Presented to the
Swift Current Community at the Ecumenical Lenten Lunch, 10 April 2014, at Christ the Redeemer
Roman Catholic Parish by Captain
Michael Ramsay.
The other week, on April Fools Day, we found out Judy, our receptionist,
won $5000 from Tim Horton’s Roll up the Rim contest. On the morning of
April Fools Day, Judy told us that she had won $5000 from Tim Horton’s Roll
up the Rim contest. At our staff meeting on April’s Fools Day when we just
had a very somber discussion about prostituted peoples in our country…on April
Fool’s Day when we were each telling what we are working towards this week in
our various ministries… on April Fools Day in front of almost all of our
department heads and in front of many of our support staff, Judy told us that
she had won $5000 on Roll up the Rim. She told us she may need time off
work to go to Tim Horton’s to get her picture taken by the newspaper and she
answered every question we had about her winnings on this April Fools Day. We
were so happy for Judy, who is so honest and who is so trustworthy, that she
had won $5000 on April Fools Day, that we were all simply stunned when an hour
later when she concluded our staff meeting with the words, ‘April Fools!’
Even though we were all aware that the day was April Fools Day, even
though we all had joked about it being April Fools Day, even though we all had
openly spoke about April Fool’s Day, we were all completely shocked when our
dear honest trustworthy Judy ended our staff meeting with the words ‘Happy April
Fools Day.’
Of course now that trust was broken in our little sacred circle of
department heads and support staff, someone needed to respond to this perfectly
executed April Fools Day joke. So after an hour or so and phone call or two, we
invited Judy to the coffee room where as well as our staff and volunteers, was
waiting the newspaper reporter to take her picture and interview her about her
winnings. We had tried to reach both the Booster and the Prairie Post and
Matthew from the Prairie Post was nice enough to come down to the office and
ask Judy about her winnings as well as to take her picture on this April Fools
Day. When we called, he asked us when we would like him to come by, and we
replied as long as it was before noon because that is when April Fools day
ends. He was a wonderful assistant in this matter.
Now, of course, our office, as you can understand – even as we are all
having a lot of fun – our office now becomes a little bit tense as we are all
awaiting a further reply to the April Fools Day jokes. Once these things start
you never know how they will end. And at this point in the day there is still
at least another hour before April Fools Day is over. And I, for one, am
watching the clock very closely as the minutes tick by very, very slowly.
Now, thanks to dear, sweet, honest, trustworthy Judy; every time someone
tells me something on the morning of April Fools Day, I subtlety acknowledge
their comments and I try to do it in such a way as to avoid falling prey to any
further April Fools Day jokes but at the same time I have to respond in such a
way as to not offend them should they be actually telling me the truth. Now, it
is becoming quite difficult to know who and what to believe.
It is then that I decide upon the best course of action to take, the
best way to deal with this. As a Christian leader whose job is to set an
example of integrity, bravery, and leadership I decided that now is the time to
end this matter in the simplest way I know. Now is the time to… lock myself in
my office and hide until April fools Day is over at noon.
Now, of course, as soon as I do this, Judy -honest, trustworthy Judy-
calls me: ‘Michael phone call line 1’.
‘Really?’ I said.
‘Yes. It is a lady and she’s crying.’
‘Really?’ I said. ‘What time is it? Its not noon yet.’
‘Really’, she assures me, ‘there is a lady crying on the phone’. So – I
do – I pick up the phone. And as the lady on the phone is speaking I find
myself straining to figure out is she crying or is she laughing? And again it
is quite tense as I am trying to figure out what to believe. It turns out that
this lady is a person in very real need and I am able to listen to her, to
help, to provide assistance and to pray with her and this takes me quite
happily until almost noon.
But the point of these stories today is that once the fun had began on
this morning of April Fools Day, we didn’t know who to believe. No matter who
told us something that morning, we didn’t know what to believe. No matter what
happened that morning, we didn’t know what to believe. No matter how serious
the need someone appeared have that morning, we didn’t know what to believe. No
matter how sincere and honest a person ordinarily is, on this morning we didn’t
know who to believe and we didn’t know what to believe?
It is the same thing in our text today but a little more serious. The
scene in 1st Century Jerusalem is probably potentially a lot like
the recent scenes we may have seen on the news of Kiev, Cairo, Tripoli, and
various Syrian cities where a foreign power has been fomenting revolt: there
are people yelling in the streets and in some cases this leads to riots and in
some cases this leads to full out revolutions as outsiders pour discord, money
and weapons into these various communities.[1]
And just like in our world today where some diplomats have been caught
on tape inciting these recent revolts so too the chief priests and elders in
our text today are caught threatening the very same thing. They are whipping
the people up and this is Passover; so the area is full. There are people
everywhere.[2] Locals and
foreigners alike are filling the area and the chief priests and elders are
riling them up and Pilate knows that he doesn’t have the military might to
quell this immediately if it gets out of hand.[3]
Pilate knows that his very life might hang in the balance here - as much as
Jesus’ – if it gets out of hand; Pilate knows he has to decide very quickly
what to do?[4] Who is this
man, Jesus? Who should he believe? What should he believe?
The people in the area – whether they are Diaspora, foreigners brought
in for Passover who may never have even heard of Jesus before or whether they
are locals who have heard all the stories and possibly even seen the Lord
perform some of his miracles – the people in the square they need to quickly
decide what to believe. Who to believe? Who is this person? Is he a
revolutionary like the chief priests are shouting? If he is, is that bad? Maybe
he will deliver us from Rome? Is so, is that good? Who is he? They need to
decide quickly if they are going to do anything other than be swept up with the
crowd. Imagine you are in this crowd.
Imagine that you are a visitor here for the Passover and you are
celebrating with the crowds in the streets and you get drawn into this square
where something important is going on. Imagine you hear your religious leaders
shouting out to the crowds in this way, calling this man a rebel in need of
death. What do you do? Do you join in the chants of ‘Give us Barabbas’? What do
you do? Who do you believe? What do you believe?
Imagine that you are from Galilee and you have seen more than one
miracle that Jesus has performed. Imagine that you - or someone you know - has
been healed by this person or his disciples. Imagine that you have heard his
teaching or heard of his teaching and now your religious leaders are calling
for his execution. Imagine you believed him until now but now your religious
leader is calling for his head. Who do you believe? Do you believe your initial
thoughts or do you believe your leaders? Do you believe what people told you
previously or do you believe with the mob that is quickly gaining shape before
your eyes? Something is going to happen tonight and you are a part of it; what
role are you going to play? Are you going to call for Jesus’ head? What do you
do? Who do you believe? What do you believe? What do you believe?
The soldiers in our text today have to decide if he really is a threat
or not. How to respond? Is he a revolutionary that they can make an example out
of? Or is he someone they need to respect for their own life and limb and
salvation in this occupied territory?
The people even later in our text, as they are walking by Jesus, while
he hangs dying upon the cross, they think that the decision has been made. They
see him being executed alongside two other convicted people. Someone has
decided who Jesus is.
And then something happens. And then something happens. Jesus is on the
cross and he calls out in a loud voice at least and with maybe even more
meaning than the title and first line of the Psalm number 22 in our psalm
books, ‘My God, My God Why Have You Forsaken Me.’[5]
This psalm is a wonderful Messianic prophecy that tells all about the Christ
and how the events that are unfolding before their eyes fulfill those prophecies.
And as he calls out, people pay attention to him but they don’t necessarily
know what he is calling about; he calls it out again, he breathes his last, the
curtain in the temple is torn from top to bottom, the earth shakes, the rocks
split, the tombs are opened and then some of the dead come to life and –after
the resurrection- actually walk into the city. Can you imagine if the guest of
honour at the last funeral you went to showed up here today? This is what is
going on and even before all of this is known but in the midst of the
earthquake, the Centurion in charge of soldiers like the ones that mocked Jesus
and struck him, the Roman Centurion declares in terror, “Truly, this man was
God’s Son!”
We now. here today, two millennia later, we have that very same decision
to make and it is just important now as it ever was. Our very life depends upon
it. Who is Jesus? What do we believe? It is my hope and prayer that today you
and I will answer with the Centurion, declaring now and forever more that
truly, this man Jesus is God’s own Son!
Let us pray.
---
[1] Cf. Kruse, Colin G.: John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers
Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), S.
351
[2] Cf. France, R. T.: Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary.
Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament
Commentaries 1), S. 393
[3] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, John 18:28-19:16: Pilates at 6am.
Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army (03 Feb 2013). Available
on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2013/02/john-1828-1916-pilates-at-6am.html
[4] Cf. D.A. Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis
CD-ROM:Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/VII. The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus
(26:6-28:20)/A. The Passion (26:6-27:66)/11. Jesus before Pilate (27:11-26),
Book Version: 4.0.2
[5] Cf. William Hendriksen, Matthew, (NTC: Baker Academic: Grand
Rapids, Michigan, 2007), p. 971-972
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