Episode Transcript
[00:00:12] Speaker A: Welcome to the Blessed Sacrament Homilies podcast.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Where our mission is to help everyone recognize and experience the presence of God. We hope you are nourished and encouraged by the Word.
[00:00:22] Speaker A: Thank you for joining us.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ According to John.
Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley to where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered. Judas, his betrayer, also knew the place because Jesus often met there with his disciples.
So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches and weapons. Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and said to them, whom are you looking for? They answered, jesus the Nazarene. Jesus said to them, I am.
Judas, his betrayer, was also with them. When Jesus said to them, I am. They turned away and fell to the ground. So Jesus again asked them, whom are you looking for? They said, jesus the Nazarene.
Jesus answered, I told you that I am. So if you are looking for me, let these men go. This was to fulfill what he had said. I have not lost any of those you gave me.
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest slave and cut off his right ear. The slave's name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, put your sword back into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?
[00:02:09] Speaker C: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
[00:02:33] Speaker D: So the band of soldiers, the tribune and the Jewish guards seized Jesus, bound him and brought him to Annas first. He was the father in law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.
It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews that it was better that one man die rather than the people.
[00:02:57] Speaker A: Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Now the other disciple was known to the high priest, and he entered the courtyard of the High priest with Jesus. But Peter stood at the gate outside.
So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest, went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in.
The maid, who was with the gatekeeper, said to Peter, you are not one of the man's disciples, are you?
Peter said, I am not.
Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire that they had made because it was cold and they were warming themselves.
Peter was also there keeping warm.
[00:03:46] Speaker B: The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his doctrine. Jesus answered him, I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue or in the temple area where all the Jews gather. And in secret I have said nothing. Why ask me? Ask those who heard me what I said to them. They know what I said.
When he had said this, one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said, is this the way you answer the high priest?
Jesus answered him, if I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me? Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas.
[00:04:35] Speaker A: The high priest, now Simon Peter, was standing there keeping warm. And they said to him, you are not one of the disciples, are you? He denied it and said, I am not one of the slaves of the high priest. A relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off said, didn't I see you in the garden with him?
Again Peter denied it, and immediately the cock crowed.
[00:05:14] Speaker C: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
[00:05:37] Speaker D: They brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium. It was morning, and they themselves did not enter the praetorium in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover.
So Pilate came out to them and said, what charge do you bring against this man?
They answered and said to him, if he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.
At this Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.
The Jews answered him, we do not have the right to execute anyone in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled. That he said, indicating the kind of death he would die.
[00:06:26] Speaker B: So Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, do you say this on your own, or have others told you about me? Pilate answered, I am not a Jew. Am I your own nation? And the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?
Jesus answered, my kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here. So Pilate said to him, then you are a king.
Jesus answered, you say, I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.
Pilate said to him, what is truth?
[00:07:37] Speaker C: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
[00:08:00] Speaker D: When he had said this, Pilate again went out to the Jews and said to them, I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover. Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? They cried out again, not this one, but Barabbas. Now, Barabbas was a revolutionary.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and placed it on his head and clothed him in a purple cloak. And they came to him and said, hail, King of the Jews. And they struck him repeatedly.
[00:08:47] Speaker D: Once more, Pilate went out and said to them, look, I am bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.
So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. And Pilate said to them, behold the man.
When the chief priests and the guards saw Jesus, they cried out, crucify him. Crucify him.
Pilate said to them, take him away yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him.
The Jews answered, we have a law. And according to that law, he ought to die because he made himself the Son of God.
Now when Pilate heard this statement, he became even more afraid.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: Pilate went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus, where are you from?
Jesus did not answer him. So Pilate said to him, do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have the power to release you? And I have powers to crucify you? Jesus answered him, you would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason, the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.
[00:10:11] Speaker D: Consequently, Pilate tried to release Jesus. But the Jews cried out, if you release him, you are not a friend of Caesar.
Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.
When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and seated him on the judge's bench in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha. It was preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon.
And Pilate said to the Jews, behold your king.
They cried out, take him away. Take him away. Crucify him.
Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king?
The chief priests answered, we have no king but Caesar.
Then Pilate handed Jesus.
