A Rich Disciple's Gamble - Changed By the Cross

Many Changes

During the season of Lent this year, here at Bethlehem, we have been, in our midweek services, spending time with the passion of Jesus Christ as we have it in the Gospel of Mark. Along the way we have seen many individuals whose lives were changed by their time with Jesus, and especially by what happened during the days of the Last Supper, Jesus' prayers and betrayal in Gethsemane, and his trial, suffering, and death.

Lives were impacted, to use a modern term, and a lot of people were not the same after that. For instance, a centurion--a Roman grunt soldier, a career man from Italy--confesses the divinity of the crucified One, saying he truly was "God's Son." What did he see and hear to call forth that unexpected statement from such a calloused veteran of countless crucifixions? Changed That Day

Another person in this story who has changed has quickly gotten very busy. Jesus died at mid-afternoon, and this one returned from his self-appointed errand before sundown. And that was very important. He is Joseph, and he returned for the corpse. And by sundown, he is not as he has been. He is a changed man. He has just negotiated a most complex and audacious request of Pontius Pilate, and he's changed.

But, I'm going to let him tell his story:

All of a Sudden, Acting Like Family

"I enjoyed being a steady, respected member of the council of leaders for the Jewish people. I was never a maverick; my reputation was solid. I could always be counted on to be there. I was known to be a pious one who was looking for the Kingdom of God, and I was not easily fooled, either. All the pretenders who had come along in recent years and had sought to lead this new kingdom were quickly dismissed by me. But I was always alert for signs that would indicate that God really was acting here in Israel.

"So, I had listened to Jesus in the temple courts that last week. I could see why so many of my colleagues were very upset at him. But I heard truth, and I wondered if this one might be authentic, actually from God, for us. The trial was much too emotional to be fair. And it was not done according to our own rules, anyway. And the way Jesus carried himself, I could not see how he was guilty of anything in our Scriptures.

"So there I was, after the execution, suddenly (to all outside appearances) acting like family to the executed criminal. I wanted the body. No one wants the bodies of outcasts except for their families. They had to wonder: 'Is Joseph some sort of kin?' I surprised myself with my boldness. I was changing. I felt strongly that Jesus did not deserve this, and I knew the law as well as anyone, the law that said no dead body of a Jew could remain on a cross over a Sabbath. And this was a high, holy Sabbath, the Passover Sabbath.

Some Major Risks

"I knew what I was risking. I could almost hear the brothers in the Sanhedrin talking already. They were raising grave doubts about me. 'He who is not with us is against us,' they would be saying. I was risking the opinion of my brothers.

"Second, I was risking the denial of the Governor. He might just say no. Then what would I have gained? Rome customarily refuses burial to those who are executed for high treason. And high treason is precisely the charge our hate-filled council had decided to pin on Jesus. But I thought I knew Pilate better than most, and I had detected in him a softer attitude toward Jesus. Was it pity? Was it guilt? Was it regret? Was he changing also, now that he had met the Master. I wondered.

"A third risk came to mind as I hurried to his palace. I could be completely misreading him, and there was the distinct possibility that he would rise up in anger at my request and lash out at me with his well-known fury. He had been backed into a corner, after all, by the council and noisy crowd, and he had been forced to do what he did not want to do. Would he see me as just another Jew trying to give him orders?

"But I was not the same as I was even earlier on that same day. Despite Jesus' sad death, he had awakened hope in me, and this had made me bold. There was a surprising splendor in the way Jesus had carried himself that I had never seen before, and I was not going to let him die without whatever dignity I could give him. And I could give him some.

Disbelieving, Disdainful

"Pilate was not very open to more Jewish 'suggestions,' but I was more determined than he. The memory of Jesus made me more focused than I had ever been before.

"'Dead already?' Pilate asked when I made my request for the body of Jesus of Nazareth.

"'Yes, sir.' "'Crucified and died in--what? Six hours?'

"'He was scourged first,' I said. 'He lost blood.' "'So who doesn't get scourged? It still takes three days to die!' Pilate wasn't convinced. 'And I saw this Jesus. A young man, intense and healthy, right? He was not weak. Clear-eyed, self-controlled, steadfast. Six hours?'

"'There was a storm, sir,' I offered.

"'I know. I live here.' He looked at me disdainfully.

