Were You There?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there….?

A story is told about Jesus entering Jerusalem for the last time. The story is the collision of two kingdoms and two kings. Jesus like life comes to an end in the way it began. 

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Herod was King and when Quirinius was governor.  When Jesus was tried and crucified in Jerusalem Pilate was governor. 

If we are there, we see the perspiration on Pilate’s his upper lip and a small drop of sweat roll down his neck.  He’s in a tight spot.  The religious leaders have demanded Jesus’ death but their reasons don’t hold up.  Pilate knows the truth is jealousy.  They are jealous and afraid of Jesus. 

Pilate doesn’t worry much about Jesus challenging his authority.  He’s the governor and Jesus is just a peasant.  But he does worry about the crowd and keeping them satisfied so they won’t cause trouble.   He does worry about cooperation from the religious leaders to keep revenue flowing into the empire’s coffers. He does worry about maintaining status quo.
Pilate squirms. He needs to keep the peace and live with his conscience so he puts justice to a vote. He lets the mob decide what is right and good and true. “Who shall crucified, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus of Nazareth?” The crowd voted for Barabbas. 

The chief priests and the elders pat each on the back, pass out cigars and clink their glasses.  They won’t have to deal with Jesus anymore.  No more talk of change.  No more threats to the system. 

Meanwhile Peter, the disciple Jesus trusted, who Jesus called The Rock, sits on a courtyard bench weeping.  The cock crowed and he betrayed his friendship with Jesus by denying he ever knew him. 
Judas he couldn’t live with his conscience it turns out.  The minute he was handed the money and watched them take Jesus away he knew he’d done a terrible thing. 

Judas is dead when the first nail is struck.  Peter wipes his eyes and hears the second.  The chief priests, scribes and elders down their second glass of wine as the third nail is pounded into Jesus feet. 

Jesus hangs on the cross between two bandits.  He cries, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”  Is it a cry to be saved from death or cry that death might come more quickly? 

When he breathes his last the earth shakes, rocks split, and tombs open.  This is the second time the cosmos has spoken.  When Herod was King and Quirinius was governor a star guided shepherds and the magi to the newborn king. On this terrible day the earth shakes and a centurion is guided to believe that God has indeed been disclosed in a dead man on the cross. 

Are we there?  Of course we are.  You don’t have to be Christian to understand this story. You don’t even have to be theist, mono or otherwise to get it.  We know the story. We know what it is to betray and be betrayed, to lie and tell the truth and the consequence of each.   There are times we have felt abandoned and broken and screamed “Where are you, God?”  We scream even when we are convinced there is no God. There are those whose death approaches and they ask “why, why now?” There are those approaching death begging God to deliver them home soon. 

If we scan our personal histories we will see moments when the earth trembled and the old ways were torn in two and then for reasons we’re not sure of a new day comes and we have the courage to go on. We know this story.  It told a thousands times in the living of our days. We are there.