Another Lenten sermon following Adam Hamilton's book on the Gospel of John that we are using for our Lenten small groups. Another sermon with lots of material, maybe too much material. when I have a point that has eleven sub-points, I probably am using too much information!
Two significant theological thoughts are found in this sermon, either of which is worthy of more attention. The first one is found in the second move -- the discussion of does God suffer, or where God is in our suffering is a powerful question that remains unanswered, but is revealing as its answer is sought. The second one is found in the third move dealing with Harvey Cox's suggestion that Jesus being crucified is different than Jesus merely dying because it means that the resurrection is about the overturning of the world's power and systems, not just overcoming death. I find that a powerful thought.
“The Passion” March 13, 2016; FPC, Troy; John 18: 1-12; John 19: 13-27; Lenten series on John
Introduction: Our Lenten journey through the Gospel of John brings us to the passion story, the story of Christ death and crucifixion, a little bit before Good Friday. I would note that the liturgical calendar now calls Palm Sunday "Palm/Passion Sunday" with the option to celebrate the Passion of Christ on Palm Sunday. The idea being, of course, that if people do not come back to church for a service of darkness during Holy Week, they move from shouting "hosannas" and waving palm branches to lilies and resurrection a week later with no sense of the death of Christ. Perhaps our discussion of the passion the week before Palm Sunday will help make it clear that Jesus needed to be resurrected because he had died.
Move 1: Passion?
a. I find it interesting that "passion" is the word used to describe the story of Christ’s death.
1. The root word in Latin for "passion" means literally "suffering."
2. Thus, when the church was part of the Roman Empire that spoke Latin, the term passion was used to describe the crucifixion of Christ because it depicted Christ's suffering.
b. I suspect, however, that the first image that comes to mind when you hear the word passion today is not suffering, but something else.
1. We might look to the world of relationships and romance, passion speaks to the fire one lover feels for another.
2. Or passion refers to something about which we care deeply, but not necessarily related to romantic love.
3. I hear the younger generation speaks about passion – as in, “I want to be a physical therapist because I am passionate about helping others deal with their physical issues.”
c. In some ways, both connotations seem to fit with what Christ is doing in the crucifixion story.
1. Christ's feels passionate about us and about the world.
2. Christ loves us so much that he is willing to suffer on the cross.
3. His passion leads to his passion, if you will.
d. In 1633, the residents of Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany, vowed that if God spared them from the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would produce a play thereafter for all time depicting the life and death of Jesus.
1. The death rate among adults rose from one person per 1000 per year in October 1632 to twenty in the month of March 1633. The adult death rate slowly subsided to one in the month of July 1633. The villagers believed they had been spared and they kept their part of the vow when the play was first performed in 1634.
2. It was called the Passion Play because the play's plot was told around the story of the crucifixion.
3. The residents of Oberammergau exchanging their suffering to tell the story of Christ's suffering, if you will.
4. The play is now performed repeatedly over the course of five months during every year ending in zero. 102 performances took place from 15 May until 3 October 2010 and is next scheduled for 2020.
5. The production involves over 2,000 performers, musicians and stage technicians, all residents of the village. The Oberammergau production takes place in one day, but the running time has varied due to the many revisions that have taken place through the years. In 2010 it had a running time of 5 hours, beginning at 2:30 pm and ending at 10:00 pm, with a meal break. It was staged a total of 102 days and ran from May 15 until October 3 that year. According to a record from 1930, the play then had running time of approximately seven hours.
6. The play continues to be staged every ten years, in the last year of each decade – that is, the year whose numeral ends with a zero; hence, the next performances will be in 2020 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberammergau_Passion_Play)
7. As if we can only handle the story of the crucifixion being told in detail every ten years.
Move 2: Divine death or human death.
a. In our Lenten small groups this week, there will be a discussion of how the Gospel of John tells the story of Christ’s crucifixion in such a way that emphasizes Christ’s divinity in the crucifixion is seen in Christ's control of what happens and Christ’s humanity is the part of Christ that suffers on the cross.
1. For example, in the Gospel of John we are told that Christ goes across to the other side of the Kidron Valley to a garden. Unlike Matthew and Mark, this garden is not named the Garden of Gethsemane (Hamilton, John: The Gospel of Light and Life,122).
2. Why? Because the Garden of Gethsemane scene in the other gospels shows Jesus full of anguish about his predicament and frustrated with the disciples who keep falling asleep.
3. Jesus seemingly debating whether he wants to go through with the crucifixion.
4. That anguish does not fit the divine image of Christ that the Gospel of John lifts up.
5. Or consider that in the Gospel of John we are told that a cohort or battalion of soldiers come to arrest Jesus. This designation of troops is not found in the other gospels, and it reflects somewhere between 200 or 600 soldiers (depending on the exact reference) show up to arrest and unarmed Jesus, reflects that power of the divine Jesus that requires a battalion of soldiers (Hamilton, 123 -- Hamilton says 600, but the New Interpreter's Bible suggests it could be a group of 200 also; New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. IX, 801).
