April 4, 2004

Sixth Sunday of Lent

Palm Sunday

Mark 11:1-11, 14:12-15:47

 The Passion – the True Story

     There’s the Hollywood version and then there is the version you just heard from the Gospel of Mark.  The two aren’t the same.  The Mel Gibson production is a combination of the biblical account, a heavy dose of conservative Roman Catholic tradition, Gibson’s personal perspective and Hollywood special effects.  This doesn’t mean it isn’t a moving interpretation, just that it is after all, an interpretation, that of a particular producer and his advisors.  Gibson takes great liberties with the text, so it’s important that we also read the biblical version and not assume the movie tells the truth.

     Pilate asked, “What is truth?” perhaps alluding to the fact that it is often up to personal interpretation.

      You just heard the Passion story from the Gospel of Mark, but the writers of Matthew, Luke and John also have unique perspectives on the story, their own interpretations.  After all, these writers weren’t there to witness the events firsthand, but wrote down stories that had been passed along, mostly by word of mouth, for more than 30 years.  Is there any wonder there are differences?  We also need to remember that the versions of the Scriptures we have today have come through a long series of translations and modernization.  And perhaps most important, we also need to remember that every person who reads the Bible brings to it their own understandings, prejudices and preconceptions.  Truth is, it’s a miracle that any of us ever get close to the truth!

     Yes, a miracle…and that’s the power and truth of the Passion.  Somehow, miraculously, the story still moves us, stirs our hearts, takes us back to the agony and victory of Christ.  We don’t even need Hollywood to make it happen.  As we did this morning, we just need to read it for ourselves, this often translated, updated, edited version of the story that still speaks to us of God’s truth. 

     You see, it doesn’t matter what day of the week Jesus cleansed the temple (Matthew and John don’t agree).  It doesn’t matter if Catholic tradition says there were more Stations of the Cross than we can find in the Bible.  It doesn’t matter if we know just what Pilate meant when he asked that rhetorical question, “What is truth?”  It matters that Jesus gave his life for us and it matters that he rose from the grave on Easter Day.  This is the truth we hold.  We are a cross and resurrection-centered people. 

     Everything else in the Bible, be it in the Old or New Testaments, is seen through this lens.  Jesus came to save us from our sins and thus became the Sacrificial Lamb, the one God raised on the third day, victorious over sin and death.  God so loved the world.  This is our truth.

     This Holy Week, this Easter, I encourage you to read the story for yourself and allow it to sink in, the truth that comes from beyond the sacred page, stirs your heart and opens you to the power, the miracle, the infinite wisdom of God.

“In the cross of Christ I glory, standing o’er the wrecks of time; all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime.  Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, by the cross are sanctified; peace is there that knows no measure, joys that through all time abide.”