Message from the Moderator – Our Story, Our Song: Cross

Our Story, Our Song: Cross

Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Moderator

Throughout the Biblical Story, God repeatedly reminds the people to remember the Story. As God’s people, it is important for us to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith—in good times and in bad times—so we don’t forget who we are and whose we are. When we forget who we are and whose we are, when we fail to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith, we run the risk of allowing our identity and lives to be shaped by the prevailing stories of society. God’s Story must not simply be remembered (recited and heard), it must be re-membered (pieced together and retold ways that connect intimately with our lives), understood, and embodied.

So as we continue to move through this year, I invite you to join me in an ongoing exploration of the overarching Story of God and God’s people—a story that continues to unfold through us today. To provide structure for this journey of remembrance and reflection, I am drawing on The Story of God, The Story of Us: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible by Sean Gladding.

So grab your hymnal and your Bible and join me in exploring the Story that reminds us who we are, whose we are, and who we are called to be and become.

Sing: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 259)

Read: Matthew 21-28; Mark 11-16; Luke 19-24; and John 12-21

This month we reach what many would argue is the climax of the story—the events which we now mark as Holy Week: Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his continuing challenge of the religious authorities, the celebration of Passover with his disciples, his arrest and subsequent trials, his crucifixion, and his resurrection. While there is no doubt that for us, as Christians, these events mark an intense, exciting, and significant turning point in the story of God and God’s people, the word climax also carries with it a connotation of ending. However, the story of God and God’s people does not end with these events. The story continues to unfold in the lives of God’s people. The story lives on in us, the Body of Christ, the incarnational presence of God in this time and this place.  But we’ll come back to that.

With the Passover approaching, as a practicing Jew, Jesus made plans to go to Jerusalem to celebrate as was the custom. Knowing how he had ruffled the feathers of the religious authorities and sensing the rising opposition and antagonism, some of Jesus’ followers urged him not to go. But Jesus was intent on going. He knew what was to come and tried to explain to his disciples why he must go, but they still didn’t fully understand who he was and couldn’t grasp what he was telling them (Matthew 16:21-23; Mark 10:32-34; Luke 18:31-34).  Or maybe it wasn’t a matter of ability, but a matter of will. Maybe they didn’t want to accept what he was telling them because it didn’t fit their image of the conquering Messiah.

Hmmm. I wonder if we are more like the original disciples than we want to admit? I wonder how we cling to some particular stories, words, images of Jesus and discard or ignore others because they make us uncomfortable, because they demand too much of us, or because the “complete” Jesus is just too messy, too complex to fully grasp?

But back to the story. In spite of opposition from the religious authorities, the people were eager to embrace the Messiah—or at least their image of the Messiah. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a humble donkey—in stark contrast to the pomp and power displayed by a Roman official or military leader on a majestic horse—Jesus was welcomed by cheering crowds, proclaiming him the “King of Israel!” (John 12:13). This reception sparked further concern among the religious authorities, concern that was inflamed when Jesus went to the Temple and threw out the money changers in a rare display of righteous anger. As a result of what they perceived as a rising threat to their power and authority, the religious leaders began to form a plan to put an end to Jesus’ challenging ministry.

However, Jesus remained undeterred. While the religious authorities were plotting and scheming, Jesus continued to teach in the Temple, challenging the status quo with the vision of an upside-down kingdom.  Still, some of those closest to him, couldn’t—or wouldn’t—see him for who he really was, even as people who had been marginalized by society recognized and bore witness to his true identity. One evening while eating supper at the home of Simon the leper, a woman approached and anointed him with an entire jar of costly ointment. Some of his disciples questioned her actions, proclaiming them a waste of valuable resources, but Jesus rebuked them, proclaiming that she had prepared him for burial (Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9). Later, in a pivotal moment, Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ disciples, made the decision to betray Jesus.

Later in the week, on the first night of the festival of Unleavened Bread, Jesus gathered with his disciples to celebrate the Passover. As they reclined around the table, sharing the simple and richly symbolic meal, Jesus challenged the disciples by stating that one of them would betray him, causing the disciples to look within and at one another, questioning their commitment. Perhaps it was this moment that gave rise to Paul’s admonition to examine ourselves and make ourselves worthy before approaching the table (1 Corinthians 11:27-28) and our subsequent practice of engaging in a period of examination in preparation for Love Feast.  Betrayal is a strong word. When we engage in that time of self-examination are we truly willing to name our shortcomings for what they are—a betrayal of God’s hope for the world made manifest in Christ?

But this was not the only striking moment of the evening. It was also in the context of this Passover celebration that Jesus knelt and washed the feet of his disciples in an act of cleansing, humility, and service. When once again questioned by one of his disciples about actions that defied social convention, he commanded them to go and do likewise as servant leaders (John 13:12-17). It was at that meal that Jesus also reinterpreted the meaning of the bread and cup traditionally consumed as part of the Passover celebration in light of his life and death, defining a new covenant between God and God’s people marked not by the body and blood of a bull, but by the body and blood of Jesus himself. In addition, before departing the upper room where they had celebrated the Passover, Jesus cared for the future needs of his disciples—those who were in the room with him and those who would follow throughout history—promising them the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide them and offering a prayer of blessing on their behalf.

