Holy Week, Wednesday, April 5 – Bystanders on the Way to the Cross

Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice[a] to decide who would get each piece. (Mark 15: 24, New Living Translation)

                Recently, a co-worker asked our son, Nathaniel, whether there was anything like Black Friday sales on Good Friday. Sigh!

                Maybe on boards and nails at the local lumber yard.

                As of yet, businesses and stores have never commercialized the Crucifixion. I am almost surprised. It used to bother me that, when we lived in Quebec, all the stores were open on Good Friday even as we trudged to Good Friday services. But I imagine that shops and stores were open in Jerusalem on that fateful day. Life went on for most.

                The chocolate and candy industry profit from Easter but that is more a Springtime association than it has to do with this weekend of Death and Life. I have never seen a chocolate cross, but that doesn’t mean that one doesn’t exist somewhere. It would be tacky, but when has that ever stopped anyone from making a buck?

                The soldiers who had carried out the execution of Jesus and the other two bandits certainly were not adverse in making a profit out of the situation. They gambled for the pitiful remains of Jesus’ purple cloak that had been thrown on him as a mockery of his kingship. John’s Gospel says the robe was ripped or cut into four parts. I suppose it was an expensive enough garment that there was value in each piece. Perhaps, they sold what they won and it was enough to buy an ale down at the local pub. I doubt that Roman soldiers made a ton of money so every little bit extra would be welcome – even the robe of a dying man.

                It demonstrates a cruel indifference under the circumstances. I don’t know what kind of person it takes to become an executioner, but it would seem that these men had become hardened to their task. They had become inured to the pain, blood and agony they inflicted. It was just another day-at-the-office.  They had nothing better to do while they waited for the three inevitable deaths; why not play a game, make a little killing in a game of chance, pass the time away?

                All of it makes me shudder.

                In Quebec, sometimes, after the Good Friday service some pf the people would go to a nice restaurant afterwards. There is no sin in that.  It was an act of fellowship and friendship. But how ordinary. Or sometimes, there would be coffee and cookies after the Good Friday service. Again, nothing inherently wrong with that. But it always made me a little uncomfortable that we had just experienced through worship the Crucifixion of Jesus and now here we were, delightfully munching on chocolate chip cookies and having a cup of coffee. My deacons who probably thought me being overly zealous, at least compromised with me and we provided hot-cross buns with cheese, plus tea and coffee. It had more of a feel of communion to me, I guess. I am grateful for their cooperation, just the same.

                My point is that I wonder whether we have become inured ourselves to the Crucifixion event. Have we “seen” it so many times that it fails to move us, to interrupt our routines, to disturb our habits, to take our minds off the daily needs of our lives?  Does it become a toss-off moment? Do we divide the dividends of Jesus’ death and move on? Do we fail to see what really has just happened?

                I am probably being way too harsh on us. There was one soldier who finally got it: “When the Roman captain standing guard in front of him saw that he had quit breathing, he said, ‘This has to be the Son of God!’” (Mark 15:39, The Message Bible) Maybe he was still gripping his portion of the purple robe as he said this. But for a moment, he stopped and paid attention to all that was going on. For a moment he caught the truth of the dying figure before him.  For a moment, he understood the significance of this unholy death.

                Take your own moment this Good Friday, see what Love has done for us!

                “But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one.”  (Colossians 1: 22 -23, The Message)

Dale