6. We might also notice how Jesus responds with "I am he," to the soldiers' question, which references the "I am" sayings and God's name "I am."
7. when Jesus uses that name, the soldiers step back and fall on the ground, which presumably confirms that power of the divine Jesus.
8. this all points to the fact that Jesus can only be crucified with his permission, if you will.
9. the soldiers who fall on the ground stand no chance against the divine, unless the divine one has chosen to give himself over to crucifixion.
10. in John's telling of Jesus' trial, the word king or kingdom is used fifteen times (Hamilton, 125).
11. A fact which seems to be emphasized when Pontius Pilate insists that the sign "Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews" remains posted. Only in the Gospel of John is the phrase written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek, which covers the languages of all the world as they would know it (Hamilton, 132).
b. This opens up a conversation about what is more powerful -- Jesus' human side suffering and the insistence that Jesus' divine side is still in control of his destiny or Jesus' divinity suffering?
1. Historically, people have suggested that it is the human side of Christ that we see in the body on the cross. It was a heresy in the early church to say that God could suffer.
2. but in the 20th century, theologians began to reassess that claim, particularly in light of the Holocaust (perhaps we might see it through the lens of 9/11).
3. Where is God in the suffering? Standing by and watching for some reason we cannot understand?
4. Or, as some theologians would argue, God is suffering with us.
5. The point being made that not only can the divine Christ suffer, but willingly does so to join with us in our human suffering.
6. I am not sure we can separate the acts of Christ into those that are human and that are divine. Certainly, we would do so at the risk of revealing our inability to know the mind of God.
7. But I do find power in the God who chooses to suffer with us as Christ dies on the cross.
Move 3: why does it matter how Jesus died?
a. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is crucified on the Day of Preparation (for the Passover) which would be when the lamb was slaughtered for the Passover celebration.
1. This projects Jesus as the Passover lamb (Hamilton, 130).
2. The death, if you will, that brings with it the hope that the angel of death that spared the Israelites will pass over us as well as our death leads to eternal life.
b. We also note that Jesus does not die, but is crucified.
1. There is a difference.
2. As Harvey Cox notes, “To restore a dead person to life might be seen to strike a blow at mortality.
3. But to restore a crucified man to life means to strike an equally decisive blow at the system that caused his wrongful death, and the death systems that continue to cause the suffering and fatality of millions in what the Latin American theologian Jon Sobrino calls ‘a world of crosses.’” When Jesus Came to Harvard, Harvey Cox (277).
4. Being crucified takes on additional meaning once Christ is resurrected because it challenges the way the world works.
5. In Jesus Christ, Superstar, after Jesus trial as it becomes clear Christ would be crucified, those who were left behind sing the song, “Could We Start Again Please.”
1. We might look to the world of relationships and romance, passion speaks to the fire one lover feels for another.
2. Or passion refers to something about which we care deeply, but not necessarily related to romantic love.
3. I hear the younger generation speaks about passion – as in, “I want to be a physical therapist because I am passionate about helping others deal with their physical issues.”
c. In some ways, both connotations seem to fit with what Christ is doing in the crucifixion story.
1. Christ's feels passionate about us and about the world.
2. Christ loves us so much that he is willing to suffer on the cross.
3. His passion leads to his passion, if you will.
d. In 1633, the residents of Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany, vowed that if God spared them from the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would produce a play thereafter for all time depicting the life and death of Jesus.
1. The death rate among adults rose from one person per 1000 per year in October 1632 to twenty in the month of March 1633. The adult death rate slowly subsided to one in the month of July 1633. The villagers believed they had been spared and they kept their part of the vow when the play was first performed in 1634.
2. It was called the Passion Play because the play's plot was told around the story of the crucifixion.
3. The residents of Oberammergau exchanging their suffering to tell the story of Christ's suffering, if you will.
4. The play is now performed repeatedly over the course of five months during every year ending in zero. 102 performances took place from 15 May until 3 October 2010 and is next scheduled for 2020.
5. The production involves over 2,000 performers, musicians and stage technicians, all residents of the village. The Oberammergau production takes place in one day, but the running time has varied due to the many revisions that have taken place through the years. In 2010 it had a running time of 5 hours, beginning at 2:30 pm and ending at 10:00 pm, with a meal break. It was staged a total of 102 days and ran from May 15 until October 3 that year. According to a record from 1930, the play then had running time of approximately seven hours.
6. The play continues to be staged every ten years, in the last year of each decade – that is, the year whose numeral ends with a zero; hence, the next performances will be in 2020 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberammergau_Passion_Play)
7. As if we can only handle the story of the crucifixion being told in detail every ten years.
Move 2: Divine death or human death.
a. In our Lenten small groups this week, there will be a discussion of how the Gospel of John tells the story of Christ’s crucifixion in such a way that emphasizes Christ’s divinity in the crucifixion is seen in Christ's control of what happens and Christ’s humanity is the part of Christ that suffers on the cross.
