“ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING”
Matthew 26:45
April 12, 2014
Westmount Park United Church
Who was responsible for the death of Jesus? He was executed by Roman soldiers on orders from the governor, Pontius Pilate. Imperial Rome was responsible for his undeserving and tragic death. But Pilate was acting at the urgings of the religious leaders of Jerusalem. The priests of the temple were the ones who plotted his arrest and sent him to Pilate and stirred up the crowd to demand his crucifixion. The religious leaders were responsible for Jesus’ death. But they couldn’t have arranged the arrest of such a popular figure without the complicity of one of his disciples who could be bought. Judas Iscariot was responsible for Jesus’ death. Judas is referred to as “the betrayer” and yet all of the disciples were drawn into betrayal and denial. Most of them fled when Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane. Peter dared to follow to the courtyard of the temple but then he too denied knowing Jesus rather than putting himself at risk. So it was not just those Roman soldiers, who drove the nails through his flesh into the cross, who were responsible for Jesus’ death. There were plotters whose intrigue led to his crucifixion, and there were those who just by being passive were a part of his betrayal.
The gospel writers have recorded the story of Jesus’ arrest and execution not as an indictment of Rome, nor to lay all the blame on the Temple priests, nor to leave Judas Iscariot as the only one responsible for Jesus’ betrayal. They want their readers to know that even Jesus’ closest disciples bore responsibility for his arrest and crucifixion. First they fell asleep when they should have been alert, and then they all deserted him and fled.
Jesus, the man, was betrayed and put to death once nearly two thousand years ago, but Jesus, the Christ, whose spirit is alive in the world, is still betrayed whenever there is injustice or violence or unnecessary death. It is a betrayal of Jesus to kill innocent people. Acts of bloody aggression are a betrayal of God’s ways. It is also a betrayal of Jesus to plot behind the scenes to manipulate things so that others suffer. We may not be people of violence or of bloody intrigue but we also betray Jesus when we close our eyes to injustices in the world around us. Doing nothing is an act of betrayal of Jesus when alertness and action is required for the sake of God’s rule of love and justice.
Our worship today moves from the joyous triumph of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem to the last supper in the upper room, and then through the grim story of his arrest, trial and crucifixion, until we end in quiet solemnity with Jesus’ body being laid to rest in the tomb. It is important to have a time of worship that is quiet and sombre in which to contemplate the depth of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. But we daren’t let the quiet solemnity put us to sleep. “Are you still sleeping?” says Jesus. “Get up, my betrayer is at hand.” [Matthew 26:45&46]
We must be awake and active to work against the betrayer. The things of this world which betray Jesus are at hand. We hear about them in the news every day, be it news of our failures here at home to care for those caught in poverty, or news from around the globe of the crushing burden of international debt, or the exploitation of workers in other countries which supply the products we consume. The things which betray the one who championed the poor, and who challenged his disciples to love all their neighbours, must be actively and forthrightly engaged. We cannot close our eyes and fall asleep, pretending that there is nothing we can do that would make any difference. And please please note that the one action which Peter took was the wrong one. We must never combat the things which betray Jesus by striking with the sword. There are no military solutions to the betrayals of Jesus.