Word to the Wise
Saturday, April 4, 2009 - Saturday in the Fifth Week of Lent
[Ezekiel 37:21-28 and John 11:45-56]I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will multiply them, and I put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
If we continue our efforts to identify with various characters in the dramatic presentation of the closing days of Jesus' life in the Gospel of John, we might want to ponder the words I have quoted from the first scripture for today from the prophet Ezekiel! We could then listen to the arguments being advanced in the meeting of the Chief Priests, Pharisees and Sanhedrin over what to "do" about Jesus. If we consider ourselves to be the spiritual and moral guardians of the covenant and the sanctuary (in Jerusalem - not by any means a unanimously regarded position by all first century Jews), we may be concerned about what Jesus was doing. The background to this particular meeting is his raising of Lazarus from the dead! There's a lot at stake, as the discussion shows! The Roman army could be particularly edgy around the big crowds arriving for Passover! The discussion reflects this and it would appear that Caiaphas, for whatever reason, is offering a "way out." I am put in mind of the chorus in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR: He's DANGEROUS!. In the movie, ROMERO, there is a scene at a tennis club where some characters of the upper class discuss the fact that the Archbishop seems unaware of the "stakes" in his denunciation of the death squads, etc. Ultimately those politically and economically wealthy interests would decide that the death of one man would solve their "problem." The clash between gospel witness and political/economic interests continues in our own day. Who will be "sacrificed" next? AMEN
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