HOLY WEEK AS THE EMBODIMENT OF GOD’S NONVIOLENT LOVE
Luke 22:7-20
Rev. Paul Wrightman 4/2/23
TODAY’S SERMON WILL BE SHORTER THAN USUAL
BECAUSE OF THE TIME NEEDED TO COMMENT ON
OUR NEW INCLUSIVE PRINT OF THE LAST SUPPER AND FOR US
TO CELEBRATE THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION.
DURING MAJOR TIMES OF THE CHURCH YEAR
SUCH AS EASTER AND CHRISTMAS
AND THE SUNDAYS IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER THEM,
IT IS NECESSARY FOR ME TO PAUSE ANY SERMON SERIES
I MAY HAPPEN TO BE IN THE MIDST OF,
AND TO PREACH ON TOPICS RELATED TO
THESE TWO MAJOR CHRISTIAN FESTIVALS.
LENT AND EASTER FOCUS ON THE MAJOR THEOLOGICAL TOPICS
OF WHY JESUS DIED, WHAT HIS DEATH MEANS,
AND HOW GOD THE FATHER GAVE A BIG “YES!”
TO THE MEANING OF JESUS’ LIFE AND DEATH
BY RAISING JESUS FROM DEATH TO LIFE IN THE RESURRECTION.
ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS FOCUS ON
THE MAJOR THEOLOGICAL TOPIC
OF GOD BECOMING A HUMAN BEING
TO SHOW HUMAN BEINGS HOW TO BECOME MORE LIKE GOD.
THIS IS KNOWN AS THE DOCTINE OF THE INCARNATION.
OUR TASK THIS MORNING WILL BE TO FIT THE VARIOUS EVENTS
COMPRISING WHAT CHRISTIANS KNOW AS “HOLY WEEK” –
THE LAST WEEK OF JESUS’ LIFE COMPRISING HIS SO-CALLED
“TRIUMPHAL ENTRY” INTO JERUSALEM ON PALM SUNDAY,
THE SO-CALLED “CLEANSING” OF THE TEMPLE ON WEDNESDAY,
JESUS’ CELEBRATION OF PASSOVER ON THURSDAY,
AND HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS ON FRIDAY –
INTO A SEAMLESS GARMENT, ALL OF ONE CLOTH,
INSTEAD OF THE PATCHWORK QUILT APPROACH TO HOLY WEEK
THAT MOST OF US ARE USED TO.
THUS, WE WILL LOOK AT HOLY WEEK, IN ITS ENTIRETY,
AS THE EMBODIMENT, THE MAKING REAL,
OF GOD’S FORGIVING, NONVIOLENT, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE BEST CONTEXT FOR UNDERSTANDING
THE EVENTS OF HOLY WEEK, WE NEED TO BEGIN BY RETURNING
TO THE SHOCKING SCRIPTURE TEXT WE LOOKED AT LAST SUNDAY,
IN WHICH GOD MADE A BINDING COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM.
WE SAW HOW WAY BACK IN 1800 BCE, COVENANTS –
SACRED BINDING AGREEMENTS – WERE MADE BY A PRIMITIVE PROCESS KNOWN AS “CUTTING A COVENANT,”
IN WHICH A NUMBER
OF ANIMALS WERE SACRIFICED, CUT INTO TWO PIECES,
AND THEN TWO LONG ROWS OF THE DIVIDED PIECES
ARRANGED SO THAT THERE WAS A NARROW PATH
THROUGH WHICH SOMEONE COULD WALK.
IF A PERSON WALKED THROUGH THE CUT PIECES
OF THE SACRIFICED ANIMALS, HE WAS MAKING THE STATEMENT
THAT IF HE WERE TO BREAK THE COVENANT,
SO MAY HE BE CUT IN TWO IN THE SAME WAY AS THESE ANIMALS.
WE SAW HOW IN ALL OF ANCIENT LITERATURE THERE IS NO EXAMPLE
OF THE SUPERIOR PARTY TO A COVENANT EVER WALKING THROUGH
THE CUT PIECES HIMSELF – IT WAS ALWAYS THE INFERIOR PARTY
WHO WAS FORCED TO HUMBLE HIMSELF IN THIS WAY.
THAT IS, THERE IS NO EXAMPLE IN ALL OF ANCIENT LITERATURE
OF THIS HAPPENING WITH THE SINGLE EXCEPTION
OF OUR TEXT FROM GENESIS LAST SUNDAY,
IN WHICH GOD SYMBOLICALLY PASSES THROUGH
THE CUT PIECES INSTEAD OF ABRAHAM.
THUS DOES GOD MAKE THE SHOCKING STATEMENT
THAT GOD IS WILLING TO DIE IN ORDER TO KEEP
GOD’S COVENANT WITH HUMANITY THROUGH ABRAHAM INTACT.
