Thoughts going in, Sunday March 29th, Passion/Palm Sunday

Passion/Palm Sunday

Liturgically, the reading of the 'Palm Narrative' gospel has become an entrance rite--not a text for preaching--and the long Passion Narrative is too long to post here. In my circles I occasionally hear debate as to whether or not this is a 'good system,' or if we should simply revert to the 'old way' and allow Palm Sunday to BE Palm Sunday. The thinking is that a long Passion Narrative (and especially its mood) is somehow an encroachment upon Good Friday. Yet, given that only a fraction of the congregation typically attends a Good Friday service, I'm ok with the idea of an extended Passion Narrative kicking off Holy Week.

So, for 'thoughts going in, I'll begin my reflections with a snippet from the Sundays/Seasons folks:

A Different Kind of Bloodline

Combining into one liturgy the "Hosanna!" of the triumphal palm procession and the "Crucify him!" of the passion drama—especially as filtered through Paul's image of the "exalted" slave—invites a meditation on the mystery of Jesus' sovereignty.

How can we Americans or Canadians grasp what it means to have or want a king when we reject the notion that bloodline conveys the right to rule? And yet, thanks to fairy tales, the Arthurian legends, and Shakespeare we have some inkling of the power, privilege, and even "divine rights" of royalty. We can use our imaginations to muster up a rousing "Ride on, King Jesus!" Then we can appreciate the incongruity: this king has to borrow a donkey, a room, and a tomb. Then, even more confounding, is that this king, "who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited" and even borrows our human likeness—including our death (Phil. 2:6).

Judas and Pilate are symbols of all humanity—including the church, to its shame—in their desire for a grand royal gesture: start a revolution, call in your army, dazzle us with eloquent testimony. Jesus resists every such temptation and embraces the mortal human scale of his limited earthly reign.

Jesus prophesied that when he was lifted up all the world would be drawn to him; Philippians proclaims that "every knee should bend" and "every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." So, whose knee will bow at the name of Jesus? All those who, following Jesus and trusting the faithfulness of God, are drawn to attend fully to human life, need, and mortality.

In monarchy, leaders lead by virtue of divine sanction of a particular bloodline. Our fond hope is that leadership is bestowed on the basis of merit, hard work, and authentic charisma. Our cynical fear is that it is bestowed on the basis of money, influence, and cronyism. The witness of Passion Sunday is that Jesus' credential is innocent blood shed in obedience to God for the sake of the broken.

~~

To which, I would add Jesus' credential is the innocent blood of the only begotten Son of God.

On this Sunday there's room for a million different observations--the Passion Narrative is, after all, immensely full. On the other hand, there isn't *time to say much. I'm always struck with the fickle nature of the crowd. They begin by saying HOSANNA, an old Hebrew word meaning save us now, Lord. It's a combination plea, prayer and invitation of God to act in their lives. But then in the span of a few days the cries of HOSANNA turn to CRUCIFY HIM! And so that's what they do... they crucify him. Of course the irony is that in so doing, Jesus is saving them now.

May you have a blessed Holy Week as you meditate on the cross of our Lord and Savior, where the innocent and holy Son of God saves us now.

Cheers,

T.M.

Thoughts going in, Sunday March 22nd, Lent 5

John 12: 20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. 23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Those who love their life will lose it, while those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. 27 "Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. 30 Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

I have often thought of John as the most 'stylized' of all of the gospels...in other words, the gospel in which we can most see the work of the editor's hands. Things are *arranged. Long speeches of Jesus are strung together in such a way that we just don't see in the synoptic gospels. People ask to see Jesus and instead of saying yes, no, or maybe, it launches him into a long speech. This is because from John the editor's perspective it's really not that important whether or not Jesus ever actually meets with them; the important thing was that they came looking for him. To be more precise, it is SIGNIFICANT that GENTILES...came to JERUSALEM... specifically looking for ISRAEL'S MESSIAH. At least metaphorically speaking, all of the Old Testament prophets must've been flipping over in their graves. The great 'in-gathering,' so long foretold, had begun. Note: the most natural reading of vs 20's some Greeks is that they were Gentiles. Keener and others grant that they could've been Diaspora Jews (ethnic Jews living outside the Holy Land) or Gentile converts to Judaism, but agree that the most natural reading is to assume they're Greek Gentiles. Josephus reports that an influx of curious Gentiles during Jerusalem's festivals was a common occurrence. Regardless, the presence of "Greeks" seeking Jesus is akin to Matthew's Magi seeking him. BOTH hark back to the prophetic 'in-gathering.'