1. For example, in the Gospel of John we are told that Christ goes across to the other side of the Kidron Valley to a garden. Unlike Matthew and Mark, this garden is not named the Garden of Gethsemane (Hamilton, John: The Gospel of Light and Life,122).
2. Why? Because the Garden of Gethsemane scene in the other gospels shows Jesus full of anguish about his predicament and frustrated with the disciples who keep falling asleep.
3. Jesus seemingly debating whether he wants to go through with the crucifixion.
4. That anguish does not fit the divine image of Christ that the Gospel of John lifts up.
5. Or consider that in the Gospel of John we are told that a cohort or battalion of soldiers come to arrest Jesus. This designation of troops is not found in the other gospels, and it reflects somewhere between 200 or 600 soldiers (depending on the exact reference) show up to arrest and unarmed Jesus, reflects that power of the divine Jesus that requires a battalion of soldiers (Hamilton, 123 -- Hamilton says 600, but the New Interpreter's Bible suggests it could be a group of 200 also; New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. IX, 801).
6. We might also notice how Jesus responds with "I am he," to the soldiers' question, which references the "I am" sayings and God's name "I am."
7. when Jesus uses that name, the soldiers step back and fall on the ground, which presumably confirms that power of the divine Jesus.
8. this all points to the fact that Jesus can only be crucified with his permission, if you will.
9. the soldiers who fall on the ground stand no chance against the divine, unless the divine one has chosen to give himself over to crucifixion.
10. in John's telling of Jesus' trial, the word king or kingdom is used fifteen times (Hamilton, 125).
11. A fact which seems to be emphasized when Pontius Pilate insists that the sign "Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews" remains posted. Only in the Gospel of John is the phrase written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek, which covers the languages of all the world as they would know it (Hamilton, 132).
b. This opens up a conversation about what is more powerful -- Jesus' human side suffering and the insistence that Jesus' divine side is still in control of his destiny or Jesus' divinity suffering?
1. Historically, people have suggested that it is the human side of Christ that we see in the body on the cross. It was a heresy in the early church to say that God could suffer.
2. but in the 20th century, theologians began to reassess that claim, particularly in light of the Holocaust (perhaps we might see it through the lens of 9/11).
3. Where is God in the suffering? Standing by and watching for some reason we cannot understand?
4. Or, as some theologians would argue, God is suffering with us.
5. The point being made that not only can the divine Christ suffer, but willingly does so to join with us in our human suffering.
6. I am not sure we can separate the acts of Christ into those that are human and that are divine. Certainly, we would do so at the risk of revealing our inability to know the mind of God.
7. But I do find power in the God who chooses to suffer with us as Christ dies on the cross.
Move 3: why does it matter how Jesus died?
a. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is crucified on the Day of Preparation (for the Passover) which would be when the lamb was slaughtered for the Passover celebration.
1. This projects Jesus as the Passover lamb (Hamilton, 130).
2. The death, if you will, that brings with it the hope that the angel of death that spared the Israelites will pass over us as well as our death leads to eternal life.
b. We also note that Jesus does not die, but is crucified.
1. There is a difference.
2. As Harvey Cox notes, “To restore a dead person to life might be seen to strike a blow at mortality.
3. But to restore a crucified man to life means to strike an equally decisive blow at the system that caused his wrongful death, and the death systems that continue to cause the suffering and fatality of millions in what the Latin American theologian Jon Sobrino calls ‘a world of crosses.’” When Jesus Came to Harvard, Harvey Cox (277).
4. Being crucified takes on additional meaning once Christ is resurrected because it challenges the way the world works.
5. In Jesus Christ, Superstar, after Jesus trial as it becomes clear Christ would be crucified, those who were left behind sing the song, “Could We Start Again Please.”
MARY MAGDALENE
I’ve been living to see you.
Dying to see you, but it shouldn’t be like this.
This was unexpected,
What do I do now?
Could we start again please?
I’ve been very hopeful, so far.
Now for the first time, I think we’re going wrong.
Hurry up and tell me,
This is just a dream.
Oh could we start again please?
PETER
I think you’ve made your point now.
You’ve even gone a bit too far to get the message home.
Before it gets too frightening,
We ought to call a vote,
So could we start again please?
The whole cast of Christ's followers then join in singing those words (March 23, 2008; Blog Don't Eat Alone, Milton Brasher-Cunningham)
Crucifixion means no starting over again. Christ does not die on the cross so we can have cosmic redo on life.
Christ dies on the cross, so that he can usher in a new kingdom. A kingdom in which his love overcomes sin and death.
Conclusion: In the Gospel of John, Jesus does not cry out from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me."
Instead, his last words are, "it is finished," which has the connotation(Hamilton, 136).
A mission accomplished by his passion.
(John 19:13-27) When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge's bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, "Here is your King!" They cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but the emperor." Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'" Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written." When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it." This was to fulfill what the scripture says, "They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots." And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. (NRSV)
"Jesus can only be crucified with his permission, if you will." That made the sermon for me. Thank for sharing! Soli Deo gloria -- Mario Bolivar
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