One
of the things about Lent and about Easter is that, a lot of times, we feel like
we’ve heard the story before. We may not
remember all the details, but we know the general outlines. Even if we don’t feel like we know that much
about the Bible, we know that Jesus was arrested, that he died on a cross, and
that he rose from the dead on the third day.
And so, when
we come to Lent services or a Maundy Thursday service or a Good Friday service
or even an Easter Sunday services, we kind of know how things are going to
go. We still like the story, and we
still want and need to hear it. But it
starts to lose its impact, because we know how it ends. It’s like seeing a favorite movie or reading
a favorite book. We still like it, but
it does not make the same impact on us that it would if we did not know how it
was going to come out.
So for these
Wednesday Lent services, let’s take a new look at the last days of Jesus’
life. Let’s pretend we don’t know how
the story comes out. Let’s try to put
ourselves in the story in some way, seeing what the people then saw and feeling
what the people then felt.
Where our
story starts today is right after Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead. Lots of people are putting faith in Jesus,
and the Pharisees are worried. A meeting
is called of the Sanhedrin, which was the leading religious council in
Israel. They’re trying to figure out
what they’re going to do about this Jesus guy.
I think the
reaction of the Sanhedrin is interesting.
We tend to think that they were just mad at Jesus because he was making
them look bad. He was upsetting the
apple cart. We tend to think the
Pharisees had personal reasons for wanting Jesus killed.
And maybe
some of them did, but that’s not what John tells us. Here’s why John tells us the Pharisees want
Jesus killed. He quotes the Pharisees as
saying, “If we let Jesus go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and
then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
You see at
this time, as you may know, Israel was part of the Roman Empire. That’s why we hear about King Herod. Herod was in control of Israel for the Roman
Empire. Now, Rome did not care that much
about the people of Israel as people.
They just wanted to make sure they stayed in control and that taxes were
paid like they were supposed to be. The
Jewish people could do whatever they wanted, as long as they did not cause
trouble and as long as they paid their taxes.
But that’s
why the Pharisees were so scared of Jesus.
They heard him referred to as the King, and thought he was going to try
to be an earthly king, someone who was going to try to break Israel away from
Rome and make it an independent country.
And even if they did not think Jesus wanted to be an earthly king, they
thought the people might very well try to make him one.
And while
the Pharisees were not opposed to an independent Israel in theory, they did not
think there was any chance it could actually happen. Israel had tried to break free from Rome
about a hundred years earlier. They achieved
some independence for a while, but then Rome came and crushed them. And Israel was weaker now than it had been
then, while Rome was stronger. They
thought if Jesus led a rebellion, they’d be crushed again. And this time, Rome might take away everything: their religion, their national identity,
everything.
That’s why
the high priest, Caiaphas, said what he did.
He said it was better for one man, Jesus, to die for the people than it
was for the whole nation to perish. He
thought the only way for the nation to survive was for Jesus to be killed.
But they had
a problem. The Pharisees did not know
where Jesus was or when they’d find him.
They knew the Passover was coming, and Jewish people were supposed to go
to Jerusalem for it, but would Jesus come, under these circumstances? They did not know. All they could do was wait and watch.
Jesus knew
what was going on. For a while, he hid
out in Ephraim with the disciples. But
he knew he was going to Jerusalem for the Passover. He first went to Bethany, where Lazarus
lived. Mary, Martha’s sister, poured
expensive perfume over Jesus’ feet.
Jesus said this was to prepare Jesus for burial. We’re also told that a big crowd came, not
just to see Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, because Jesus had raised him from
the dead. So the Pharisees decided they
needed to kill Lazarus, too. We’re not
told if the Pharisees ever carried out that part of the plan.
The
interesting thing--well, there are a lot of interesting things, but the
interesting thing I want to point out tonight--is that the only one who knew
what was really going on in this story was Jesus. The Pharisees did not know
what was going on. They thought Jesus
was going to become an earthly king and start an earthly revolution that could
destroy Israel. The disciples did not
know what was going on. In fact, we’re
not told that they had any clue that anything was going on. Mary did not know what was going on. Jesus said that she was preparing him for
burial, but we’re not given any indication that Mary knew that was what she was
doing. None of the people involved in
this story knew what was going on or why they were doing what they were
doing. And yet, somehow, God used all of
them to make all the events of the Easter story happen exactly the way they
were supposed to happen.
And
I think that’s one of the most remarkable things about this story. And it gives me hope. Because there are so many times now when it
seems like no one really knows what’s going on.
Our leaders--whether we’re talking about religious leaders or political
leaders or business leaders or any other kind of leaders--really don’t know
what’s going on, even if sometimes they think they do. The common, ordinary people really don’t know
what’s going on. Even the followers of
Jesus really don’t know what’s going on.
And
yet, somehow, God is using all of us to make all the events in the world happen
exactly the way they’re supposed to happen.
Is it hard to believe that? Yeah,
sometimes it is. There are so many
things happening that don’t seem right.
There are so many things that make us wonder where God is. There are so many things that make us wonder
why God allows things to be the way they are, that make us wonder if God really
cares and if God really loves us. It’s
hard to believe that, somehow, God is using all this to make things happen the
way they’re supposed to happen.
That’s
why we need to put ourselves in these stories.
Because the people we’re reading about felt the exact same way. The Pharisees did not believe that what Jesus
was doing was part of God’s plan. They
thought they had to stop him for the survival of their nation. And when we talk about Jesus’ death later in
this sermon series, we’ll see that no one thought that could be part of God’s
plan. The disciples did not. In fact, when Jesus started talking about his
death to the disciples, Peter told him to shut up, that he should not talk that
way. The crowds did not. They thought this was the guy who was going
to lead them to freedom and independence from Rome.
Nobody
knew what was going on. And yet, God
used it all to make the story come out exactly the way it was supposed to.
God
is doing the same thing now. God is
doing that for the world. God is doing
that for the country. And God is doing
that in our personal lives, too.
Because
we feel that way in our own lives sometimes.
I do. Don’t you? I think most of us do, at least sometimes. We have times when we feel like we don’t know
what’s going on or how it could possibly be God’s plan. We feel like nobody else does, either. And yet, if we just trust God, God will use
all the things that are going on in our lives to make our stories come out the
way they’re supposed to come out, too.
You
and I may not know what’s going on.
Maybe there’s nobody who knows what’s going on. But God knows. And if we just keep trusting God, God will
use all the things that are happening to make things come out the way they’re
supposed to. God will do that for the
world. God will do it for the
country. And God will do it for you and
for me.
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