"'A strange storm. A really dreadful storm, sir.'

"'So, then! Exposure killed the King of the Jews!' he hooted. 'Or maybe Jupiter of Thunderbolts. So the others are dead too, right?'

"'No. They're alive.'

"'Right. And so is Jesus of Nazareth. No. You can't have his body. We're civilized. We bury the dead, sir, not the living. Get out.'

A New Boldness

"Before that day I would have given up then and accepted the signs that I would not get my request. But I was different now, and I would not accept that answer. 'Governor, I could prove his death, but there's so little time. It's almost sunset. I beg you to believe me. Jesus is dead, and he must be buried. He can't be above when the sun goes down! Can I pay you? Can I buy the body, sir? I have money. What do you want?'

"'Shut up!' he barked.

"'No.' I simply said.

"'What?' No Jewish citizen had ever talked to him like this, I could tell.

"'No,' I repeated. 'I can't leave. Not without his body. No.'

"'Raca!,' he shouted. 'You idiot! Do you know what I can do to you? Did you see what I did to your king?'

"'You killed him,' I answered. I was a fool to answer him this way. But there was no backing down now.

"'I did not kill him!' He almost stood up out of his chair. 'He is not dead! But I can kill you!'

"Here is the change. I was surprised to hear myself say, 'It doesn't matter. I'm sorry, sir, but it really doesn't matter. Apart from him I am nothing anyway. I want to bury my Lord in dignity, with honor. Except for that, you can take whatever you want from me. Take my life!'

A Strange, New Family

"Clearly, Pilate did not know what to do with me. 'Where's that centurion?' he barked, used to giving orders to whoever was in earshot. 'Bring the officer in charge of the day's execution. Now!' He turned to me. 'You, Joseph, shut up. Wait and say nothing. I'll believe those who are paid to be honest. Besides, that old soldier's about to be pensioned, nothing to gain in a lie--and what do you think he thinks of your Jewish religious prattle? Right. We'll both defer to a realist, a Roman...'

"The centurion appeared next to me in a surprisingly short time. When Pilate asked him if Jesus of Nazareth had died, he answered, quickly and directly, 'Yes, sir, Jesus of Nazareth is dead.' But he said more, without being asked. You wouldn't expect a Roman to say it, but, as Pilate said, this man was ready to speak his mind and say the truth. 'And you ought to release the body, sir, in order to bury him speedily. In dignity. With honor.'

"For the first time Pilate was speechless. He stared at the soldier, and then he stared at me, and then at the soldier again. I think he was seeing what I was sensing in that moment. The soldier and I, we had become brothers of a sort, a kind of strange, new family. And Pilate was defeated.

"'Go on, get out,' he barked. 'Both of you. Go.' And we left together.

A Tomb, A Gift

"That soldier actually helped me get Jesus' body down from the cross. And then friend Nicodemus--another brother in this strange, new family, whom I had known in the council and whom I knew to harbor interest in Jesus--brought the king's amount of spices for the body of our Master. And we laid him in the tomb I had prepared for my family. I was glad that I had this tomb to offer to Jesus. This was the most dignity I could give him.

"But Jesus gave that tomb back to me, as he had given hope and confidence back to a disenchanted Jewish man. He came out of that tomb, and the memories of his wounds and his pain of dying quickly receded into the background of the huge surprise and joy of a brand new Kingdom. The change that had started in me the day of his death was the promise that he would keep only days later.

"That tomb, of course, has become a place of holy memories for all of us in this strange, new family, a family that keeps growing and becoming bolder. All in this family have been changed, changed by the Master.

Touched and Changed...Surely

"Are you all part of this strange, new family? Have you also been changed by my Lord? Has his love for you, poured out with his lifeblood on the cross, seared itself into your soul so that you do not care about the same things any more? Surely it has, for the message of the empty tomb draws you to celebrate with joy in this morning hour, as part of the family, and to give voice to as many Alleluias as possible. Surely, you have been changed.

"My brothers and sisters, your and my focus has changed because of Easter. Your and my destiny changed because of Easter. We are together. We are family. The family of the living Master."

Amen.

(I am happy to acknowledge, with gratitude, that some of the thoughts and words in this sermon come from the Rev. Dr. Walter Wangerin, Jr., in his book, "Reliving the Passion.")