Luke 23:44-54
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came
over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped
shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus
called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my
spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last. 47 The
centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this
was a righteous man." 48 When all the people who had gathered
to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went
away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had
followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
50 Now
there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51
who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean
town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52
Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. 53 Then he took it down,
wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which
no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath
was about to begin.
The way in...
Who
killed Jesus?
Have you ever
played the game clue? I used to love
this game. The game begins by everyone
choosing a player one of six players; Col Mustard, Mr. Green, Prof. Plum, Mrs.
Peacock, Mrs. White, and Miss Scarlet.
After dealing the cards the announcement is made that there has been a
murder in one of the rooms of the mansion, with a certain object by one of
these six characters. The object of
every player is to figure out who did it.
This morning
we are presented with something like the game of clue. We know there has been a death. We know where it was committed and we know
with what object. But do we know
who? Who killed Jesus?
The suspects
The first set of suspects are the ones most
likely to have been convicted for they stood at the scene of the crime with
their finger prints covering the murder weapon.
The Roman soldiers were so bold in their crime that they didn't even
attempt to hide it. It is as if they
were proud of their work. It was their
work. They were just doing their job and
likely knew that if they refused then it very well could be them up on that
cross. Still, technically, they
killed Jesus at Golgotha with the cross.
But wait, you
say, these soldiers were just carrying out orders. Standing in the governor's mansion was the
person that signed his death warrant – Pilate.
He was the one with the power to condemn or free people. No one else could order crucifixions but the
official Roman authority. He could have
set Jesus free or just had him imprisoned.
But he did not. Instead, after
some debate, he ordered Jesus execution.
Sure he took a bowl and washed his hands while declaring that he was
innocent of this man's blood. But no one
else could have ordered the Roman soldiers to do what they did. So, it was Pilate that killed Jesus in the
governor's mansion with an order.
But hold on a
second, you might be saying. Pilate
seemed to be on Jesus' side. He wanted
to let him go and had it not been for the crowd he would have done so. Yes, the crowd. They are so fickle. One moment they are singing and cheering,
waving palm branches and laying their cloaks on the ground, praising Jesus as
he enters the city. And not long after
they are yelling and jeering, waving their fists and tearing their cloaks,
demanding Jesus be crucified. Yes, no
doubt it was the crowd that killed Jesus in the courtyard with their shouts.
But was there
someone behind the crowds? Matthew tells
us that someone else influenced the crowd.
“The chief priests and elders persuaded the crowds...” Now, finally we are getting to a missing link
in our case – motive. Who had the
greatest conflict with Jesus? For the
last three years Jesus had been butting heads with the religious leaders
calling them blind, pronouncing woes and over turning their temple money
system. Certainly the religious leaders
had the greatest reason to want to get rid of Jesus – he was challenging their
authority. And so, they set this whole
thing up. Yes, it was certainly the
religious leaders that killed Jesus in the temple courtyard with their judgment. This has to be it, right?
Well, there is
another guy without whom the religious leaders would never have been able to
get close. They needed an inside man,
someone who recognized Jesus for the danger he was and so they paid Judas. Judas, a man who was one of the core 12 had
high hopes for Jesus as he Messiah until Jesus started saying stuff like “the
first shall be last and the last shall be first,” and “whoever wants to save
their life will lose it.” And then there
was that incident with that woman and the perfume where Jesus allowed hundreds
of dollars to be wasted. Yes, it had to
be Judas that killed Jesus with a kiss in the garden.
Buuuuut, if
we're going to finger Judas, couldn't we expand that accusation to the other
disciples? They had promised to follow
Jesus. They'd kept following even after
he told them it required picking up their cross. Peter had even said that he would protect
Jesus with his own life. Had all of them
continued to stand with Jesus when he was arrested, held out their hands and
forced the guards to take them as well.
If they'd all stood together, don't you think they'd likely have let him
go? We'll never know, because once the
guards showed up, they scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. Yes, you could make the case that it was the
disciples that killed Jesus with their silence in the garden.
So, who did
it? Was it the disciples, Judas, the
religious leaders, the crowds, Pilate or was it simply the soldiers? Who killed Jesus?
Us?
Get
this, there's another theory that claims the suspects in Jesus murder can not
be contained to the people of his day and age.
This theory states that in some way Jesus' death was caused by you...and
me. Woe, woe, woe Mr. Sikes, I've got
alibies. I wasn't even born yet. I wasn't at the scene of the crime. Plus, I have no motive. I'm like the Doobie Brothers, Jesus is just
alright with me. I don't even like
stepping on ants, let alone killing someone.
You can't be serious?
Well, allow me
a moment. As evidence, I'll need to turn
back in time a ways; back to the third book in the Bible the one no one reads
called Leviticus. In the 16th
chapter we read about the day of atonement, also known as Yom Kippur. On this day, Aaron, the chief priest, was to
take two goats and cast lots. One lot
determines the goat that is sacrificed for the Lord while the other determines
the azazel. That's Hebrew, I'll
get to the English later. Aaron is to
take the Azazel before all the people, place his hands upon it and then
“confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites, all their
sins – and put them on the goat's head.”