That said, I think this passage divides up into several sub-chunks--each of which forms what I would call a "preachable unit," although I have my doubts that a decent (and time-conscious) sermon could take in the whole pericope. My division is as follows:

Vss 20-23: The 'sign' of the Gentiles. Scholars have noted the 'book of signs' organization behind John's gospel. Some think that it was originally a stand-alone work. Regardless, the last of Jesus' signs has occurred. However, in these verses even though the word 'sign' is never used, it seems clear that this is precisely how Jesus interprets the events. Greeks coming to Jerusalem and asking to see the Jewish Messiah is, to Jesus, a 'sign' that his time has come. Note also that for him (in John's gospel) it is not a time to "die," but rather a time to be "glorified"... a time to be "lifted up" for all to see and flow to.

Vss 24-26: These verses constitute a mini-parable intended to comment ('midrash' is the Jewish term) on facts as they're unfolding and the statement made in the previous verses. BEING GLORIFIED (aka dying) in **this case... his case... the Messiah's case... will have the effect that planting a single grain of wheat into the ground has. The result will be a harvest that produces "many seeds" ... all who, in turn, to one degree or another (literally or symbolically) ... also lose their lives for the purpose of gaining more.

Vss 27-30: John goes pretty light on the 'agony' before the cross (as compared to the synoptics). From John's perspective Jesus is totally in control, and the cross is his glorification. Hence, there is no "troubled soul" per se for Jesus in John's view of Gethsemane just before his arrest--but we find it here in this passage instead.

Vss 31-33: "Lifted up" is a favorite term in John. In Lent we hear it twice--last week in Jn 3 when Jesus was talking to Nicodemus and now this week. Clearly Jesus is re-defining crucifixion. Rather than it being a means of cruel Roman torture designed--among other things--to REPEL people.... to DETER people... to remind them of the yoke of cruel bondage they're all under, Jesus redefines the cross [his cross] as a MAGNET that will draw people to it. It's an incredible object lesson that remains pointed even (especially) when stripped of the layers of theologizing that have built up down through the centuries. Strictly taking the evangelist St. John at his word with no theologizing whatsoever, he has it that the God of the universe took on flesh and blood to become one of us... for the precise purpose of letting his Creation "play god" over him; to torture him and brutally execute him... all the while not lifting a finger in his own defense, **OR raising his hand in vengeance after the resurrection. All of this he does in order to be the "Agnus Dei," the lamb of God; the sin-bearer of the whole world... the one who's willing to take the fall for all humanity. The gulf oil spill? It's his fault. Hitler's attempted genocide of the Jews? It's his fault. The Kennedy assassination? It's his fault. Every rape that ever occurred in Central Park? It's his fault. The fact that you stole, or cheated, or lied, or even did something quite heinous... that's his fault too. That's what it means to be the Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The point that John specifically makes in his gospel is that the God of the universe WANTS to do this. He wants to take the fall for you, and me, and all of humanity. He EMBRACES this; he willingly consents to let all humanity PILE ON all their filth upon him...and then be raised up high for all to see. Of course it draws people. Some come to see the spectacle of it all... the God made powerless; but ALL are invited to come, unburden themselves of their filth and pile it upon him. In so doing, the invitation is open to be profoundly changed by this act of Divine Love.... and in turn... to reflect his love in the world where God has placed us.

