(Please feel free to use this reading. Credit: Rev. Murray Speer.)
Part One: Peter’s Tale (Matthew 26:31-56)
I told him I would never leave him. But, I have to tell you, all this
strange talk about how he would have to suffer and die - and how we
would leave him to suffer alone - and that I would disown him? Me!
Peter, the rock! All this strange talk was getting to be too much.
When
we set out on the road for Jerusalem, we knew that big things would
happen. Everywhere we went, people were listening to Jesus. REALLY
listening. In every town, the local Pharisees debated with Jesus. They
didn’t like that he preached resistance against the government, but
they had to admit that he followed the Scriptures. And the people loved
him, so the authorities had to take him seriously.
It
would be the same in Jerusalem, we were sure. The people would love
him, and the High Priest would have to admit that his teachings were
valid. Everyone would have to take him seriously. And things would
change.
We knew it was dangerous. We knew what happened
to the Baptizer. Herod had him executed. We had steeled ourselves to
face danger. Jesus didn’t want us to fight, but we wouldn’t listen to
him. We were ready to fight and die for him. It was absurd to suggest
that we would desert him. But surely nothing would happen until after
the Passover festival! He would continue to teach, more and more
people would listen to him, the priests would take him seriously, and
the government would have to start treating us differently.
So,
imagine our surprise when they came to arrest him on the night before
Passover. How dare they disrespect the holiday? I drew my sword,
determined that no one would stop me. But, somehow, he did stop me.
And then he did something I never imagined.
He went with
them, willingly. Didn’t he have confidence in us? Didn’t he think we
could win a fight? Does he want us to just give up, now that we’re so
close to our goal?
Part Two: Judas’ Tale (Matthew 26:57-27:5)
Where
could I find forgiveness? I never dreamed they would send armed
guards to arrest him. I never imagined they would haul him away in
chains like a criminal. We thought his strange talk about having to
suffer and die was just pessimism. We thought he was just selling
himself short.
We’d been in Jerusalem for days and still
he hadn’t met with the high priests. They refused to come out to
discuss with him, and he seemed reluctant to go to them. But what if I
could be the one who brought them together, where they could listen to
his preaching! If I could arrange that meeting, I would be guaranteed
greatness in the kingdom to come!
When I told the
priests where to find him, I thought they would go alone. I thought
they wanted to talk privately with him, without the audience that would
gather if they went in public. But when the time came, they made a
public affair of it! They brought soldiers, and invited a crowd to
follow! There was nothing I could do but beg them to take him
peacefully. I saw the way his other followers looked at me. As though I
had betrayed them all. It was almost unbearable.
I
followed them into the city. Then I realized that they weren’t going
to let him explain himself. He would be convicted and thrown into
prison, because he held demonstrations against them and the government.
When
they brought him out, I thought that maybe I had been wrong. Maybe
they had heard him, and everything would turn out okay! But he was
still in chains. I followed as far as I could, until I realized where
they were going. They were taking him to Pilate. I couldn’t believe
it! The high priests were turning him over to the Romans! That a Jew
would hand another Jew over to a heathen authority! My heart turned to
water. There’s only one reason that they would hand him over to
Pilate. They want him killed, and they don’t have the authority.
They’ll frame him. He’ll be crucified as a terrorist.
I did this. Where could I find forgiveness?
If he dies, I’ll die too. There is no life after he dies. If I can’t live in his kingdom, I’ll take my own life. So be it.
Part Three: The Other Mary’s Tale (Matthew 27:11-32)
Magdalene
and I were the only ones to stay with him through his horrible ordeal.
The men all ran, including my sons James and Joseph. We saw Peter
and Judas in Jerusalem, but by the time the soldiers brought Jesus out
of the presidium, beaten and bleeding, they had disappeared just like
the others.
I don’t blame them, really. Nobody outside
our group had ever noticed us at all, through all the healings and the
debates and the demonstrations. The men would squabble over who was
his greatest disciple, while we got to work bandaging the sick and
giving alms to the poor. This meant that they were so much more
visible - so much more recognizable as his disciples.
You
never know with the Roman authorities. When they go after a group
like ours, sometimes they take only the leader, and other times they
round everybody up to be crucified. It was probably smart for them to
disappear. But that didn’t make it any easier for me and Magdalene, to
watch what happened.
It was horrible when the people
called for Bar-Abbas to be released. Again, I don’t blame them,
really. Let me tell you about Bar-Abbas. He’s a famous bandit. He
and his men live in the hills and raid caravans. They’re angry over
the suffering of the poor, so they steal from the rich. But, if you
ask me, they’re really doing it for themselves. How much of the wealth
they steal do they give to the poor villages they left behind? Almost
nothing.
But Bar-Abbas says he fights for the poor, so
the poor people love him. And the people he raids are either Romans,
or Jews who work with the Romans. So the people who hate Rome love
Bar-Abbas. They think that a man in the hills with a sword can change
things. I don’t blame them.
How quickly they forgot
Jesus - the man who tried to change things by tending to their broken
bodies and broken spirits. They forgot the man who tried to show them
that God loves each and every one of them. They forgot the one who
tried to change the world by touching their hearts and opening their
eyes.
I don’t blame them, really. But it was a horrible thing to see.
Part Four: Magdalene’s Tale (Matthew 27:33-66)
What
do we do now? When the Baptizer died, Jesus was there to pick up the
pieces and show us a way greater than we imagined. But who will pick
up the pieces now?
I remember when we first came to
Jerusalem - the energy and the excitement. We thought we could change
things. Show people that there is another way to resist the Romans
other than violence. Jesus was building a community of people who
cared for each other. Before him, all you saw was people neglecting
others and focusing only on themselves. That’s what the Empire is
doing to us. Pilate and Herod prefer to rule over selfish people.
We tried. We tried to show people that by caring for each other, you can have the kingdom of God.
But
we didn’t change anything. We failed, and Jesus is gone. I watched
him, there on the cross. I didn’t take my eyes off of him. He called
out, “Why have you forsaken me?” If only he could have seen me, and
known that I was there. If only he could have known that not everyone
had forsaken him.
I don’t know what we’ll do next. I
think we’ll find each other and talk about what happened. It’s still
Passover, and Jesus would want us to be together. Then, when things
have quieted down a bit and the Sabbath is over, we’ll go and see where
they laid him.
We’ll do our best to pick up the pieces. But things will never be the same.
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