I remember the story of the woman who went into a
jewellers shop and asked for a cross. The jeweller brought out a tray of
crucifixes. To which the woman said “Haven’t you got any without the little man
on them?” We don’t like to ponder crucifixion for long. We know the end of the
story – alleluia. But you cannot have resurrection without crucifixion. You
cannot know life without knowing death. We need, however unpleasant it is, to
remember what Jesus was facing in this week. Sleeping friends and corrupt
authorities. Crucifixion remember, was a bloody, brutal and disgraceful form of
Roman capital punishment. Victims were publicly beaten, tortured and
humiliated, and forced to carry their cross to the place of execution. Nailed
to it by their hands and feet, death was prolonged, horrible and excruciatingly
painful.
The Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas,
all held positions of authority and power. The Sanhedrin, who were the supreme
council of the Jewish people had tremendous religious authority, judicial power
and social influence. They charged Jesus with blasphemy, condemned him to death
and brought him before Pilate. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judaea
under Emperor Tiberius.
Pilate found
Jesus innocent but sent him to Herod Antipas for another trial. Herod Antipas
was the one who beheaded John the Baptist and stole his brother’s wife,
Herodias. At the trial, Herod questioned Jesus but Jesus gave no answer. Mocked
by Herod and the soldiers, Jesus was sent back to Pilate who had the authority
to crucify him.
Pilate should have given Jesus his freedom but he
was caught in a dilemma. It was the yearly custom that during the Passover the
governor would release one prisoner. The people had the right of choice. Pilate
offered them the choice of Jesus or Barabbas. In order to please the chief
priests, rulers and the people he hoped to have Jesus punished and released.
The crowd though disagreed and all shouted “release Barabbas for us.” Yielding
to public pressure Pilate set Barabbas free and sentenced Jesus to be crucified.
Not only does Jesus have sleeping friends, he is the victim of a power
struggle, a miscarriage of justice, a weak ruler who washes his hands of it all
and gives in to a braying mob. It is easy to have Jesus crucified. It is easy
to hope he might go away. It is easy to be a church that just washes its hands
of any challenge and just wants the nice bits of Jesus! In the world, it is
easy to cause suffering by might or power or ideology. In the world it is easy
to say we can’t have any of that here so we ban it or destroy it.
Pilate’s
final question to the crowd is an important one: “What shall I do, then, with
Jesus?”
There are only two possible answers. I can crown
him or I can crucify him. There is nothing else, no middle ground.
Pilate tried to
wash his hands, but water won’t wash off that kind of blood. You can’t claim
neutrality. Either join those who crucified him or join those who follow him.
What will we do
with Jesus?
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