Passionate

Matthew 26:14 - 27:66 is the lectionary text for Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday

What a whirlwind.
In the reading of this long passage, there is a lot.
The conspiracy had begun and Judas, a beloved and trusted disciple involved.  Betrayal.
The Passover, a chaotic, obligatory and festive experience in Jerusalem began.
Prayer in the Garden, after.  A desperate need for support in the dreading of inevitable.
The arrest.  Betrayal complete.
The shameful perp walk and display, intrigue and mob judgment.
And again.
The denial of one who was thought to be solid.
The anguished solution for the betrayer.
Indecision in political pressure at the top, and one bad decision after another.
Mocking and torture.
State-sanctioned, church colluded murder of another innocent under empire's oppression.
                "By a perversion of justice He was taken away."  Isa 53:8

But this was different.

"Who was the guilty?  Who brought this upon Thee?  Alas, my treason, Jesus hath undone Thee.
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied Thee.  I crucified Thee."

Darkness.
Abandonment.
Death.  Real death.  Tragic and brutal.
Atonement, signified by the symbol of the separation of God in the Holy of Holies from the people, being torn apart.
Ah, there it is.  Finally hope from the horror.  Meaning in the midst of unjust and tragic loss.

"MY SIN, O the bliss of that glorious thought - my sin, not in part, but the whole IS NAILED TO THE CROSS and I BEAR IT NO MORE!  Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my Soul!"

Redemption.
Victory out of death.  Through death.
The meaning of this death is clear in Matthew's Gospel.
It is very different from the thousands of others executed by empire.
It is a triumph over evil, both political and ecclesiastical, social and spiritual.
Jesus took our death to its death on the Cross, the lynching tree.

"Death has been swallowed up in victory.  Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death,
is your sting?"  I Corinthians 15:54, 55 (from Isa.25:7, 8, Hosea 13:14)

A temporary burial is hastily arranged.
The final remembrance is yet to come.
We sit.  Shiva BEFORE the actual burial.
Huddled together, feeling the loss, waiting for closure.

"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;
upon Him was the punishment that made us whole, and by His bruises we are healed...
He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so He did not open His mouth."   Isa. 53:4-7

The true victory is in the sacrifice, the death itself, given out of Agape Love.  It is Grace upon Grace.

A whirlwind, not asked for or wanted, but one that changed our lives forever.
That's how life with God is.
The tragic still happens, even unjust tragedy.
And we feel loss.
But we are not alone in it.  Emmanuel - God is with us IN IT.
And even in the tragic we find Atonement with God and our Redemption.
So that, even though we must go through the loss, we are lifted by the sacrifice made by God,
     on the Cross, for us.

To be Jesus' disciples means following Jesus, even or especially to the Cross.
"If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For those who want to save their life (apart from God) will lose it (life with God), and those who lose their life (apart from God) for my sake will find it (life with God).  For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life (with God)?  Or what will they give in return for their life (with God)?"  Matthew 16:24-26

The sacrifice has been made.  The Passover lamb has been offered and by His blood we are saved.
We are delivered from our bondage to sin and death, through His death.

"It is well with my soul."

Pastor Jamie