From the Daily Lectionary for Wednesday in the Seventh Week after Pentecost
Matthew 26:57-68
Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, in whose house the scribes and the elders had gathered. But Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest; and going inside, he sat with the guards in order to see how this would end. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’” The high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?” But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you,
“From now on you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of Power
and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” They answered, “He deserves death.” Then they spat in his face and struck him; and some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who is it that struck you?”
Throughout this Gospel narrative Matthew has presented a stark contrast between the institutional power of empire, and the egalitarian, collaborative, and inclusive ethos of the Jesus movement. Here the two sides come face to face. For Matthew it is as if the entire biblical history of the people Israel hangs in this moment. Since Israel was forbidden to have a king under Roman occupation, the highest authority of the people would be the high priest whose auspices encompassed both the civic and religious life of Judea. The high priest, as well as the scribes, elders and Pharisees, have their power over the region only because it is granted to them by Rome. They are vassals of the empire as a means of serving their own interests. They, in short, have sold out the interests of their own people, and worse, they have turned from their God who requires truth and justice and equality. They have committed both treason and apostasy.
Tragically, this behavior of the Jewish leadership has been a pattern over Israel’s biblical history. Power corrupts. The chief lament of the prophets had consistently been directed at the callous disregard of the leadership of Israel for the well-being of their people. It is a pattern of injustice. And such a pattern undermines God’s vision of salvation; salvation being the just sustainability of the community. In the defining moment, in the face of power, Jesus prophesies the destruction of the Roman Empire. The role of the apocalyptic figure of the Son of Man, to which Jesus refers, according to the Book of Daniel, is to establish God’s kingdom on earth, and to dismantle the kingdoms of tyranny. His prophecy, the hard truth, is met with derision by his captors; sealing his fate. Four centuries later, his prophecy begins to come true.
The code of the Jesus Movement was peaceful resistance to the powers that be. It re-articulated with contagious fervor the liberating ideals of Torah; it proclaimed a vision of how a people could live together justly under the auspices of love. It looked to the pattern of rebirth and renewal as emblematic of God’s gracious favor toward them. But truth is anathema to corrupted power. It will not hear it. It will silence it.
We have a peaceful resistance in our own land, calling out the callous disregard for the well-being of so many of our fellow citizens; and proclaiming an alternative way of life that is equitable and fair… simply just. And the tyranny in our land is attempting, predictably, to silence these voices that cry out for a sustainable way of life. “Unmarked” para-military troops have been sent in to Portland. Other cities may be next. We are at war with ourselves. Self-interested power is flexing its muscle marked by betrayal, false witness, and violence.
We are followers of the way of Jesus, and therefore we will not stand for such apostasy. Write your representatives. Vote and help others to vote. Speak up and tell the truth. In the meantime, welcome the stranger; take care of your neighbor; show kindness to the despairing. We have many allies. Don’t give in to fear. Know this, good people… Love will prevail.
A Collect for Good Friday (BCP p. 99)
O God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified. Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
