On the Night He Was Betrayed 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Good Shepherd UCC
Maundy Thursday 2009
Many of us know by heart the conversations that occurred on that night at the Passover celebration. We remember that Jesus predicts his own suffering and death, his passion, at Passover. We remember that he predicts he will be betrayed and all the disciples ask, "Is it me, Lord?" "Surely not me, Lord?" Jesus replies, "You have said so". And to Peter, who declares he would die before abandoning his Lord, Jesus responds that before the cock crows, Peter will deny him three times.
And so it happens; they betray him, every single one. Judas in exchange for a bundle of silver coins and a shot at starting an insurrection. Peter, as predicted, three times, in exchange for his safety. And then too in Gethsemane where Jesus implores them to stay awake, to pray with him, the disciples, every single one of them, fall asleep.
And Jesus walks that lonesome valley, treading the path of despair and abandonment, even to the point of experiencing briefly the abandonment of God, his Abba.
And the disciples do not stay near the foot of the cross, rather they scatter to safer ground, each one to his hidey-hole. Even the women, the next morning, they are too frightened, according to the Gospel of Mark, too disturbed by events to bring the good news that the stone has rolled away.
All of our sources portray Jesus as utterly betrayed by every disciple- there is not one who remains faithful through the terrible, terrifying times. The scene is pitiful, heart breaking. Pitiful because the man deserves nothing but gratitude, mercy, loyalty. But he receives none of it.
"Why does this have to happen?", asked a Bible student in our Lenten study of Psalms, last night, as we studied lament. "Why does he have to suffer?" "Why does he have to die?" Why? Why does he end up utterly abandoned?
There are theologians who think that they can answer these questions and settle it all into a tidy package. I cannot do that. Really I cannot definitively answer those "why" questions. I cannot say, "Oh, because ...this and that...and so and so says...and the Bible tells us..." I struggle too with those inevitable and tenderly asked "why" questions.
What I can say is that I know the results of his suffering, his betryals, his deaths. The result is that Christ has engaged the lowest, loneliest, most grievous experiences known by human hearts. He has not refused company with the darkest experiences of life, he has not avoided the most brutal experiences that human congress lays upon us; rather he engages these experiences as one of us. At the last, he is fully one us- at the best of times and the worst of times. He does not skip out on suffering, abandonment and death, but stays faithful to walking with all of humanity that path we would rather not take.
Some offer "atonement" as an explanation- a topic for anthother day. One understanding of all these "why" questions is at-one-ment. Jesus freely elected to be at one ment with all humanity at the bottom of the heap.
I can say that a result of his election to walk the via dolorosa, the trail of tears, is that there is no experience too degrading for Jesus to take upon himself so he can companion us faithfully. He walks alongside us in our griefs, our despairs, our betrayals, our deaths. We are not alone- whether we are betrayed by those pledged to love us...or whether we are the betrayers who abandon those we are pledged to love. And we are both- the betrayed and the betrayers.
In the sacred meal we share tonight where Jesus is remembered, where we eat of his sustaining body and drink the cup of forgiveness, we can be sure that God gifts our meal with the transforming presence of Jesus Christ, our host at the table.
Not a distant ephemeral above-it-all God, not at all. Rather a real flesh and blood, breathing and sweating, laughing and crying, celebrating and grieving, right on righteous man who lived as fully as we do- only just a bit more faithfully than we are able. For our sake.
So that...so that..we are never alone. Not in our loneliest moments, not with our fears, our griefs, not in our moments of engagement with evil and sin; we are not alone.
Jesus has been there and has provided proof that love is stronger than death. Even death on a cross...By the power of God death does not prevail- neither does sorrow prevail...neither does evil or sinfulness prevail...neither do our human betrayals have the last word.
Stay by, stay by him for these last moments, if you are able. Do not be afraid.
amen
