"Talking About What Happened to Jesus" Matthew's Palm/Passion Story
Hafiz (c. 1320-1389) is the most beloved poet of Persia. Born in Shiraz, in what is now South-central Iran, Shamseddin Mohammad was given the pen-name Hafiz or Hafez (a name for those who memorized the Koran by heart). Hafiz was a disciple of Attar of Shiraz, and composed a great deal of love poetry in his younger years. At age 60, Hafiz dedicated himself to union with God, and began a 40-day-and-night vigil. On the morn of the 40th day of his vigil, which was also on the 40th anniversary of meeting his Master Attar, he went to his Master, and upon drinking a cup of wine that Attar gave him, he attained Cosmic Consciousness or God-Realization. Up to the age of 69 when he died, he composed more than half of his poems, and taught a small circle of disciples. His poetry spoke with the authority of a Master who is united with God. His poetry is a classic part of Sufi literature.
"The God Who Only Knows Four Words"
by Hafiz
Every
Child
Has known God,
Not the God of names,
Not the God of don'ts,
Not the God who ever does
Anything weird,
But the God who only knows four words
And keeps repeating them, saying:
"Come dance with Me."
Come
Dance.
-- The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky, 1999, Arkana
God is inviting us to the Dance of Life in this Holy Week.On this Palm/Passion Sunday we recall the last days of Jesus’ life.
In telling of the story of Jesus, the gospels focus on these climactic days.
We can't jump from Palm Sunday to Easter without reflecting on their crucial meaning.
What happened to Jesus? It's a question that goes beyond the narrative of Holy Week.
It goes to the heart of our faith--to ask what we have done to Jesus in what we say about him and what our lives tell the world it means to be a follower of Jesus.
Jesus is the Lord of the Dance. Jesus invites us to dance this dance with him!
The Bible calls him Jesus (which means “God saves”), Christ (“anointed one” or “messiah”), Rabbi (or “teacher”), Son of God, Son of Man (or “human one”), prophet, priest, king, Lord, shepherd, lamb, way, truth, life, light, gate, the Wisdom of God (or Sophia), the seed of David, head of the church, heir of all things, judge of the world, redeemer… The metaphors for Jesus, like the things he did, could fill all the libraries of the world. [John 21:25]
The earliest confession of the church was a simple affirmation, "Jesus is Lord." But when the church wanted to explain what we meant, we invented theology. Despite all good intentions, our theology has inevitably distorted the truth revealed in Jesus Christ. Words cannot comprehend the fullness of God's presence and work in Christ, and because human beings seem designed to argue, our statements about Jesus have divided the one church into many churches with conflicting views of what Christian faith and life are all about.
The Presbyterian Confession of 1967 has this to say about Jesus:
In Jesus of Nazareth true humanity was realized once for all. Jesus, a Palestinian Jew, lived among his own people and shared their needs, temptations, joys, and sorrows. He expressed the love of God in word and deed and became a brother to all kinds of sinful men. But his complete obedience led him into conflict with his people. His life and teaching judged their goodness, religious aspirations, and national hopes. Many rejected him and demanded his death. In giving himself freely for them he took upon himself the judgment under which all men stand convicted. God raised him from the dead, vindicating him as Messiah and Lord. The victim of sin became victor, and won the victory over sin and death for all men.
And more recently, The Brief Statement of Faith, described Jesus in this way:
Jesus Christ [was] fully human, fully God. Jesus proclaimed the reign of God:
preaching good news to the poor and release to the captives, teaching by word and deed and blessing the children, healing the sick and binding up the brokenhearted, eating with outcasts, forgiving sinners, and calling all to repent and believe the gospel.
The Barmen Declaration speaks for the best intentions our tradition when it says, "Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death." And so we are always listening for the voice of Jesus speaking to us from the Bible, and in our living relationship to him today.
When I read through the story of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and execution in Matthew, I was amazed to discover TWO Jesusses. Please get out the pew Bible, and turn to page 810. The Story Bible left this out. Perhaps it would be confusing to children. According to the Bible, Pilate asked the people to choose WHICH JESUS they wanted to save, and which one they would allow to be executed.
The name "Jesus Barabbas" means "Jesus, son of the father." Jesus was a common name because it was the same name as the famed Hebrew leader Joshua (“God saves”). So it is not surprising that two men in our narrative have the same first name. Matthew sees the irony in Pilate’s decision to have the crowd choose between these two persons with identical first names. Will they choose one whose ideology calls for terrorism and killing as a means of ushering in Israel’s salvation or one whose ideology is that Israel’s salvation comes in peace and love. Will it be Jesus Barabbas (“the Son of the Father”) or Jesus who is called the Christ? This is a mythic tale of alternative views of Jesus. And it makes a tremendous difference which one we choose…
This Palm/Passion Sunday can we set Jesus free from the church-ghetto and join him in the world, or will we condemn him to be an irrelevant icon? Our revisioning will make a difference in how we deal with others (Christians and non-Christians) and their pictures of Jesus. If we are unwilling to allow others their own visions, we are saying “We am right and all others are wrong.” And when people are absolutely convinced that they are right, we get all kinds of crucifixions.
In the end, we will mislead ourselves if we accept Pilate’s “either/or” choice! We need to recognize that any Jesus who leads us to God is a savior. What has happened to Jesus, thank God, can be transformed. That is the message of Holy Week and Easter. Please join me in the journey. Join Jesus in the dance! AMEN.
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