Who Are You This Palm Sunday?

We are standing at the threshold of the deepest mystery of our faith: Christ's death and resurrection. Somehow, through this mystery, we are saved and our lives make sense. Each year, as we celebrate Holy Week and Easter, we get the opportunity to relive those saving events and enter more deeply into the mystery.

Mark's version of the passion is relatively short-his style is terse and spare. The plot unfolds quickly and relentlessly-we move inexorably toward the cross. But even though the story moves quickly, we encounter an extraordinary range of characters and emotions along the way. Jesus challenges people-they can't ignore him, then or now. The Passion narrative is like a microcosm of human nature-it shows the variety of ways in which human beings respond to the challenge Jesus presents. And the interesting thing is that as we re-tell this story, year after year, it changes because we change. Our lives change, and we enter into the narrative in different places and identify with different characters depending on where we have moved in our own journey with Christ.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus has provoked people by telling the truth. He has spoken out about the corruption of the temple authorities, and the exploitation of the poor by the rich. He has challenged the domination of the Roman Empire. He has called into question the marginalization of women, children, the sick, blind, mentally ill. He has even challenged his own disciples to give up their own ambitions and embrace suffering for the sake of love.

The challenge was too much for almost everyone. Those in power, the Romans and the temple elites, were threatened by Jesus' truth telling and reacted with hostility and violence. The temple authorities conspired to kill him, and Pilate ordered his execution. Even the disciples, who loved Jesus and were with him throughout his ministry, deserted him in the time of danger. Peter, part of Jesus' inner circle, denied ever knowing him and cursed him. And Judas betrayed him. In Matthew, the motive suggested for Judas' betrayal is money. But I think that is too simplistic. I think Judas, like much of Israel, was expecting a political messiah who would lead a people's revolt against the Romans and their puppets, the temple leaders. His name "Iscariot," means that he was a member of the Sicarii, or dagger bearers, otherwise known as the Zealots. They were known for political assassinations-they would stab a political enemy in the crowd and run away. Maybe Judas hoped Jesus would lead the revolution against the Romans and the temple leaders, but when he realized that Jesus intended to let himself be executed rather than fight, he lashed out against him.

Then there was the crowd-so fickle in its allegiances. "Hosanna!" was the cry to the new king as he rode into town on a donkey (fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy about Israel's new king). But that quickly changed to "Crucify him!" when Pilate asked what his fate should be. Maybe it wasn't the same crowd, or maybe those who wanted Jesus to be spared were drowned out. But maybe the crowd's initial support was only an inch deep and evaporated when the consequences of supporting Jesus became clear. I'm reminded of the moment of euphoria and hope when our current president was inaugurated, compared to the harsh criticisms from every corner now that he hasn't solved all our problems in two months.

There are a few characters in the story who come off a little better. The woman who anointed Jesus in advance of his death took a great risk in doing so. It was not appropriate for a woman to touch a man who was not her husband, especially not in such an intimate way. And her action was prophetic-anointing with oil is what you do for a king according to Scripture. There were also those men and women who followed Jesus and kept watch at the foot of the cross while he suffered and died.

So who are you in the story this year? By his life, and teaching, suffering and death, Jesus challenges us just as he challenged all the characters in the gospel story. Jesus exposes the truth about our lives and the world we live in.

Mark mentions a young man who was with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. When the authorities arrested Jesus, he ran off. He was wearing only a linen cloth, and when they grabbed it to stop him, he ended up fleeing naked. I've often thought that young man is us because Jesus strips away all our illusions about ourselves and leaves us naked and vulnerable. And running from something like the cross seems utterly human.

Facing the truth about our condition is hard. We are vulnerable-we face suffering and loss and death. We can't love without getting hurt. We fall short at times and make choices we regret.

And the truth about our world is hard to face as well. The cruelty and inhumanity on the pages of our daily newspapers could make a stone weep-this week we heard about dozens of immigrants in US prisons who were allowed to die because no one gave them medical treatment. Their relatives were not even notified. And there was the senseless shooting of fourteen people in Binghamton. And on and on.

The story of Jesus' passion is our story, and the story of humankind. Jesus' crucified body continues to be a mute witness to the suffering and injustice in the world and to the brokenness of human beings. The truth that Jesus tells is a painful one.

How tempting it is to run away and hide like the disciples. Or deny the truth the way Peter denied Christ. Who has not used these strategies for avoiding uncomfortable truths? We can keep our distance, like the bystanders in the story, and pretend that this whole drama is about someone else, and has nothing to do with us. Or we can fall into blaming other people when things go wrong so that we can avoid having to look at our own part in the situation. We can even turn on Jesus for not fixing things, for not being what we want him to be, for going meekly to his death instead of fighting back.

But when we steel ourselves to look at the truth, we will also encounter God's grace and love. When we stand with Jesus at the foot of the cross, and know our own weakness, limitation and sinfulness, we will also know the power of God's love. God's love is powerful enough to raise the dead. God's love is powerful enough to redeem sin and suffering. God's love is powerful enough to transform us into courageous people who can face the truth and not lose hope. Jesus has become one with us and if we open ourselves to become one with him, we will know that our destiny is resurrection and our calling is love.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to love without counting the cost, and to be truth tellers. Our path will lead us to the cross, just as every human life leads to the cross. But the story does not end there-it continues to the empty tomb and the new and transformed life that begins there. Our journey is to bring that new life to the world through love and service, empowered by the mystery of Jesus' death and resurrection. May this Holy Week draw you still deeper into the mystery and closer to Jesus' heart.