Luke 23
Undermining our law and order, forbidding taxes to be paid to Caesar, setting himself up as Messiah-King...Stirring up unrest among the people with his teaching, disturbing the peace everywhere...dangerous, endangering the peace...Pilate passes the buck to Herod. Herod wanted to see Jesus do something spectacular. Jesus was silent, which offended the one expecting to be wowed by him. Herod and Pilate unite, for the first time, in the cause against Jesus. You brought him here on a charge (disturber of the peace) that I don't see evidenced (you're setting me up!). Kill him. Crucify him. Pilate gave Jesus to the crowd to do whatever they wanted to him.
Gut-wrenching scene. Political chaos and anarchy. Disappointment with alleged leaders. Kill them! Crucify them! Interesting text to read on election day. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Herod and Pilate were enemies, yet united against Jesus, they become friends.
The proverbial lynch mob, worked up in a furor, heading to hang/crucify/inject/electrify/kill (does the method really matter?) the one whom they have united against. "Thou shall not kill."
"But I tell you this, even your words kill...you've done it."
Jesus: "Don't cry for me; cry for yourselves and for your children..."
Two others taken along with Jesus for crucifixion. I've never seen that nuance. Always assumed the others were simply...there. Crucified all three at the same time, according to Luke.
"Father, forgive them; they don't know what they are doing." What if that became our prayer in matters of political division?
Mob violence. As old as time, as old as humanity.
Casting lots for his clothing, making fun of him, adding to the already debasing humiliation of being crucified, put to death at the hands of people who had followed you, received healing through you, denied you, remained silent...Lord, forgive me for my participation and silence.
"Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom." Please?
Total blackout for 3 hours. "Father, I place my life in your hands."
How do we deal with the violation of life? What's wrong with the world? These questions arise at the death and burial of Jesus scene. There is something terribly wrong, and this wrong isn't a working out of cause and effect, or of the way things are. Jesus, born of a virgin, died on a cross--there's no logical connection between those two facts. How do we find our place in history in the midst of that disconnect?
"This man was innocent! A good man, and innocent!" Overcome with grief-went home.
Joseph of Arimathea hadn't gone along with the plans. He asked for Jesus' body and cared for it. Women followed him to the tomb, and rested quietly on the Sabbath, they prepared burial spices and perfumes.
Philemon 1
Believing in Jesus involves Philemon and Oneisimus, the slave owner and slave, in radical social change. That's not uncommon; believing in Jesus did bring social change and does bring radical social change. May that movement be so into the future.
Paul was in jail with Oneisimus, Philemon's slave. He discipled him and taught him the faith. He's useful to me, and has been useful to you. You're getting him back, not as a slave but as a true Christian brother. Welcome him as you would me, not as servant/slave, but as brother. I'll pay his debts if he owes any. I will be coming soon, too. Paul was a father in Christ to both Philemon and Oneisimus, which is the point of his appeal that they now be as brothers. Redemption story.
"Escape from slavery was punishable by legal authority, for the entire economy of the empire was based on the system of slavery."
In his letter, Paul thanked God that Philemon was a man who recognized the connection between love for God and love for men/neighbor. Paul was laying the ground work to engage Philemon in a new kind of Christian action. Have you been like Oneisimus, running away from God, placing spiritual distance between you and God? Have you found Christ, who provides forgiveness, acceptance, love, release from guilt and fear and estrangement? When you find yourself accepted and restored so completely, you'll become useful to God and to others--accepting them, loving them, and forgiving them.
Do you feel like a restored runaway? Or are you still running? Or haven't you realized that you have been received home? How do you greet returning runaways?
No comments:
Post a Comment