Sunday Sermon 4/1/12

The Bible has moved through very difficult readings to Palm Sunday. There is no break today in the description of Christ's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, His betrayal and death. In Mark, the events are described with Christ as a presence but not as a personality. He is fulfilling the prophesies that He himself has made. There are no surprises for Him, so much so that He includes a specific reference to Psalm 21/22 (‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which is translated, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Mark 15:34; Matthew 27:46) is a direct quotation from Psalm 22:1.) It is the only phrase Christ says in the Passion that appears in more than one Evangelist. (There is an interesting--and presumably heretical--different translation by a Aramaic scholar named Lamsa that says "My God, my God, for this [purpose] I was spared!"--or "This is my destiny.")

Nor is there drama. The conflict is over.

Why would Christ quote the Psalms at His death? To pull the Old and New Testament together? To emphasize His humanity with Old Testament sanction?

The terrible events occur against a terrible tableau. The gospels are filled with people searching, questioning, trying to find the truth. Even the Jewish hierarchy wants the truth. Now everything has changed. Now wicked people dominate the scene, aided and abetted by good people acting badly. The behavior of the apostles is crucial here. They run for their lives. The shepherd is struck, the presumed purpose of their group is being destroyed and they run. And it gets worse; Christ is killed. The apostles run because they are afraid but also they run for a much better reason: They misunderstand what Christ is doing. Their faith was limited to Him; they did not see the big picture, the huge event they were a part of. The death of Christ seemed to be the end.

Their disillusion and terror only emphasizes the miraculous change they experience in three days which allows them to coolly follow Christ's directions and go to their deaths later. A change that must have been a miracle.