Cheers,

TM

Thoughts going in, Sunday March 15th, Lent 4

John 3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him." 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 All those who do evil hate the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But those who live by the truth come into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

As usual, given John's Gospel, there is a depth of richness in these words; and the passage itself is densely packed.

The lectionary pops us into a conversation in progress. This is the well-known "Nicodemus at night" passage, where one of the members of the Jewish ruling class comes to Jesus by night with his questions. Nicodemus, the New Testament later tells us, became one of a hand-full of the elite who accepted Jesus as Messiah. Anyway, this Sunday's passage opens with the conversation in progress and with Jesus talking.

Vss 14-15 would make for an interesting sermon all by themselves. As the words of Jesus link himself and his upcoming death to the Moses/snake incident of the Old Testament (Num 21, the OT lesson for the day), the concept of HEALING is irrevocably introduced. Digging deeper, Numbers 21 is fascinating because the people are sick and suffering from the snake bites **precisely because of their own sin. Their sin had brought on the judgment of the snakes. God's divine/parental love, however, brought healing. They needed only to believe the words of Moses and LOOK UP to live. Similarly, we see the divine/parental love operative in John 3. We as humanity are suffering the results of sin. Granted, sin is inherited and we can do nothing to stop it; yet all have most certainly made decisions of the will to wallow in it from time to time. It is many things, including a sickness in need of divine healing.

And then comes VS 16, the so-called "Gospel in a nutshell" and probably everyone's favorite verse. Not to take away from the significance so many people personally attach to this verse, but a couple of things are worth mentioning given the context. The first is to REMEMBER that Numbers 21 is still in the background in terms of the context: the sickness/dying of the people that is occurring because of their own sin. Vs 16 now widens that concept. Turns out its a "cosmic problem," literally. ("for God so loved the cosmos" it says in the Gk). Here again is the image of divine/parental love at work. The cosmos is sick and dying because of sin. A "deadbeat dad" version of the deity might not concern himself. But the heavenly Father is no deadbeat dad. HE LOVES (agape); and HE ACTS; He sends not just *an antidote, but *the perfect and perfectly righteous antidote to the cosmic sin problem. [the people in Num 21 who look up and live... will die another day. Those who "look to" God's Son on the cross for their soul's salvation will live...never perish...even though they die].

The second highly noteworthy aspect of this passage is the absence of direct divine judgment. This is perhaps best seen as a theological truth *highlighted by John the writer. Yet, it seems important to him to stress. God is the SOURCE OF HEALING, not the source of judgment. V17 says the Son was not sent to condemn. This does not mean that there won't be condemnation, however. But what it does mean is that the condemnation that occurs will be the result of self-condemnation. Again, the image of Numbers 21 is informative. Anyone bitten by a fiery serpent need only LOOK UP (faith is implied, obviously). But what of those who are bitten who refuse to look up? Sorry. There's no antidote behind door #2. This is it. The same reasoning applies to John 3. Any and all who look to the cross of Christ in faith are "healed," but those who refuse to "look up" stand SELF-CONDEMNED. There is no antidote... there is no savior standing behind door #2.

As always a common theme in Lent is Baptism, and baptismal RENEWAL. With this reading there is opportunity to highlight renewal; renewal of the cosmos because of Divine agape love; and renewal of our perception of God. After all, images of the 'angry judge' go flying out the window in this passage. I see a child whose carelessness with a baseball has broken an expensive and difficult to repair window; to a certain extent this brings automatic judgment; the judgment of a mess to clean up; the judgment of the outdoors now coming in through the broken window; the judgment of the child having a problem much bigger than his own ability to solve. The absentee deadbeat dad would leave the problem unsolved. The authoritarian judgmental father may spank the child for his carelessness. The loving father repairs what the child has broken and could never repair on his own. Baptismal renewal entails recognition that this is the sort of image Jesus is trying to portray of his heavenly father, .... and his heavenly father is our heavenly father.