IT TOOK SOME 1800 YEARS OF HUMANITY’S BREAKING
ITS COVENANT WITH GOD, AND GOD TRYING EVERY POSSIBLE MEANS
TO CALL HUMANITY BACK TO ITS SIDE OF FIDELITY TO THE COVENT
BEFORE GOD ACTED IN THE MOST DECISIVE WAY POSSIBLE.
BY THE END OF THIS 1800 YEAR SWATH OF HUMAN HISTORY,
GOD REALIZED THAT THE MANY CLUES TO HIS COMPASSIONATE,
FORGIVING, AND LOVING NATURE THAT HE HAD SEWN
THROUGHOUT THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
LIKE BEAUTIFUL WILDFLOWERS OF NONVIOLENCE
ON THE VAST LAWN OF HUMANITY’S PROJECTIONS
OF ITS OWN VIOLENCE ONTO GOD,
WERE NEVER GOING TO BE ENOUGH TO SAVE HUMANITY
FROM ITS SELF-DESTRUCTIVE WAYS.
GOD REALIZED THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO COME IN PERSON
TO TEACH AND SHOW US THE WAY TO KEEP OUR SIDE
OF THE ONLY COVENANT THAT CAN MAKE US WHOLE.
AND GOD SAW THAT THE ONLY WAY
IN WHICH GOD COULD CONVINCE CONFUSED, WAYWARD
HUMANITY TO GIVE UP ITS VIOLENT WAYS
WAS TO DEFINITIVELY SHOW US THAT GOD, IN GODSELF,
WAS NOTHING BUT COMPASSION, FORGIVENESS, AND LOVE.
AND GOD SAW THAT THE ONLY WAY TO ACCOMPLISH THIS
FOR HUMANITY WAS FOR GOD TO ALLOW GODSELF
TO BE PUT TO DEATH AND IN THE VERY PROCESS OF DYING
TO OFFER ONLY FORGIVENESS IN RETURN, NOT REVENGE.
GOOD FRIDAY IS GOD’S WAY ULTIMATE WAY OF SAYING
TO WAYWARD, VIOLENT HUMANITY THAT
“THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING YOU CAN DO
THAT WOULD MAKE ME GIVE UP ON YOU OR LOVE YOU LESS.”
BUT BEFORE WE GET TO GOOD FRIDAY,
LET’S TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED
THROUGHOUT THE WEEK THAT CHRISTIANS CALL “HOLY”
THAT LED UP TO THIS POINT.
PALM SUNDAY IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE DAY
WHEN JESUS MADE HIS SO-CALLED “TRIUMPHAL” ENTRY
INTO JERUSALEM.
JESUS’ “TRIUMPHAL” ENTRY IS ACTUALLY A MISNOMER
OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.
ISRAEL’S CONQUERING KINGS WERE MET
BY JERUSALEM’S CROWDS STRIPPING PALM BRANCHES
OFF THE TREES AND STREWING THEM IN THE ROAD
FOR THE KING TO RIDE OVER, JUST AS HE HAD RIDDEN OVER
THE HEADS OF HIS ENEMIES.
THE PEOPLE EXPECTED THE MESSIAH TO COME IN THE FORM
OF JUST SUCH A CONQUERING HERO,
AND THEY PROJECTED ONTO JESUS THEIR OWN VISION
OF A MESSIAH LIKE KING DAVID
WHO WOULD BATTLE THE HATED ROMANS AND DESTROY THEM.
IT IS TELLING THAT THROUGHOUT HIS ENTIRE MINISTRY
JESUS TRIED TO STEER HIS FOLLOWERS AWAY FROM
DESCRIBING HIM AS “MESSIAH,” A TITLE STEEPED IN PAST
AND PROJECTED FUTURE VIOLENCE.
INTEAD, HE DESCRIBED HIMSELF AS THE “SON OF MAN,”
A NONVIOLENT TITLE FOR GOD’S NONVIOLENT REPRESENTATIVE
WHO IS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL,
A BIBLICAL BOOK WITH WHICH JESUS CLOSELY IDENTIFIED.
AS HE DOES WITH ALL THE MANY CHOICES
BETWEEN VIOLENT AND NONVIOLENT OPTIONS
IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES, JESUS CHOOSES
THE NONVIOLENT OPTION FOR HIS SO-CALLED
“TRIUMPHAL” ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.
JESUS OWN EMPHASIS ON PALM SUNDAY
IS NOT ON THE RIPPED OFF PALM BRANCHES –
IN ITSELF A VIOLENT WELCOME FOR A VIOLENT HERO.
