We read about the things Jesus went through on
that first Maundy Thursday. Being arrested. Being bound.
Being questioned. Being beaten. Being questioned some more. Being
beaten some more. And, finally, being
sentenced to death.
When you think about it, it’s incredible that he went
through it all. For one thing, Jesus had done nothing wrong. He was completely innocent of everything he
was accused of. And Jesus knew that.
You heard how he said, “If I said something wrong, testify as to what is
wrong?” And his accusers could not do
it. They could not testify to anything that Jesus had said or done that
was wrong.
It goes even further than that. When Pilate asked the
Jewish leaders what the charges were against Jesus, they could not tell him.
All they could say is, “If he were not a criminal, we would not have
handed him over to you.” Not only could
they not prove that Jesus had done anything wrong, they could not even say what
they were accusing him of doing wrong.
It’s such a mockery of justice, when you think about it
that way. Not only was Jesus declared guilty based on no evidence, Jesus
was declared guilty without anyone ever saying what he was guilty of.
Jesus was not crucified because of anything he said or did. Jesus was crucified simply because of who he
was.
And for another thing, Jesus did not have to go through
with this. There are any number of ways Jesus could’ve avoided being
killed. He could’ve just not gone to
Jerusalem in the first place, right? I mean, he knew what was going to
happen when he went there. Jesus
could’ve gone somewhere else, or stayed where he was. If he had, he would not have been killed when
he was, and maybe he would not have been killed ever.
Or, Jesus could’ve stopped Judas from betraying him.
He knew what Judas was going to do.
He told Judas, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” And really,
Jesus would not have had to do anything himself. All he’d have had to do is say to the other
disciples, “Hey guys, guess what Judas is going to do.” They’d have taken
care of Judas right then and there. He
would not have been able to go anywhere and betray anybody.
Or, after Judas left, Jesus could’ve hid out somewhere.
He could’ve avoided the garden of Gethsemane. Jerusalem was a big city even back then.
There had to be plenty of places to hide and plenty of people who’d have
hidden him. Or, he could’ve just left
town. It was night, after all. He
could’ve gotten away before anyone knew where he’d gone.
Or, he could’ve allowed the disciples to fight. Peter
wanted to. He cut off the ear of the
high priest’s servant, Malchus. He was ready for a fight. And I’m sure the other disciples were, too.
Or, Jesus could’ve called for divine help. In fact,
in Matthew’s version of events, Jesus tells Peter, “Do you think I cannot call
on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions
of angels?”
Or, Jesus could’ve tried to cut a deal with the Jewish
authorities. I have to believe that if he’d been willing to compromise,
if he’d been willing to recognize the authority of the Jewish leaders, if he’d
agreed to apologize for breaking the Jewish laws, they’d probably have been
willing to let him go. Or, at the most, give him a mild punishment,
rather than having him killed.
So many ways Jesus could’ve avoided this. And you
know, don’t you think it had to be tempting? I mean, Jesus knew what was
in store for him. He knew how hard it
was going to be. He knew how painful it was going to be. He knew how humiliating and degrading it was
going to be. Knowing what was in store for him, knowing he’d done nothing
to deserve it, knowing that he could avoid it easily, don’t you think it was
tempting for him to do that? I do.
I don’t see how it could not have been.
Think of what it took for Jesus to resist that temptation.
It took courage, for one thing.
Some people say this is the ultimate definition of courage--to make a
choice to face a danger that you don’t have to face. After all, if you
have no choice but to face something, that’s not really courage. That’s just doing what you have to do. But if you could avoid the danger, and yet
you turn and face it, that’s courage. It took a lot of courage for Jesus
to allow himself to be arrested and tortured and killed.
It took a lot of faith, too. Now, maybe you say,
well, he was Jesus. He knew who God the Father was. He knew how things were supposed to go when
he died. Of course he had faith.
And there’s truth in that, of course.
But at the same time, you and I know who God the Father is, too.
And we know, through our faith in Jesus Christ, how things are supposed
to go when we die. And yet, could you do
what Jesus did? Could you willingly give
your life, even though you did not have to? I don’t know that I could.
But the main thing it took was love. Love for God the
Father. And also, love for human beings.
Love for us, for you and for me.
Jesus loved God the Father so much that he was determined
to do what he was supposed to do. He was determined to do it simply
because God the Father wanted him to do it.
In telling Peter to put his sword away, Jesus says, “Shall I not drink
the cup the Father has given me?” In other words, Jesus tells Peter, this
is all part of God’s plan. And I’m going
to follow God’s plan. I’m going to do
what God the Father wants me to do, what God the Father sent me here for.
I’m going to do that no matter what the cost to me is.
That’s love. That’s incredible love. To do what
God wants you to do, no matter what the cost to yourself might be. Even
if it’s the ultimate cost--death. To go
through what Jesus went through, even though he could’ve avoided it, just
because it was what God the Father wanted him to do. It shows a
tremendous love for God the Father for Jesus to have been that obedient.
But it took love for us, too. Because even though
Jesus knew what he’d been sent here to do, there had to be times when he
thought, “Is it worth it? Are they worth it?” After all, Jesus had been observing human
beings up close and personal for over thirty years. And over the last three, he’d observed all
kinds of things about them. And just in the last week, Jesus had seen a
lot of human beings doing a lot of terrible things. In fact, just in this night, Jesus saw
betrayal, fear, hatred, violence, injustice, ignorance, and cruelty, just to
name a few. Jesus saw all the worst things about humanity. The thought must have crossed his mind, “Do I
really have to go through with this? Do
I really have to give my life to save them?”
And as we’ve said, he did not have to. But he did it
anyway. He did it out of love.
Love for you and love for me.
Jesus knew everything about human beings. He saw all
the worst things about us. And yet,
Jesus loved us so much that he gave his life for us. He took the
punishment for our sins. He took the
punishment that should’ve gone to us.
And he did it willingly, even though he did not have to. That’s incredible
love. Jesus has incredible love for each
one of us. Jesus has incredible love for
you. And Jesus has incredible love for
me.
Soon we’ll be sharing Holy Communion. We’ll eat the
bread and drink the juice, as some of us have done so many times before.
We’ll ask for God’s grace to enter into us, as some of us have done so
many times before. We’ll ask for God’s forgiveness, as some of us have
done so many times before.
And those are all good things to do. And we should do
them. But remember what Jesus said when
he gave the first Communion. He said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
So, as we share in Holy Communion tonight, let’s do that.
Let’s take Holy Communion in remembrance of Jesus Christ. Let’s remember the courage Jesus had.
Let’s remember the faith Jesus had.
And let’s remember the love Jesus had, both for God the Father and for
each of us. And as we take Holy Communion, let’s be truly grateful for
what Jesus did for us.
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