Loving God, with you things are not always as they seem, and even death is transformed into life.  In all that we face, help us to know that you are near and that you continue to be at work among us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

          As you think about this scene with Pilate and Jesus and the religious leaders, who would you say is in charge?  Who holds the power?... [Pilate? Religious leaders? Jesus?  God?]  Of course, Pilate is the Roman governor, and Jesus is the one on trial, so we might tend to think that Pilate is the one in charge.  But is he really?...

         We hear throughout the Passion Narrative that Pilate really doesn’t think that there is any case against Jesus and wants to release him.  So first, Pilate tries offering to release Jesus since it is Passover time.  However, the religious leaders want Barabbas instead.  Then Pilate tries having Jesus flogged and dressed up with the purple robe and the crown of thorns to see if that will satisfy them.  But they still shout that they want Jesus crucified.

         Pilate continues to insist that he finds no case against Jesus, and the religious leaders continue to insist that he deserves to die.  They seem to remain at a stalemate until the religious leaders play the emperor card.  “Look,” they say.  “Are you a friend of the emperor or a friend of Jesus?  There cannot be another king hanging around if you truly serve the emperor.”  This is when Pilate knows he has lost, and finally gives his judgment.

         Yet, he still gives it in such a way that he tries to wash his hands of all responsibility.  He asks them once again if they want him to crucify their king.  Their response is to claim no king but the emperor.  “Then he handed him over to them to be crucified” (Jn. 19:16a).  The wording suggests that Pilate is still holding the religious leaders responsible for Jesus’ death.  So does Pilate have any real power if he believes Jesus to be innocent and yet can’t manage to release him?...

         As for the religious leaders, Pilate tries to make them responsible, and yet they couldn’t have put Jesus to death without Roman cooperation.  It is also questionable whether these people actually should be religious leaders or not.  In their own Passover liturgy, which was close at hand, they would be saying “we have no king but God” (revgalblogpals.org).  And yet, there they stand shouting “we have no king but the emperor” (Jn. 19:15).  Even though it is supposedly Jesus who is on trial, the religious leaders are judged to be faithless and Pilate is judged to be powerless.

         So is Jesus the one who is in charge as he stands there before Pilate?...  Certainly, Jesus could have handled things quite differently.  He could have stirred up his followers to fight for him.  He could have used his wisdom to convince Pilate to let him go.  He could have asked God to send legions of angels to fight for him and rescue him, as the gospel of Matthew says (Mt. 26:53).  But he doesn’t.  He speaks only the truth and does not confirm or deny any of the charges against him.

         Earlier in the gospel of John we hear that Jesus has the power to lay down his life and has the power to take it up again (Jn. 10:18).  Essentially, Jesus surrenders himself to the Roman authorities and what they decide to do with him.  He seems to know that more good will come from his death than he could ever do by prolonging his life.  Yet, what a strange kind of power this is!

         The apostle Paul writes about God’s power that is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).  Surely there is no more vulnerable and powerless position in the world than to be stripped of your clothing and nailed to a cross.  Yet, here was the embodiment of God’s love for a dark and broken world (workingpreacher.org).  In spite of the venom and the hatred that was spewed at Jesus, he did not spew the same back.  Even on the cross, he prayed that God would forgive.  He never allowed anybody to take away his sense of who he was or his ultimate trust in God.

         Really, we can ask similar questions today about who holds the power in our lives and in our world.  Is it the people who appear to be in charge and in positions of authority?  Is it an addiction of some sort that holds the power in our lives?  Are we actually the powerful ones?  Or is it God who holds the power?

         In the Lord’s Prayer we say that the kingdom, the power and the glory belong to God, but do we live as if this is true?  And do we believe that this is true?  Just as with Jesus being sent off to be crucified, looks can be deceiving.  In an article in last month’s Canada Lutheran, Rev. Dr. Robert Kelly writes about how “God normally works under the appearance of God’s opposite” (Jan/Feb p. 15).  This is part of Luther’s Theology of the Cross.  In other words, even though Jesus looks as though he is the most powerless and miserable person in the world, God’s power is at work in and through the cross.

         The same idea shows up in much of Jesus’ teaching, as the kingdom of God is compared to a tiny mustard seed or a little bit of yeast in a batch of dough.  There is also the idea in Matthew 25 that we meet Jesus in those who are hungry or thirsty or sick or in prison.  Once again, God’s power is made perfect in weakness.

         And so, don’t expect to find God in all that is big and glitzy and profitable.  God is far more likely to be at work among the poor and the sick and the weak.  And ultimately the good news is that God is with us.  God is with us in all of our struggles and our pain, in all of our joys and sorrows, and God takes all that weighs us down and transforms it into life.  God’s power continues to be at work among us – even when it doesn’t look like it.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Lent 5 (NL 4)                                                            John 19:1-16a

March 18, 2018

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2018 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved