidence of two or three witnesses the death sentence shall be executed; a person must not be put to death on the evidence of only one witness.” as is Deuteronomy 19:15, “A single witness shall not suffice to convict a person of any crime or wrongdoing in connection with any offense that may be committed. Only on the evidence of two or three witnesses shall a charge be sustained.” 

Thus, ALL of the people who should have rightly known better, as Mark tells us that the high priest were joined by ALL the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes, were wrong.  Their power, authority, education, standing, experience – everything that they had going for them – was flushed for the sake of a mock trial intent on doing nothing but trumping up charges to remove a troublemaker.

THEY, not Jesus, were the ones on trial.  And soon Peter would join them.

My whole life I have been taught that Jesus “died” for my sins as if what happened there was Jesus carefully orchestrating an act of theological suicide in order to appease a God thirsty for the same kind of blood vengeance against sin that Jesus’ captors demanded of him.  But now I see things differently.

Now I read this story and I see it for what it is.  Jesus was unjustly murdered and that by the key power structures of religion, government, and an unthinking crowd driven only by the same dynamic that picks on kids who are “different”, that slows down traffic to gawk at accidents, that produces movies and games that glorify violence, that resents the “poor” because they get what they don’t “deserve”, or resents the “rich” because they do.  It is our idolatry, our greed, our jealousy, our willingness to turn a blind eye to the abuse of power and privilege; THIS is what drives Jesus to the cross.

It isn’t pretty.  It isn’t right.  It is called “sin” and it is the universal plague into which we have all been born.  No one is righteous, no not one.

Except for Jesus.  The one who fed the hungry, healed the sick, sat at table with surprising guests lists, and called us to do things (like loving our enemies rather than killing them) which make us very very uncomfortable.  And yet truly his is the only path to a better world.

Let us pray:  Dear Lord, it is hard to watch this play out.  To imagine your arrest.  To imagine you beaten and humiliated and standing before a crowd that is telling lies about you.  And yet we know that this happens again and again.  People abuse power far too often.  The innocent are beaten, often simply for the courage to stand up against unjust authority.  We know this is the sin of the world which you took upon your shoulders.  May watching you fill us with fresh resolve to act justly, to love kindness, and to walk more humbly in our lives.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” So when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. Then they laid hands on him and arrested him.

But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.” All of them deserted him and fled.  A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked. Mark 14:43-52

Now comes the arrest.  Led by Judas, a crowd arrives with swords and clubs.  The kiss of betrayal, the feeble attempt to protect Jesus.  Jesus being led away while those who followed him fled.  We’ve seen this before.

I know how we usually read this arrest scene.  We focus on “let the scriptures be fulfilled” and move on to the rest of the story.  Perhaps we can learn something new from it if we slow down and look at it again.

We’ve seen such scenes before.  The chief priests, scribes, and elders are all good men.  People love them.  They have positions of honor and authority.  They aren’t evil but they, in falsely arresting Jesus with intent to do him in, are doing a very evil thing.

We’ve seen this before.  We saw it in lynch mobs stringing up a black kid for looking at a white woman.  We saw it in all of those old Westerns when the posse was sent out, not always after the guilty.  We have seen it it movie after movie, from “To Kill a Mockingbird” to “Beauty and the Beast.”  We might even have done this when beating up another kid on a schoolyard.  The “crowd effect” can be a powerful force for evil in our world.

Phillip Zimbardo wrote a book in 2007 called “The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil.”  On his website (www.lucifereffect.com) he writes:  “I offer a psychological account of how ordinary people sometimes turn evil and commit unspeakable acts. As part of this account, The Lucifer Effect tells, for the first time, the full story behind the Stanford Prison Experiment, a now-classic study I conducted in 1971. In that study, normal college students were randomly assigned to play the role of guard or inmate for two weeks in a simulated prison, yet the guards quickly became so brutal that the experiment had to be shut down after only six days.”

“How and why did this transformation take place, and what does it tell us about recent events such as the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses in Iraq? Equally important, what does it say about the ‘nature of human nature,’ and what does it suggest about effective ways to prevent such abuses in the future?”

I think he is on to something important here.  Yes, Jesus was arrested by an angry crowd intent on doing him in.  Yes, this is clearly connected to his mission and his willingness to love us to the end.  And yes, his friends deserted him.  Yes, all of that is there.

But so is the reality that the “crowd effect” can lead us to unspeakable horrors, to doing and saying things that we would never otherwise do or say.  But that same “crowd effect” can also lead us to do good.

We would do well to learn what makes the difference.

Let us pray:  Dear Lord, for us you were arrested.  For us you were taken away.  For us.  We listen to the accounts of your friends betraying and deserting you.  We know we want to do better.  Help us tell the difference.  Grant us the faith which silences our fears.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.