Sunday 24 March 2013

Background

It is the practice in many churches to read the whole of thestory of Jesus' passion and death on the Sunday before Easter. Thestory is powerful and even overwhelming when read in this way.Today we are focusing on the second half of the account in Luke'sGospel which covers Jesus' trial and death.

A group of Jesus' friends stood back from the crowd watching thecrucifixion. In the group were the women who had been close toJesus. What does Luke's Gospel tell us about what the womensaw?

• They saw the consequences of a massive miscarriage of justice.Jesus is innocent and condemned because of the weakness of Herodand Pilate (verses 1-12). Mob rule won the day (verses 13-25). Whatwe read about the trial and death of Jesus is like the plot of apsychological thriller unfolding. The innocent main character,Jesus, is unable to make people hear what he is saying. It isdeeply frustrating to watch the performances of the othercharacters: Herod, Pilate, the crowd, the soldiers and thecriminals on the crosses next to Jesus - they all got it sowrong!

• They saw Jesus heading for what looked like failure and defeat.At every turn Jesus was let down by his friends, by the politiciansand by his peers. Things were not working out in the way peopleclosest to him had hoped they would.

• They saw and heard Jesus' response to this massive injustice.As he hung dying on the cross he said, "Father forgive them; forthey do not know what they are doing" (v. 34).

• They saw the centurion who stood at the foot of the cross andobserved all that was said and done and heard him say, "Certainlythis man was innocent." (v. 47).

What they were witnessing was the coming of God's kingdom onearth and in heaven, exactly how Jesus said it would.

To Ponder

• What miscarriages of justice are you seeing or hearing abouttoday? In what ways does this part of the story of Jesus' arresttrial and death speak into what is happening now?

• Abide with this story, allow it to fill your imagination: whatnew insights into Jesus' passion and death are you noticing?