Passion Sunday, 2010

 Excerpts from the Passion Reading

•Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.”

•Pilate then said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death.”

•A third time Pilate said to them, “What evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death.”

•The other criminal rebuked the first and said, “…we are getting what we deserve for our deeds but this man has done nothing wrong.”

•When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.”

Jesus is your Paschal Lamb.

You all know that the term “Paschal lamb” refers to the Jewish Passover in Egypt where God instructed the Israelites to kill an unblemished lamb and put the blood of the lamb on the lintels of their doorposts. The angel of death would see the blood and ‘pass over’ that household. The Israelites were also instructed to make sure that every member of the household consumed at least a small portion of the roasted lamb.

From the long Gospel reading of the Passion, I pulled out the above passages that speak of the innocence of Jesus because the unblemished lamb of the original Passover was a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Jesus, our paschal lamb, on the cross. Jesus went to the cross unblemished so his death could in no way be construed as just punishment. It was innocent blood that was spilled on our behalf. Because of our baptism where we die with Christ and because of our belief in Jesus, the blood of the lamb has marked our spiritual ‘lintels’. We are identified as God’s chosen, the ones who are saved from the power of sin and death.

The above parallels between the first Passover and the death of Jesus astoundingly show us that God was always thinking of our salvation from the beginning. But there are other parallels not often emphasized. Here are a few:

•According to the law, the Jews were to select their sacrificial lamb on the tenth day of the first month, four days before the actual sacrifice. According to John, Jesus entered Jerusalem on the tenth day of the first month. The people then acclaimed him as their Messiah. He became the 'Chosen Lamb' on the exact day the Passover lambs were traditionally chosen. 

•When Jesus and his disciples sat down for the Last Supper, (Seder) it was the beginning of the 14^th day of the first month (the biblical day begins at sunset). They were having their Seder meal early because Jesus knew that when the rest of the Jews were having their Seder meal, he would be dead and buried. At the last supper, Jesus instituted the Eucharist. “This is my body…this is my blood…” All those who were present partook of a small portion of the sacrificial Lamb, Jesus.

•During the Passover, Jerusalem was filled with thousands upon thousands of Jews singing and reciting the traditional Hallel psalms (113-118).  Their voices would have been heard outside the city walls. While Jesus hung on the cross, those who were with him would have been able to hear phrases like, "The cords of death entangled me . . . I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, I pray, save my life!’… I kept my faith, even when I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted’… precious in the Sight of the Lord is the Death of his Righteous Ones . . . Open for me the Gates of Righteousness . . . The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone… Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

•When Jesus was nailed to the cross it was the third hour, the hour when the first male sacrificial lamb (the Tamid) was slain in the temple and its blood collected to sprinkle on the altar. When Jesus died, it was the ninth hour – the hour the rest of the sacrificial lambs chosen by Jewish families and communities were ritually slain in the temple.

•A ritual instruction for the preparation of the Passover lamb was that no bones be broken. After Jesus had died, the soldiers came and broke the bones of the two men on either side of him but when they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead and so they didn’t break his bones. Psalm 34:20 also states, “…taking care of every bone, the Lord will not let one be broken.”

In these modern times, we have difficulty relating to the idea of sacrifice. It seems so bloody and primitive. Surely all of us at one time or another, secretly or out loud, have wondered, “How could a loving God demand his ‘pound of flesh’ and send his son to die?” And right there is where the mistake is made. We envision God the Father in heaven sorrowfully watching his only son die on a cross. It was tough but it had to be done. “This hurts me more than it hurts you” type of thing. We forget that Jesus kept emphasizing to his disciples, “The Father and I are one” and, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”  Where was the Father when Jesus was on the cross? On the cross with him. The mystery of the oneness of the trinity means that because of his huge love for us God sent himself to die for us, to become the ‘once and for all’ sacrifice. There was no “You go and I’ll stay here and watch.” It was, “Let’s go and bring our children home.”

Throughout the Old Testament, God kept telling his people that burnt offerings and sacrifice were not what pleased him. What pleased him were love, mercy, compassion and humble hearts. So, why would he have created laws requiring sacrifice if it wasn’t what pleased him? Because God always works with his people within the capacity of their understanding. Having lived in Egypt for over 400 years, the Israelites were used to the idea of sacrifice to appease the gods. The Lord instituted very tight laws that specified what could be sacrificed: animals, birds and produce, etc. But not people. These ancient Israelites had been exposed to cultures where babies and virgins were regularly sacrificed to keep the gods happy and that seemed normal to them. God was moving them out of that kind of despicable idea of sacrifice and the perception that he could be that kind of God and as a young nation they needed strict laws to teach them the way to live morally upright lives, just as young children need very clear rules and standards to teach them the right way to live. But the people as a whole just could not get their heads around the idea that their inner hearts and the actions that come from a willing and loving spirit were what blessed God. They kept falling, just as we do today, into following the letter of the law. The "good" Jews were impeccable in their observance of the law, making the proper sacrifices, saying the proper prayers, observing the proper feast days but “their hearts are far from me,' says the Lord.” 

The death of himself, the unblemished lamb, on a cross was the end of useless ritual sacrifice, sacrifice that did nothing to really cleanse the heart. It was the beginning of a new relationship with God, a new covenant based on outrageous love, not on blind dead law.

“He died for your sins.” What does that mean?  I have an analogy that may give you some sense of what it means.

You mothers are going to particularly relate to this. How many times have you witnessed one of your children exposed to harsh or painful circumstances that tore your heart apart? Watching your baby scream when he got a needle…seeing another child bully your child…hearing your toddler cry inconsolably as you left her with a babysitter for the first time…watching your child get on a school bus for the first time, knowing he was scared to death…listening to your child tell you how the other girls made fun of her and excluded her from their group…seeing your child being benched in an important game…seeing your child fail an exam and being humiliated by the failure… These examples are the relatively minor experiences of childhood; I didn’t even get into the more critical experiences such as a serious illness, watching your child die, having a child with developmental problems or knowing your child has been in an accident, etc. I just want to evoke in you the memory of what it’s like to agonize for your child. Those of you who have not experienced motherhood may relate to seeing a partner in pain and anguish or a beloved pet suffering silently and unable to help itself anymore. The love that is felt is a love that would gladly substitute oneself to take on the suffering and relieve the other of the pain, the loneliness, the humiliation and especially the fear.

Jesus went to the cross with this exact same love. He died so you could live. Do you deserve that love? No, but that was never part of the equation. When you ache for your child, your partner, your pet, do you stop to think, “Does he or she deserve my love and my anguish?” You do not. True love does not keep score. True love, given the chance, rushes to the rescue and does whatever it can to save the one who is suffering. God suffered in your place. If sometimes you look at your circumstances and feel that you are still suffering terribly in spite of his sacrifice, it’s because you have no idea what kind of suffering you were really headed for: the suffering of death with no hope of resurrection and the suffering of living without the possibility of an intimate relationship with a loving God, a God who never lets go and who will do whatever it takes to rescue you and get you home.

Jesus became, for you, the second Adam, the second Moses, the New Covenant, your Way Out, the determined and stubborn Gardener of your growth and fruitfulness, your Ocean of pure, clean and enlivening Living Water, the illuminating Light in your heart, the Presence of God, your Resurrection and your Life - and he died as your Paschal Lamb.

Feel the love. Hold the Lamb.