March 31, 2021
Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.” - Luke 23:1-2
The dark, immoral, and illegal trials of the Jewish council now lead to Jesus being taken before the authority that truly can have him put to death.
The members of the Sanhedrin parade Jesus off to Pilate who questions him, and initially tries to pass him off to Herod. Herod only mocks him, ridicules him, and dresses Jesus in a royal robe having guards slap and beat him. Then, only to send Jesus back to Pilate, again.
24 hours earlier Jesus and his disciples were preparing the Passover. A few days earlier, Jesus was making a triumphant entry into Jerusalem. He was being praised by the people along the streets, the palm branches waving and being laid at his feet.
How could all of this come to such an abrupt halt?
We are a people who love the pomp and glory of Palm Sunday. We love to see the palm branches waved, and to hear the Hosannas. We are a people who have been taught that we are resurrection people, that life is abundant and full in Christ Jesus our lord, who conquers death.
We love Palm Sunday, and we love Easter, when we get to shout the Hallelujahs because our Lord has risen from the grave. But how can we truly understand the joy of those Sundays without entering into the Holy Week of Christ’s passion?
We must know that life is not always full of moment of joy, we are not always living in times of celebration. We sometimes have need for morning, desperation, failure, and we know that sometimes we feel falsely accused. Jesus walks every bit of the valleys of life with us, because he walked them before us.
the accusations and the illegal trials our Lord was forced to endure when no trials were to be held, when it was still the middle of the night, without representation, asked self-incrimination questions, condemned without a vote, and executed before even a day passed. For even according to Jewish law after a death penalty was issued, an entire night needed to pass before the execution was carried out.
We need to know the before we endure life, not just its joys and celebrations, but its times of desperation and accusation that our Lord endured it far before we were born. He endured the worst devastation that life could offer, and he did it submitting constantly to the Father’s will, that we might be taught to follow Him into everything.
Jesus is offered to us, the sacrificial lamb, as the new mandate for our sin. No more sacrifice, no more burnt offering, no more death for those who call on the name of the Lord, for Jesus endured it all in our stead, as our scapegoat. As our sacrifice of the New Covenant between God and humanity.
Grace & Peace,
Sam