NO, JESUS REPUDIATES THIS VIOLENCE
BY DELIBERATELY CHOOSING TO ENTER THE CITY
ON THE BACK OF A LOWLY DONKEY,
A SYMBOL OF HUMILITY AND PEACE.
FOR THE SYMBOLISM OF TRIUMPHANT PALM BRANCHES
TO WORK IN TERMS OF CELEBRATING THE ENTRY
OF A VIOLENT WARRIOR-KING MESSIAH SUCH AS DAVID,
JESUS WOULD HAVE HAD TO ENTER THE CITY
ON THE BACK OF A WAR HORSE.
THE DONKEY WAS THE OPPOSITE OF A WARHORSE,
AND BY CHOOSING THIS SYMBOLISM,
JESUS WAS CONSCIOUSLY REPUDIATING THE ROLE
OF A VIOLENT MESSIAH BRINGING ABOUT GOD’S KINGDOM
BY MEANS OF A HOLY WAR.
HE WAS ALSO CONSCIOUSLY PLANTING A SEED
OF CONTRADICTION AND HOPEFULLY DISCERNMENT
INTO THE VERY HEART OF THIS CELEBRATION
OF A HOPED-FOR VIOLENT SAVIOR.
SADLY, THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH AS A WHOLE
STILL CELEBRATES PALM SUNDAY AS THE DAY
OF JESUS’ SO-CALLED “TRIUMPHAL” ENTRY
INTO JERUSALEM, WHEN JESUS HIMSELF
CLEARLY WANTED HIS ENTRY TO BE SEEN
IN TERMS HIS HUMILITY AND NONVIOLENCE.
A BETTER NAME FOR THIS DAY WOULD BE “BURRO SUNDAY!”
JUST AS TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN OBSERVANCE MISSES THE BOAT
WHEN IT REFERS TO THE SUNDAY BEFORE EASTER
AS “PALM SUNDAY,”
SO TOO TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN OBSERVANCE
SERIOUSLY MISUNDERSTANDS JESUS’ ACTION IN THE TEMPLE
WHEN IT REFERS TO IT AS A “CLEANSING.”
FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HIS PROPHETIC FOREBEARS
AMOS, HOSEA, ISAIAH, AND JEREMIAH,
WHO RAILED AGAINST THE TEMPLE
AND ITS SYSTEM OF SACRIFICIAL VIOLENCE,
AND HOPED FOR SOMETHING BETTER TO REPLACE IT,
JESUS ACTION IS NO MERE CLEANSING,
BUT HIS DENUNCIATION TEMPLE WORSHIP AS A WHOLE.
OVERTURNING THE TABLES OF THE MONEY CHANGERS,
NOT ALLOWING ANYONE TO CARRY ANYTHING
THROUGH THE TEMPLE, AND DRIVING THE SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS
OUT OF THE TEMPLE, ALL POINT IN ONE DIRECTION --
JESUS INTENTION WAS TO PUT AN END TO THE
SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM OF THE TEMPLE ONCE AND FOR ALL.
THIS BECOMES CRYSTAL CLEAR WHEN WE REALIZE THAT
THE GREEK WORD USUALLY TRANSLATED AS A WEAK “ANYTHING”
IN OUR ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, IS ACTUALLY THE SPECIFIC WORD
USED TO REFER TO THE SACRED VESSELS USED IN TEMPLE SACRIFICE –
VESSELS SUCH AS THE MULTITUDE OF SACRED BOWLS
NECESSARY TO CATCH THE SACRIFICIAL BLOOD
OF THE MULTITUDE OF SLAUGHTERED ANIMALS,
ESTIMATED TO BE SOME 50,000 SHEEP FOR ANY GIVEN PASSOVER.
IN “NOT ALLOWING ANYONE TO CARRY ANYTHING
THROUGH THE TEMPLE,” JESUS IS ACTUALLY BLOCKING
THE TRANSPORT OF THE VERY VESSELS NECESSARY
FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF THE TEMPLE’S MAIN FUNCTION –SACRIFICE.
JESUS’ PROPHETIC ACTION, THEN, IS NOT MERELY TO “CLEANSE”
THE TEMPLE, BUT, LIKE MANY OF THE PROPHETS WHO CAME
BEFORE HIM, AN EXPRESSION OF HIS DESIRE TO SEE
TEMPLE WORSHIP REPLACED ALTOGETHER.
AND JESUS DOES REPLACE THE VIOLENT RITUAL OF THE TEMPLE
WITH A NEW FORM OF WORSHIP THE VERY NEXT DAY,
WHEN HE CELEBRATES PASSOVER WITH HIS DISCIPLES.
AS HE DOES WITH SO MANY ASPECTS OF HIS JEWISH HERITAGE,
JESUS TAKES A CENTRAL PART OF JUDAISM,
IN THIS CASE, PASSOVER, AND TRANSFORMS ITS MEANING.
