Word to the Wise
Saturday, April 16, 2011 - 5th Week of Lent - Sat
[Ezek 37:21-28 and John 11:45-56]So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, "What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation." But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish."
The hand of the master dramatist is wonderfully evident in this scene, which takes place in the wake of the raising of Lazarus from the dead! A political "hand wringing" session is convened by the religious authorities! "What are we going to do?" Since the original audience for this gospel and the audience to which we belong all know the story, the irony is wonderful. Christianity did become widespread and still is, and the Romans did come anyhow and destroy the Jewish nation in 70AD and again in 135AD. Then Caiaphas provides an additional bit of dramatic irony by saying that "it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation nay not perish." Precisely! The first saying rests on a political and worldly worry. The second is a prophetic theological interpretation! To see how it all plays out in this drama, we have to read/journey on!
Thus the fears of the religious authorities were well-founded as the reader/pilgrim knows! Tomorrow we will be invited to take up a piece of palm branch and welcome Jesus to Jerusalem. The choice is ours. We can remain in the position of a detached observer, unmoved by events, or we can be active participants - for better or for worse - in the drama as it unfolds over the next week. If our Easter preparations are more a matter of dying eggs and bunny rabbits than a cross and empty tomb, then our choice is a matter of cultural indifference. If we decide to participate as a matter of faith in the events of our salvation, then our choice demands that we take responsibility for what happens! The palm branch is just the first step on the journey. AMEN
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