Text: Passion Story from Mark 15

Text: Passion Story from Mark 15

Introduction

Have you ever watched an older cat that happens upon a mouse or ever better a vole or some type of small rodent?

The young cat will jump and pounce around. It will drop it right at your feet and excitedly brush against your leg. But that old cat is just going through the motions. Maybe it will stand up, if the little thing is sprightlier than it originally thought. But it is more likely to have taken the fight out of the mouse early and just set it between its paws, while it gives you a plaintive stare. If the rodent attempts to move. A lazy paw will lift and bat it around and drag it back. As the cat stares, “look, I’ve done my job. Are you going to do yours?” Oh, you want a little more show, OK. Bat-Bat. Oh, look, it almost got away, clever rodent. Isn’t this fun. As it plops down again and gives you a contemptuous stare. The perfect picture of contemptuous power.

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The Chief Priests and the Sanhedrin are more like those young cats. They are frisky and jumpy. They make extraneous movements, and dramatic crouches and lunges.

“Are you the Christ?”

“I AM”

And the Chief Priests rips his clothes, “You’ve heard the blasphemy.”

It’s still a Kangaroo court. There is no doubt what they are going to do to Jesus. But it is still all so exciting. We got one. We are doing are job with great verve.

But Pilate is not a young cat.

The rouse him early in the morning. The Chief Priests and the elders and the scribes and the whole council. All the young cats who’ve been busy all night. And they’ve plopped Jesus in chains right between the feet of the old cat.

So Pilate, still waking up with his morning coffee, turns a slightly amused and slightly bored eye to Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

Imagine the setting. Surrounded by all these high status Jews, Pilate is having a private chuckle. Staring at them, as they are all excited. “Your King, I see.”

Jesus response isn’t that of a playful mouse. He’s not going to try and escape. He knows the score. If anything he might play along with Pilate. “You have said so.” Knowing full well that Pilate doesn’t say so. All Pilate knows is he’s got a beat man in chains in front of him and a bunch of young cats. And those young cats don’t realize they are in a game of the old cat. Because they start jumping and crouching and throwing charges at Jesus.

And the old lazy cat turns his gaze to Jesus, “see how many charges they bring against you? You make no answer?”

C’mon Jesus, make this a little interesting for me. Try and escape. Make a counter-charge. Protest your innocence. Everybody tries something, begging at least.

“But he made no further answer.” Which heightened the old cat’s curiosity. This is something different.

So the old cat decides to expend some energy. I remember how I used to play with these things. Maybe I can keep this one alive a little longer. Don’t I release one free each year about this time.

“Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews.”

And the young cats provide the entertainment. Whipping up the crowd. Oh what fun for this old cat.

“But what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?”

Oh, this is great fun. I don’t call him that. He’s your King. You sure you want me to do something. I can give you your King. Look at the passion. Over such a rodent.

And they cried “crucify him!”

“But what has he done?”

Look at the poor rodent. You leaders are just envious. From what I understand he’s your savior. Surely you don’t want me to torture and kill and innocent man.

But they shouted all the more, “crucify him.”

Having had his fun, it is no longer interesting. They got me up early, it is time for a nap. Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate releases Barabbas – the murderer, eh, who cares, I’m bored – and hands Jesus over to be crucified.

The last picture we have of Pilate is in the evening. Joseph of Arimathea took courage and approached the old cat. “May I have the body?” And Pilate was surprised that Jesus was already dead. Maybe not as much life in that rodent as I thought. But he checks with the centurion and when the centurion nods, Pilate gives the body. It is the least he could do for the man who had given a moments fun to an old cat.

Christology

Jesus is the one who always gives the appropriate answer to the appropriate audience. Jesus always gives the word.

To the Jews who knew, or should have known, what they were talking about. When they ask him if he is the messiah, he answers, “I AM”. The challenge to them was could they see. If you know. If you’ve had the law and the prophets and the temple worship and everything that should have prepared you, can you see? Can you see, Immanuel, God with us? Can you see the suffering servant? Can you see that just as the messiah will come in the clouds of heaven with great power, he has also come in humility. Riding a donkey. Can you see that he’s the “I AM” of all of it – the sustainer of all of life’s rich pageant. And he will not spare himself. Loving his creation when it is full of food and wine, and loving his creatures when they offer himbitter.

To the Gentile Pilate, largely silence. You are the magistrate. You are the one sitting in the right hand of power now. Let’s see how you do on your own. Do you use the authority give to you wisely? Or is given for mere amusement? Do you recognize innocence as something to be protected, or is it just a plaything? Do you recognize that you will have to give an account, or do you imagine yourself unaccountable? Your own laws that you so pride yourself on, are they real, or just a pre-text for power. The show is yours Pilate, show us who you are without help.

Moral

Of course all of these have an absolute failure of vision. They are a mirror held up for us.

If we are baptized, confirmed and confessing disciples. Can we see? It is easy to see Christ in the power and glory, but can we also see him in those suffering – the hungry, the prisoner? Maybe even tougher. It is easy to be a disciple when we are riding high. Can we be a disciple when the road goes to Golgotha? And the road always goes to Golgotha. We know that. We’ve been taught. Can we rest in the love of God meeting Christ there, at the foot of the cross? Or do we rip our clothes and declare this blasphemy? This is not our messiah, we don’t know him!

If we have been given authority, how do we use it? Do we use it for the good of those it is over, or do we use that authority to be old cats? Do we recognize that we ourselves are under authority? Or is it all just a sleepy game?

Eschatological

The story is not a complete failure of vision. Even in the moments under the cross, there are those allowed to stand. The leaders of both Jew and Gentile may have been blind. The disciples may have run. In Mark’s story one of them, maybe the author himself, runs buck naked from the scene. They may have denied him and sold him out. But there were also women looking on from a distance, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger, and Salome. From Galilee they had followed, along with many others. And Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council,took courage.

From the lowest to the highest, from a distance to those with near access to even Pilate. Christ maintains and sustains his witnesses. They would see and know. The would know where his body was laid. And they would know when that tomb would be empty.

They saw the King of the Jews, and like the Centurion, they saw the Son of God.They saw him in the palms entering Jerusalem, and they saw him on the cross and in the tomb.

The world will continue acting like an old cat, getting older each second, and blinder. But you who see. You know which one is the real king, and which one is a tyrant. The tyrant always falls. The King returns when morning dawns, and life to joy awakes. Amen.