Four Reflections
Good Friday – Narrative Lectionary 1
April 3, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Matthew 27.27-61
Reflection I: The Soldiers Mock Jesus (Matthew 27.27-31)
The soldiers mock Jesus and who can blame them, because Pilate declares Jesus an enemy of the state. In other accounts, Pilate tries to appease the religious leaders by having Jesus flogged earlier. But not here; here Jesus is flogged before his is crucified. So, who can blame the soldiers? Except for the fact that Jesus really is an enemy of the state. Jesus is an enemy of the state because he stands against all forms of coercion and violence. Unknowingly, the soldiers recognize this in both word and deed.
It would be easy for us to mock the mockers and say, “Thank God I wouldn’t do that! But not so fast. The text is more mirror than window and we are compelled to ask in what ways we strip people of their identities. How do we use language to prop up our own stories, to fit our own worldview? More so, how do we dress up Jesus in our own conception of who God is and who we want God to be? Let us reflect…
Reflection II: The Crucifixion of Jesus (Matthew 27.32-44)
When it comes to the gorier parts of the passion narrative, the flogging and crucifixion, Matthew is sparing in detail. This is no doubt because his early readers didn’t need reminding of the shame and pain of crucifixion; it was a part of their lives. What was important to Matthew’s community is to ask why this happened to Jesus at all. And the answer is surprising: they saw in these events God’s hand, that what is happening is somehow a fulfilling of scripture.
The irony continues to flow: Jesus really is a king and Jesus really is the Messiah who really does trust God. And we will discover that Jesus saves others precisely because he doesn’t save himself. Perhaps the greatest irony of all is that we hear in the question of the passersby an echo of Satan’s temptation of Jesus, “if you are God’s Son…” And we remember that we can replace the “if” with “since”: Since you are God’s Son…” So, we ask ourselves: how do we test Jesus by asking, “If you are God’s son…” do this for me. How are we tempted to save ourselves by not letting God be God? Let us reflect…
Reflection III: The Death of Jesus (Matthew 27.45-56)
Again, the details are sparse when it comes to the actual death of Jesus. W we who are 21st century Christians and well acquainted with navel-gazing and psychobabble love to speculate on Jesus’ psychological condition as declares his forsakenness. Yet, here is no martyr’s death meant to fortify and rally the troops. Rather it is a death that humbles us and induces awe. We are reminded that separation from God is the price of sin, and Jesus takes all of the world’s sin on his back. The darkness that settles over the whole land points to how much that sin separates.
Yet, suddenly, the mockery and jeering of the soldiers turns to confession. And here there is no more irony. God’s Son has not lost faith in God, rather the opposite: Jesus enters into a classical lament, the lament at sin’s power that ends in deep trust in God. We are invited to enter into the lament about the depth of brokenness in our world and utter the same words as Jesus: “my God, my God…” We reflect on this while we watch with the women for the next earth-shattering event.
Reflection IV: The Burial of Jesus (Matthew 27.57-61)
Jesus really was dead; that’s whole point behind these texts. Jesus didn’t just pass out. His body wasn’t stolen. And the women didn’t go to the wrong tomb on Easter morning. How do we know this to be true? We know it because of the women, the only ones who were there through it all. It was the women who watched Jesus die, who saw him put in the tomb and who kept vigil over it.
Then we remember that it was a woman who had prepared Jesus’ body just a few days earlier, with costly ointment and her own tears. Now, after so much contempt has been heaped upon Jesus, at least one man steps forward to treat Jesus’ body with care. All of these characters tonight, but especially the women, invite us to enter the story and find our place. Are we moved to confession? Are we to watch and wait? Are we to offer a discipleship of service? Let us reflect…
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