LENT 2016 – GOING TO JERUSALEM

Thursday, March 10

The Plot to Kill Jesus: Matthew 26: 1 – 3

Nothing like a nice, religious holiday to scheme and plot somebody’s arrest and death. I guess that the Passover was as good as any for such things, although the religious gang of priests and elders were hoping that they could avoid the actual festival itself; not necessarily because it might actually offend the meaning of Passover, but because they didn’t want to turn the people against them and cause a riot. It wouldn’t look good on them. 

Well, you know what they say – holidays can be tough for some people.

Did you catch the word “palace” in the text? That’s where these pious folk chose to meet to figure out what to do with Jesus. It paints an imaginative picture. We associate palaces with grandeur, opulence, royalty and power, and important people, with the elite of society; and most of us have very little in common with them, we think. I suspect that the High Priest was living in better conditions than most of the Jews in Jerusalem. What a cozy, little place to bring his friends to plan the end of Jesus.

For all I know, they sat around on big, comfortable chairs, drinking Caiaphas’ best wine which his servants served up, toasting themselves on their sincerity of having the people’s best interests at heart.  It is a good thing that the people had such fine, upstanding leadership like them!

The Gospel now begins to ratchet up the tensions and conflicts between Jesus and the ones who hold power, be it religious power or political power.  

It reminds us that the palaces of the world see Jesus as a threat, as someone to eliminate and get out of the way before he causes any more trouble.  Up until now, the people have acknowledged that Jesus speaks with authority; he is a contender; he has messianic potential; he is bold and audacious; he stands up to the Pharisees, priests and elders; he speaks his mind; he’s very different; he is one of the people, not some pompous ass. To the religious elite he was a big threat, an annoying nuisance and a problem to be solved, especially if he managed to pique Rome’s interest and got the Romans involved.

It is sometimes tempting for some us to live in our little ivory towers, and keep arm’s length from the world and its problems and see everything as a threat to our well-being and security. But it skews our picture of who Jesus is and what he is about in the world.

Some of us are very uncomfortable with Jesus and his life, mission, teachings, death and resurrection. We would much prefer to keep Jesus in his place. There is no room, (sound familiar?) for him in our palaces, i.e. our comfortable lifestyles, our North American standards of living, our consumptive practices.

Jesus does not fit into palatial living. He is just so intrusive. So we try to keep him out. We lock the doors and call the authorities.  

This man just ruins our holidays, doesn’t he?