Whiplash

 

A Sermon for the Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday

April 2, 2023

The Rev. Robin Teasley

Matthew 26:14 - 27:66

 

Some clergy I know have called this Whiplash Sunday. Liturgically we move from outside to inside, from purple to red hangings, from dried vine arrangements to palms. Notice the music as it changes from joyful to mournful as we move through the service. Palm Sunday is filled with motion and emotion, and it begins a roller coaster week in the life of Jesus and the disciples. We heard, we felt, the Passion Narrative describe how the mood changed from the time Jesus entered into Jerusalem to his death on the cross. At first, he was cheered by a crowd shouting hosanna, but the crowd then changed its allegiance and shouted for Jesus to be crucified. Whiplash.

 

In the Passion Narrative today, some of us read the various parts, but even if we didn’t have a speaking part this morning, we all have a part in this great cosmic drama. So it seems good to take a moment to consider the cast of characters. In doing so we may discover that we all too uncomfortably identify with one or more of them. 

Do we hear our own denial in Peter? Can we identify with Pilate or his wife? Do we go along with the crowd or become skeptical, like the bystanders or those who pass by? Do we judge and convict like the elders, scribes, and priests? Do we only do what is required of us like the servants or the soldier?

The Thirty Pieces of Silver, János Pentelei Molnár 

What stood out for me as I read the narrative this week was the theme of betrayal. Of course, whenever we think about betrayal, the first person who comes to mind is Judas. We don’t know a lot about him, but Jesus and the other disciples must have trusted him a great deal to have made him their treasurer. Why did Judas betray Jesus? For 30 pieces of silver, or because he was disappointed in his Lord? Was it to fulfill a divine plan?

Why would anyone betray another? Betrayal is a sin against trust – the trust that is critical to maintaining relationships between people, between groups, and between nations. Betrayal tears apart the fragile bonds that hold us together and can destroy a marriage, a family, a church, or a community.

Judas Receiving Payment for Betraying Jesus, Lippo Memmi

 

Perhaps we show betrayers so little compassion because we are afraid there is some of Judas within all of us. Sometimes the sin that is so difficult to forgive in others is the one we struggle against in our own lives. We hate the thought that we might be capable of betraying a trust. 

 

But here’s the thing I want us to hold in our minds this week. In Jesus’ last hours none of the disciples is a model of faithfulness. Peter denies knowing his Lord three times. They could not stay awake with Jesus as he prayed in the garden. And after the awful crucifixion? Well, none of the Twelve even attend to Jesus’ body. All of the disciples fail. The truth is that everyone in the story was guilty of betrayal in some way or another.

 

This should make us uncomfortable. The reality is that we all live with the possibility of betrayal, and so we fear Judas because we somehow know that there but for the grace of God we would be, could be, at any time. Perhaps Judas is a symbol of the evil within us, and so we condemn him.

 

Author Sara Miles has said, “The desire to crucify is the way of the crowd. A crowd has the power to make people feel less alone in the face of death. This is why crowds are always at the heart of the violence done by religions and rulers. The crowd is seductive: it makes and shapes our worldly identities, through violence, casting-out and separation.  It lets us say, as Jesus’ own disciples say: “That man? I don’t know him; he’s not one of us.” The crowd helps frightened, isolated individuals identify with the power of Caesar, the power of the temple, the nation, the tribe. The crowd allows prideful humans even to attempt to take the place of God: deciding who to judge, who to punish, who to scapegoat…”

The Arrest of Christ, Giotto

 

The crowds in Jerusalem made it all too easy to ignore the truth and accept the injustice. Not much has changed in the world. One of the messages of Holy Week is that sooner or later every disciple will betray Jesus. 

We will betray him in the workplace when it will cost us a raise or a promotion if we don’t follow a questionable policy. We will betray him in our homes when our anger is so great that we hurt those who trust us the most. We will betray him when we fall into temptation and do not keep our sacred commitments. We will betray him by our silence, making us complicit in the injustices that happen around us. 

 

We will betray Jesus when we are swayed by the crowd and refuse to step away from its wrongdoing. There are so many ways we fall asleep rather than stay awake with Christ.

Judas Kisses Jesus, 14th c Fresco in Church of Santa Maria Assunta, San Gimignana, Italy

 

What truth do you hear in today’s Gospel, and will you acknowledge it? You are invited to return on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to more deeply explore why it is that we need a Savior. Holy Week is an essential journey in our faith, as it helps us to see what betrayal we are capable of and what redemption we receive through the amazing grace and gift of God in his Son Jesus Christ. 

Even though the disciples and everyone else betrayed and failed Jesus, there was great love holding all of it. When Judas arrived with the angry crowd to arrest Jesus, Jesus called him Friend. 

 

It would seem that death wins, that the sealed tomb is the end. But no, there is great love holding it all, and if we will leave behind the crowds and walk through this week with Jesus, the story will end so much differently that we expect. The good news is that this story has the power to change our lives, a good kind of whiplash.

The Two Marys Watching the Tomb, James Tissot

Title Image: Christ's Entry Into Jerusalem, Lippo Memmi