Then Jesus went out to pray in the garden of Gethsemane by himself, leaving his disciples to watch and wait. It was here that Judas brought the chief priests to arrest Jesus. Peter drew his sword and made an attempt to intervene, but Jesus stopped him. He had come not “to deliver his people at the point of a sword. He had come to bring an end to violence” (Gladding, 189). He was, after all, the Prince of Peace.

What followed over the course of a very long night was a series of beatings interspersed with “four separate trials, each one a farce” (Gladding, 189). First, he was brought before the Sanhedrin, the ruling elders of Israel, where he was asked if he was the Messiah, the Son of God.”  He responded “You say that I am.” And they accused him of blasphemy. The chief priests then took him to the Roman governor, Pilate. Why? Pilate probably had no interest in becoming embroiled in the internal conflict of the Jewish people.  However, only Rome had the power to authorize the death penalty and the religious authorities wanted Jesus dead. In their mind, only death would end the perceived threat to their power. How ironic, since his death made possible the resurrection which expanded Jesus’ sphere of influence far and wide. But let’s not jump ahead. While the Romans could authorize the death penalty, blasphemy was not punishable by death, so the religious authorities made up crimes to make it seem as if Jesus was a threat to the Roman empire. In spite of their accusations, Pilate saw no threat so passed the buck, sending Jesus to Herod. Herod questioned Jesus at great length, but ultimately sent him back to Pilate who was then forced to make a decision. Initially, he told the Jewish authorities that he would have Jesus flogged and released, but they demanded he be crucified.  Pilate again tried to avoid that judgment, offering to release either Barabbas who had been convicted of insurrection and murder or Jesus who he felt was innocent of all charges. The religious authorities incited the crowds to support their cause, so when Pilate offered this choice, the crowd called for Barabbas’ release. To avoid a potential riot, Pilate could do nothing else but release Barabbas and sentence Jesus to death, although he physically and symbolically washed his hands of the matter. In the space of a few short days, the cries of the crowd turned from “Hosanna!” to “Crucify!” I wonder how many of us would have been swayed by the mood of the crowd? It is easy to think we would never have turned against Jesus, but even Peter, who Jesus had named “The Rock”, denied him three times during that long night.

The next morning, Jesus was crucified, an exceptionally brutal form of execution. Pilate had an inscription put on the cross: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” When the chief priests saw this they argued that the inscription should be changed to read: “This man said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’” But Pilate stood by the original inscription (John 19:19-22). Further, at the moment of Jesus’ death, a centurion standing guard proclaimed: “Truly this man was God’s Son!” (Mark 15:39). As was so often the case during his life and ministry, in his death Jesus was recognized for who he was by outsiders even as he was being rejected by his own people.

Following his death, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the High Council, asked Pilate for permission to bury Jesus body.  This was not a simple request. The bodies of criminals were not buried, but left to rot as an example. “Although Pilate had washed his hands of the whole affair, perhaps in this moment he saw the opportunity to spite the Temple elite, who had pushed him too far. Or perhaps he simply believed that Jesus deserved better treatment in death than he gave him in life. Whatever the case, he granted Joseph’s request, and Joseph laid Jesus in a stone tomb” (Gladding, 194).

Following Jesus’ death, the disciples went into hiding, but on the third day after Jesus’ death, the first day of the week, some of the faithful women went to the tomb to anoint his body with spices. When they arrived, they found the stone at the entrance to the tomb had been rolled away and the body was gone. In its place sat two angels. Angels, or cherubim, had previously been tasked with guarding the presence of God in the Holy of Holies in the Temple.  But with the veil ripped in two (which happened mysteriously at the moment Jesus took his last breath), the empty tomb became the Holy of Holies, open to all by the selfless sacrifice of Jesus. The angels reminded the women what Jesus had said about being handed over to the authorities, being killed on a cross, and rising three days later.

As they stepped out into the light, puzzled by what the angels had told them, Mary Magdalene saw someone in the garden. He asked, “Why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” At first, she thought he was the gardener, but when he called her by name, she recognized him and cried out, “Teacher.” He told her to go tell the disciples he was alive. The details of the resurrection accounts vary from Gospel to Gospel; in fact, in the original version of Mark we are told the women “said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (Mark 16:8). However, I prefer the stories recorded in Matthew, Luke, and John, in which Mary went and proclaimed the good news of Jesus’ resurrection.

Today, we are still called to proclaim the good news: “Jesus is alive! He is risen! Death indeed is defeated! Jesus of Nazareth has been vindicated—he is indeed the Son of God, the Christ, the Messiah, the hope of Israel, and of the world! By his death, our sins have been forgiven. And by his resurrection, we have new life, eternal life, life abundant!” (Gladding, 195).

Although this is not the end of the story, it continues in us, with Christ’s resurrection, the story comes full circle: In a garden, on the first day of the week, a new creation took shape. As followers of Christ, are we ready to fully embrace our role as partners with God in giving shape to that new creation?
Sing: Proclaim the Tidings Near and Far (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 282)