[00:11:09] Speaker C: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
[00:11:33] Speaker A: So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself, he went out to what is called the place of the skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him. And with two others, one on either side with Jesus in the middle. Pilate also had an inscription Written and put on the cross. It read, jesus, the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.
Now many of the Jews read this inscription because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, do not write the King of the Jews, but that he said, I am the 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 shares, one for each soldier.
They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they said to one another, let's not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be. In order that the passage of Scripture might be fulfilled. That says, they divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cost cast lots. This is what the soldiers did.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son.
And then he said to the disciple, son, behold your mother.
And from that hour, the disciple took her into his home.
After this, aware that everything was now finished in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, I thirst.
There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in the wine and a sprig of hyssop and put it to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, it is finished.
And bowing his head, he handed over his spirit.
[00:14:25] Speaker C: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
[00:14:49] Speaker B: Now, since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath.
[00:14:55] Speaker D: For.
[00:14:56] Speaker B: For the Sabbath day that week was a solemn one. The Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and that they be taken down.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and the other one who had been crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one soldier thrust his lance into the side of Jesus and immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is speaking the truth so that you also may come to believe. For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled. Not a bone of it will be broken. And again, another passage says, they will look upon him who. Whom they have pierced after this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So Jesus came. Joseph came and took the body of Jesus. Nicodemus, the one who had first come to Jesus at night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about 100 pounds. They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.
[00:16:31] Speaker D: Now, in the place where Jesus had been crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried.
So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day for the tomb was close by.
The Gospel of the Lord.
[00:16:52] Speaker A: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:16:57] Speaker D: Both of my parents were obsessive readers. It would be nothing for them to go through two, maybe even three books a week.
And my dad particularly loved Westerns. Louis L'Amour was his favorite author, and on occasion I would borrow one from him when I was bored. And I would read them. And there was a common thing in virtually all of the Westerns that I read.
There was a hero, there was a villain, and there were cowards.
The story of Jesus Passion have the same characters.
Of course, the primary hero is Jesus Christ himself. That's obvious.
But there are others.
But I want to start with the cowards.
Of course.
Peter, Simon Peter was a coward.
He denied Jesus, so it makes it pretty obvious.
But Pilate was a coward.
Now, you could see him as a villain, but he was a coward because he says here I find no case against him. But he doesn't want to make the people mad.
So he uses Jesus as a scapegoat and has him killed.
Let's talk about the villains.
Now, surely the temple authorities, Annas and Caiaphas can be seen as villains.
Those people in the crowd shouting crucify him. Can be seen as villains.
But the thing about all of those characters is they just represent everything that is broken in humanity.
Greed, selfishness, jealousy, fear.
All of those traits that each one of us have.
Because part of this story is we can be the villain.
All those things that trip us up, all those things that we call sin.
But who are the heroes besides Jesus?
Well, this is an interesting thing, because the heroes tended to be the ones that put their personal safety aside and didn't care.
They simply did what was right and just and compassionate.
And like most instances in our world, the primary heroes are women.
The men ran away scared, but the women went to the cross.
They sat there because they wouldn't leave Jesus alone in his agony and in his death.
They didn't care.
They loved him enough not to leave.
Joseph of Arimathea is another hero because he was connected, yet he knew what was right.
And he asked for the body of Jesus so that he could give him a proper Jewish burial.
He put his own life at risk, he put his own reputation at risk. He put all those connections he had at risk to do what was right.
Well, putting all of this together, heroes and villains, all of it, what we need to learn is that and in our world more than ever, there are times where going with the crowd is the exact opposite, opposite thing we need to do.
We need to be the brave ones, like the Mary's in the scripture, that we don't give up on what is right and just. Just because it's expedient, just because it makes those people around us happy.
Or like Pilate who caves in and does the wrong thing simply to protect his own skin.
Or Simon Peter who pretended he didn't know him out of fear.
But here's the last thing we need to learn from this, is that redemption is possible no matter where we fall in that spectrum.
And Peter is the prime example because here he was a coward.
He gave up, but he didn't give up totally. He trusted that Jesus love and mercy would be offered to him and that made him strong once again.
Strong enough to preach the gospel without counting the cost, even going to his own death.
The story of Christ's passion is a microcosm of what it means to be human.
What we struggle with, where we strive and where we fail.
And the lessons learned can change our lives.
