Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent
April 16, 2011
And so it begins. The chief priests and Pharisees get together to figure out “what to do” about this Jesus. And Caiaphas, the chief priest, makes a classic pragmatic decision: better this one man should die than many. They realize that if Jesus keeps drawing followers, it will eventually bring the Romans to punish all the Jews. So they will sacrifice this one man. From there, they begin plotting his death.
Of course, they didn't realize it wasn't just any one man they were sacrificing: it was the Son of God and Son of Man, eternally begotten from the Father before all things were made. Or in the vernacular, they picked the wrong cowboy to mess with. But of course, they didn't find that out until later.
So, knowing they were planning to kill him, Jesus stopped walking around freely. He and his disciples went to an area by the desert and laid low while the Jews waited in the Temple, assuming he would be in to prepare for Passover.
I just hate to think of Jesus being a virtual exile in his own land. I mean, he surely knew that in the end, he would be back with his Father and all would be well with him. But he was truly human. Most of us humans dislike conflict, and crave approval and harmony. Knowing the religious leaders were plotting to kill him had to be simultaneously maddening, disappointing, frustrating, and scary. And while I believe he had a certainty that God would take care of him, I always had the impression that he didn't have perfect foreknowledge of exactly how it would all transpire. So even in his perfect faith in the Father, there had to be some fear.
But in a different way, I take comfort in knowing that Jesus had those feelings. When things are going badly for me and I experience a mix of emotions like that, it is a great comfort to know that Jesus felt those feelings, that God himself understands at more than an intellectual level. I know that God was a merciful God even before Jesus walked among us, but somehow it feels to me like he is a more empathetic God since.
Father, we thank you for coming in the person of Jesus to walk among us and experience our feelings. Now give us the strength and tenacity to stay with our Lenten journey, now that it is becoming difficult. Empower us to stay on the path and walk with you, experiencing again your pain and suffering in the coming days so that we can fully experience the thrill and wonder of the contrast when we again celebrate your resurrection. Help us to learn the lessons you would have us learn and inspire us to do your will in the world. Amen