PASSOVER, LIKE TEMPLE SACRIFICE, WAS ALL ABOUT BLOOD.
BUT JESUS TAKES THE VIOLENT BLOOD OF PASSOVER AND TEMPLE
AND LINKS IT TO THE “POURING OUT” OF THE BLOOD
OF GOD’S SUFFERING SERVANT,
A FIGURE IN THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH
WHO IS THE PERSONAL, COMPASSIONATE, FORGIVING, NONVIOLENT
EMISSARY WHOM GOD SENDS TO BROKEN HUMANITY
TO REVEAL TO IT THE DEPTH AND BREADTH OF GOD’S LOVE.
JESUS ALSO LINKS WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE DOES
TO THE “NEW” COVENANT MENTIONED IN THE
BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH.
THIS “NEW” COVENANT IS CENTERED IN THE HUMAN HEART,
AND NOT IN ANY SACRIFICIAL PRACTICE WHATSOEVER.
THE “NEW COVENANT IN MY BLOOD”
THAT WE HEARD MENTIONED IN LUKE’S GOSPEL
IS A DIRECT REFERENCE TO THE BLOOD THAT JESUS WILL SHED
THE DAY AFTER PASSOVER, THE DAY THAT WE CHRISTIANS
REFER TO AS “GOOD” FRIDAY.
UNLIKE PASSOVER AND TEMPLE WHERE THE BLOOD SHED
IS VIOLENT, THE BLOOD THAT JESUS SHEDS ON THE CROSS
IS NOTHING BUT FORGIVENESS, COMPASSION, AND PEACE.
BLOOD, IN OTHER WORDS, THAT SYMBOLIZES THE ESSENCE
OF GOD’S NONVIOLENT LOVE.
IT SYMBOLIZES THE NEW WAY OF BEING HUMAN
THAT GOD HAS BROUGHT ABOUT IN JESUS
AND THAT GOD HOPES TO BRING ABOUT IN US.
WHEN WE RECEIVE THE BREAD AND WINE OF COMMUNION
WE ARE SAYING “YES!” TO THE NEW NONVIOLENT
WAY OF BEING HUMAN THAT GOD DESIRES
EACH OF US TO EMBRACE AND THEM EMBODY OURSELVES.
THERE’S SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH TIME AT THIS POINT
TO GO INTO THE INS AND OUTS OF WHAT JESUS’ DEATH
ACCOMPLISHED.
BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THAT SINCE JESUS ON PALM SUNDAY RODE INTO JERUSALEM
ON A BURRO AND NOT A WAR HORSE,
SINCE JESUS PUT AN END TO
THE VIOLENT SACRIFICES OF THE TEMPLE,
AND SINCE JESUS
REINTERPRETED THE VIOLENT BLOOD OF PASSOVER
IN TERMS OF THE NONVIOLENT BLOOD OF
GOD’S SUFFERING SERVANT,
THAT UNDERSTANDING WHAT HAPPENED ON THE CROSS
IN TERMS OF GOD’S DEMANDING THE BLOOD OF HIS SON
TO LET US OFF THE HOOK, AS SO MANY CHRISTIANS DO,
IS IMMEDIATELY UNDERCUT BECAUSE THIS CONTRADICTS
JESUS OWN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT HE WAS DOING.
JESUS DID NOT THINK OF WHAT HE DID
IN TERMS OF SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT,
AND NEITHER SHOULD WE.
HE CAME TO GIVE US A NEW MODEL, A NEW PATTERN FOR LIVING.
HE DIED BECAUSE WE PREFER OUR VIOLENCE TO HIS PEACE.
GOD RAISED HIM FROM DEATH TO DEFINITIVELY CONFIRM THE FACT
THAT JESUS’ WAY IS GOD’S WAY.
THE EARLY CHURCH GOT THIS.
A WIDE VARIETY OF EARLY CHURCH THINKERS HAVE EXPRESSED
VARIATIONS ON THE THEME OF
“GOD BECAME A HUMAN BEING SO THAT HUMAN BEINGS
COULD BECOME MORE LIKE GOD. MORE LIKE GOD IN TERMS
OF GOD’S CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPASSION, FORGIVENESS,
NONVIOLENCE, AND LOVE.”
THERE IS A GROWING MOVEMENT, A MOVEMENT OF WHICH
COMMUNITY CHURCH IS A PART, TO RETURN TO THE VISION OF THE EARLY CHURCH OF GRACIOUSLY ACCEPTING JESUS’ DESIRE
TO TEACH US HOW TO LIVE.
WE ARE “SAVED” THROUGH THE PROCESS OF BECOMING
MORE AND MORE LIKE HIM.
AMEN.