Palm / Passion Sunday, 03/28/2010

Sermon on Luke 23:1-49, by Samuel Zumwalt

¹ Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. ²And they began to accuse him, saying, "We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king." ³ And Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And he answered him, "You have said so." ⁴Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no guilt in this man." ⁵But they were urgent, saying, "He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place." ⁶When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. ⁹So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. ¹⁰The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. ¹²And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other. ¹³Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, ¹⁴and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. ¹⁵Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. ¹⁶ I will therefore punish and release him." ¹⁸ But they all cried out together, "Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas"- ¹⁹a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. ²⁰Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, ²¹but they kept shouting, "Crucify, crucify him!" ²²A third time he said to them, "Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him." ²³But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. ²⁴So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. ²⁵He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will. ²⁶ And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸But turning to them Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' ³¹For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?" ³² Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ³³ And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. ³⁵And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!" ³⁶The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine ³⁷and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" ³⁸ There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews." ³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" ⁴⁰But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." ⁴²And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." ⁴³And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." ⁴⁴ It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. ⁴⁷Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, "Certainly this man was innocent!" ⁴⁸And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. ⁴⁹And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

PARADISE v. THE DUMPSTER (PARADISE VERSUS THE DUMPSTER)

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It's easy to make someone else the villain. It's easy to point the finger at those who are obviously wrong. It's easy to judge someone else. The hard part is to see ourselves not in the place of judge but of the accused.

That's what we were starting to get at last weekend when our guest preacher and teacher was Dr. Harry Wendt, founder of the Crossways Bible study series. He pointed out to us the irony in John's gospel that Jesus appears to be on trial before Pilate, but, in fact, it was Pilate whom God's Son Jesus was trying. Today in Luke's story of the crucifixion of Jesus we could say the same thing, only broadening the scope to include everyone in the story, including you and me! We are on trial, because we are guilty of having many gods other than the one true God. We are on trial, because we are guilty of having put to death the innocent Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth.

Luke's point is made obvious by two of the many smaller characters in the drama. The so-called "good" thief on the cross tells his unbelieving crony that Jesus has done nothing wrong (23:41). The Roman soldier overseeing Jesus' crucifixion declares at the moment of Jesus' death: "Certainly this man was innocent" (23:47). The "good" thief admits that he is getting what he deserves. The Roman centurion is not unlike the cop who finds out, after an execution, that he or she put an innocent person on death row.

Now there are many roles that we could try on in this drama. We could ask ourselves how we are like those religious leaders who wanted Pilate to put Jesus to death because he was a threat to their way of life. We could ask ourselves how we are like the Roman governor Pilate who just wants to avoid controversy and straddle the fence politically so as to have the least emotional upheaval. We could ask ourselves how we are like Herod Antipas who didn't have a lot of use for preachers but did have a strange need to see Jesus do magic tricks.

Of course we could ask ourselves how we are like Barabbas, the political revolutionary and murderer, who was more than happy to have God's Son Jesus get nailed to a cross while walking away scot-free. Or we could ask how we are like Simon of Cyrene, modern day Libya, who helped to carry Jesus' cross just so long as it did not mean taking Jesus' place. Or we could ask how we are like the crowds who want Jesus dead or like the crowds of women who want Jesus to live. In forty-nine verses, there are so many roles and so many possible ways to see ourselves in the story of Jesus' crucifixion. The key to the story is to see God's Son Jesus as innocent and to recognize the same cannot be said about any of the other characters or about us.

Throughout his gospel, St. Luke has pictured God's Son Jesus as the friend of sinners, as one who fellowships and even eats with those whom the good religious leaders of that day thought were unclean, people to be avoided at all costs. In the eyes of the elite, Jesus is no innocent, because he threatens their way of life and power. Dr. Wendt told us that perhaps 4,000 people in the sociopolitical and religious elite held tremendous sway over the tens of thousands of ordinary Jews. Theirs was an uneasy peace with the occupying Roman forces. We might even describe this as the politics of realism. But we must note that, in their eyes, Jesus represents a greater threat than the terrorist Barabbas.

Were the thieves on the cross simply habitual criminals who had finally crossed the three strikes and your out line? Or was it that they were more like Barabbas, people whose desire to drive out the Romans was so passionate that they would use any means necessary to accomplish their objective? In short, were they more terrorists than crooks?

We ought to note that St. Luke draws our eyes to the place of the skull, called both Golgotha and Calvary, where we now see the innocent Son of God in human flesh between two men who both deserve what they are getting. We do not know if the place of the skull was so known because it was a rock that looked skull-like or simply because it was the place where the Romans crucified the worst criminals. But there is a yet more moving theological interpretation given to this place!

St. Ambrose the 4^th century bishop of Milan and teacher of St. Augustine, wrote that the cross of Christ was placed above the grave of Adam, so that where death began would be the place where God opened the way to eternal life (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Luke, 360).

Whatever the origin of the place, it is here that King Jesus is crowned with thorns as the guilty try to throw the innocent Son of God out of the world that He has made. And so St. Luke directs our attention to the response of the two guilty men beside Him. One is as fearful and as blasphemous as the crowd who want Jesus dead. Staring death in the face, he can only offer taunts and curses at the innocent Son of God. He is, after all, only headed very rapidly into the dumpster - another loser headed for history's refuse heap.

But the so-called "good" thief, whom Christian tradition has named Dismas, recognizes God's Son Jesus as King even there naked and bloody and mocked and dying. And Dismas views his impending death not as the last cruel injustice in a world of hurt, but as the moment when his whole life can be redeemed and transformed by King Jesus.

Dismas, the penitent thief, says: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus responds, "Today, you will be with me in Paradise," the king's private garden. As my old professor Robert Bertram used to say, death will no longer be a period. King Jesus will transform death into a comma for those who are His friends!

The miracle of grace is that you and I have been crucified with Christ not just like Dismas and his despairing friend. As St. Paul tells the Galatians, "I have been crucified with Christ... [in Holy Baptism]...and now it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me" (2:20).

This is the holiest of weeks, because we have opportunity each day in worship to ponder the mystery of God's great love for us in Jesus Christ and our ever-present daily need to be saved from bondage to sin, death, and evil. So...perhaps the spiritual challenge offered to us by St. Luke is to try on all the roles in the drama of King Jesus' crucifixion. That is why I invite you to attend worship as often as you are able this week...even daily...in order that the wonder of God's great faithful love for sinners like you and me might wash over us in waves of baptismal water.

And as King Jesus feeds us today with His own life in bread and wine, may we be drawn more deeply into the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so that we may become, like Jesus, the friend of those who need the promise of life that goes on forever.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Rev. Samuel Zumwalt
St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Wilmington, North Carolina USA
E-Mail: szumwalt@bellsouth.net

(top)