Who is this?

Crucifixion by El Greco*

This week marks the greatest mystery of our faith: Jesus' final days, his suffering, death, and at the end, his resurrection. When you stop to think about it, reason has a dangerous way of taking over.
Really? You are hanging your whole life on the fact that over 2000 years ago a dude was killed and then came back to life three days later, and now is somehow still present in the world through the Holy Spirit and people who believe in him? And because of this you can now have forgiveness and life?
It sounds absurd, really, when you just read it. Yet it is true, and as Martin Luther said, I would stake my life on it a thousand times.

On Sunday, thanks to David Lose and his entry The Question of the Day, I posed the same question to our congregation: Who is this?

Who is this man who rode into town like a king? Who some actually claimed was a king, who performed signed and miracles, who attracted and angered thousands in equal number? For those who cut branches and spread cloaks, this man was their hope. He was for them the Messiah, the anointed one promised by God for centuries to bring new life and salvation to the world. He was the hope of a life without oppression and hunger, where justice and peace both reigned, and peace through terror and tyranny was nonexistent. (Think Pax Romana.)

Yet just a few days after that triumphant entry these same people who had pinned their hopes on this man had turned and instead of crying Hosanna! cried out Crucify!

Who is this man? Who didn't defend himself, who saved others but couldn't save himself from his own terrible fate, who stirred up hope only to let everyone down that terrible Friday afternoon? He was for them a scapegoat, one on whom to take out anger and hatred, whose promise of a new kingdom went rejected, whose body was broken, and who asked forgiveness for those who inflicted his suffering and death.

These are the questions we pondered Sunday during worship. And the worship continues this week as we celebrate the Great Three Days, culminating on Sunday morning with our Easter celebration. The question, however, remains.

Maundy Thursday we hear from John's gospel about Jesus the servant who stoops to wash his disciples' feet and we ask, Who is this?

Good Friday we hear once again about the cross - that ultimate sign of our faith, the sign of God's own suffering, death, and resurrection for the sake of the world, and we ask, Who is this?

Easter Morning we gather with the disciples and hear from the angel that Christ is alive! We hear these words, perhaps in the same way as those first women, with 'fear and great joy' and we find ourselves once again asking, Who is this?

As we enter into the mystery of this week, please ponder this question with me. In my own journey of faith I have answered this question in many different ways, and if I have learned one thing in this mystery, it is that the answer is rarely ever the same. I know that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, but exactly how that is played out varies with mysterious regularity. How about for you? Who is this for you?

 *Greco, 1541?-1614. Crucifixion, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48044 [retrieved April 15, 2014]. Original source: www.yorckproject.de.