"Here is Your King"

Good Friday Reflection 2016

John purposely avoids the title “King” throughout his gospel, but that is what the focus is during this arrest and crucifixion.

What we also see from this Passion reading is that the bloody details are glazed over to continue the theme of the mission of Jesus. 

The Passover Lamb is unblemished.  Jesus came into this world to speak the truth.

The Good Shepherd was obedient to Truth, and accepted His death at the hands of humanity, and the sins that we commit that we may have everlasting life.

When the mob comes to arrest Jesus He uses the “I AM’ which is known to the Jews and so that they may understand the meaning and connection of this night. 

There is no fighting from Jesus, only the impulsive actions of, Peter, who cuts the ear of, Malchus, a slave to a high priest.  Peter, a lone swordsman, against an army of armed men is once again stopped by the calming authority of Jesus and is told to scabbard his sword. Peter must have been baffled at this response.  All he wanted to do was to defend Jesus.  He couldn’t see that this act of violence in the face of violence could only make things worse.

“Shall I not drink the cup my Father gave me?”

The Jews are still stuck on the law when they wouldn’t go inside the pagan Praetorium to see Pilate, and practiced their purity forcing Pilate to come outside so they could still be pure and celebrate the Passover.  They were blind to the unblemished Lamb that was about to be sacrificed before their eyes.

Pilate questions Jesus in front of everyone and tries to pin him down as king.

Remember what happened when the Israelites ask Samuel for a king?  Jesus moves away from the king title and answers;

           

“It is you that say I am king.  For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”  Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

Well, Truth is right there, bloody and beaten with our sins and the sins of the whole world.  The perfect sacrifice to the Father is about to die for you and me.

The act of Love that drives home the point is with John and Mary.  Many women in this time period would have been left to prostitution without a man to take care of them and Jesus asks a friend to take care of his mom.

“Woman, behold, your son.”  Then he said to the disciple, Behold, your mother.”  And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.”(John 19:25-27)

One question I have encountered all of my life when dealing with people that try to trap me in my faith is “Where was God when this all happened?”

The answer is very easy: Dying on the cross for you and me an act of Love and freedom we can only come to know by entering deeply into the Passion.

Holy Saturday awaits us.