Then, he shall send the goat away...into the desert. All the wickedness, all the sins of the
people are taken away by this goat never to be seen or heard from again.
At first
glance, this might seem like a kind thing to do to the goat, setting him free
in the desert. But can you imagine the
shock if it had shown up back in the village?
Hey isn't that the Azazel...carrying all of our sins. My first dog was named Tiny. She was getting along in years and one day
she disappeared. I asked Mom and Dad
what happened and they said she'd probably wandered away into the woods. I know better now. You know such was the case with the
goat. Everybody knew what the guy
leading the goat into the wilderness was to do when he got out of sight. No one wanted to see that thing again. Have you figured out the name of this goat
yet? The Hebrew is azazel, but we know
it as the scapegoat.
Who
killed the scapegoat? Was it the guy who
led it into the wilderness? Was it
Aaron? Or, was it the people?
Scapegoating
As it turns
out, scapegoating is not relegated to Yom Kipur. In fact it was there from the start, some
might even say it is our original sin.
In the Garden of Eden when God asked Adam if he'd eaten from the tree
he'd commanded him not to what does Adam do?
He blames Eve. And then when God turns to Eve what does she do? She blames the serpent. And though we aren't usually sympathetic to
the serpent, you have to fell a little sorry that it doesn't have anyone to
blame instead it becomes the slippery thing we know today. But do you see what the first humans
did? Adam scapegoating Eve and Eve
scapegoated the serpent. They tried to
put their sins upon another. What a
shame it didn't end with them. Instead
they passed this trait on, like blue eyes or brown hair to their children Cain
and Able. So, what does Cain do when he
thinks God isn't pleased with his offering?
He says to his brothers, “Hey Able, let's go out into the field (you
might even say the desert).” And there
he attacks and kills him.
It feels like
it should have stopped there, unfortunately the genetic trait has continued to
be passed on. King Saul scapegoated
David and King David scapegoated Uriah.
Israel scapegoated Assyria and Babylon scapegoated Israel. The Jews and pagan Romans scapegoated the
Christians and then when they got in power the Christians scapegoated the Jews
and pagans. On and on the cycle
goes.
But wait, you
might be saying, I don't do this. I'd
never kill a goat let alone another person.
I don't scapegoat, that's bullying.
No? Think for a second what we
do with our words. Just last week I was
talking with a colleague about our Presbytery. She was saying how she thought I'd done a good
job moderating the meeting we had which was nice, but for some reason I felt
this wasn't enough so I mentioned another person. “I like so and so, but can you believe what
she said in the middle of the meeting?
That really frustrated me.” Do
you see what I did? I was feeling the
need to make myself look better and so I schluffed my frustrations onto another
person. The common term for this
behavior is gossip, in psychology they call it triangulation but biblically its
a form of scapegoating and we do it all the time.
No, I don't
think we killed Jesus, yet Jesus does often seem to indicate that how we treat
one another is how we treat God. “Lord,”
cried the people, “when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or
needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” And he will reply, “I tell you the truth,
whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (Matthew 25)
Who killed
Jesus?
“Into your hands...”
There is one
other suspect yet to be named one that would seem to free everyone from
complicity. Lots of people think Jesus'
death had nothing to do with the soldiers, Pilate, the crowds, religious
leaders, Judas, the disciples or even really you and more. Instead, many people say that the greatest
suspect is God. It was God that gave his
only begotten son. It was God that
guided Jesus. It was God that had the
power to stop the whole ordeal. And
wasn't it God that seemed to demand all of the sacrifices in the Old Testament
– even the scapegoat?
You can
certainly make the case against God, that he committed infanticide or in some
way suicide. But I will not be one of
those to make that case. Listen again to
Jesus' last words on that cross, “Father, into your hands, I commit my
Spirit.” Jesus' body has been in the
hands of many people to this point – all the suspects in fact; the soldiers,
Pilate, the crowds, religious leaders, Judas and the disciples. Earlier Jesus told the disciples that he
would be “handed over to the Gentiles to be mocked, insulted and spat upon,
flogged and killed...” (Luke 18:19)
But think back
again, how does Jesus respond to the way they handled his body? Does he scapegoat them back? Judas?
Jesus kisses. Peter? Jesus looks with compassion. The crowds?
He says nothing. Pilate? He says nothing. The soldiers and religious leaders? He looks upon them and instead of pronouncing
curses, he prays for those who persecute him and says, “Father, forgive them
for they know not what they do.” How
could Jesus do this? Could it be because
he knew beyond a shadow of doubt that even though his body was in the hands of
all of these people, his spirit, his soul, his life was in the hands of the
Father.
The way out...
“Do not be
afraid of those who can kill the body but not the soul...” (Mat 10:18) What Jesus knows is what we spend our
lives learning – humanity kills, but God brings to life. Who killed Jesus? That question turns out to be the least
important. Of much greater value is the
other one, “Who brings Jesus to life?”
Let us pray?
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