Cheers,

TM

Thoughts going in, Sunday March 8th, Lent 3

John 2:13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

            For the 3rd Sunday of Lent our attention turns to a story that is at once both familiar and perplexing. It's familiar because it occurs in all four of the Gospels. 'Study' bibles routinely call this episode the "cleansing of the Temple." Yet as familiar as it is, the story is also perplexing. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? As Keener and other commentators point out, there can be little doubt that the day afterwards, the money-changers and animals were back in their place, tables set back up, and it was business as usual. In that sense, WHAT DID THIS ACCOMPLISH? As if these two questions weren't enough, John complicates things further by placing the event at the beginning of Jesus' ministry rather than at its end. In the Synpotics (Matthew/Mark/Luke) the event happens at the end of Jesus' ministry and is a major contributing factor behind his arrest. In John's Gospel the major contributing factor to his arrest is the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Older commentators used to argue that there were "two cleansings," one at the beginning of his ministry and one at the end. While this may technically not be impossible, it seems highly unlikely. Slavish devotion to absolute chronology does not seem to be a primary concern of the Gospel writers (nor was there an expectation of such among ancient readers of this sort of genre)--and as others have pointed out, a desire to "harmonize" the four Gospels for the purpose of developing an overarching 'metanarrative' always leads to more problems than it solves.

            Rule #1 in Gospel studies is to let each Gospel tell its own story and leave it at that. So, John's Gospel wants the cleansing of the Temple at the beginning; fine. We can handle it. That still gets back to the questions of what does it mean and what did it accomplish?

            Part of the answer will have to take into account that our English translation obscures something that is clearer in the Greek. The above NIV version follows most English translations and has Jesus in the temple courts (Gk. temple = hieron) in vss 14 and 15, but then in vs 19 Jesus says: “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The word in the text, however, is not Gk. hieron; it's Gk. naos (used of the temple at Jerusalem, but only of the sacred edifice, or sanctuary itself, consisting of the Holy place and the Holy of Holies). In other words, a better rendering of vs 19 would be: Destroy this sanctuary, and I will raise it again in three days. There's no getting around the fact that the Jewish authorities still didn't get that he's talking about himself (at this point, how could they, his crucifixion is still 3 years away).... but the original readers of John's Gospel would get it. The temple/hieron itself was a lot of things, but the sanctuary/naos was the point where heaven met earth; it was the Holy of Holies where God accepted the blood of the sacrifice on behalf of his people, declaring them to be in a right/covenant relationship with Him.

            And so, while it is historically a likely conclusion that the day after the event the tables were back in place and the money-changers were back in business, it is theologically correct to say that the dramatic act Jesus engaged in that day was to announce: "There's a NEW NAOS here; There's a NEW SANCTUARY in town." The place of God's dwelling with his people is no longer the old naos/sanctuary. That one is passing away. In contrast, in three short years you will ATTEMPT to make this one also pass away, but I will raise it again in three days, and it will never more fall.

            In other words... yes... it is probably valid to say that Jesus was prophesying in c. 30AD that the Temple/Sanctuary complex would be destroyed by the Romans another 40yrs hence, but that's not the primary thing John is trying to say. It may also be valid to conclude that the fact that Jesus objected to the buying/selling of goods in such close proximity to the high altar of public worship, may have moral/ethical implications for congregations and the buying/selling of things in church... but that's also not John's primary focus. It may even be true that the profiteering that likely took place during these transactions was somewhat predatory in nature to those of the lowest economic strata, and Jesus was objecting to a religious system that preyed on the poor, but that also was not John's primary purpose in relating this event. The thing we're supposed to take from this is the prophetic action announcing the passing of the old.... not in another 40yrs, BUT NOW. The NEW SANCTUARY is here; the new locale of God's PRESENCE with his people is here. TODAY.

            Will we sit up and take notice? That's primarily the Lenten focus this passage is infused with. In our personal lives what/where is our 'sanctuary?' What needs to be turned over and driven out so as to embrace this NEW SANCTUARY? Such a question is baptismal in nature (do you reject sin?). But then again, that shouldn't surprise us... as Lent is, after all, about baptism.

Cheers,

T.M.