Palm Sunday, cycle A

MATTHEW 26:14 - 27:66
“I DO NOT KNOW THE MAN!”
PETER SAYS THIS OUT OF FEAR, BUT WE CAN HARDLY BLAME HIM. IT'S PRETTY CLEAR IN THE PASSION STORY THAT NO ONE REALLY KNOWS THIS MAN. THE DISCIPLES WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING HIM EXPECTED TRIUMPH. DURING THOSE THREE YEARS, THEY GRADUALLY REALIZED THAT JESUS HAD A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER, SO MUCH SO THAT HE COULD CALL HIMSELF THE SON. AND YET, HERE HE WAS ABOUT TO BE CRUCIFIED. AND AS THEY HIDE, THEY MUST HAVE SAID TO THEMSELVES, “WE DON'T KNOW THE MAN”.
JUDAS ISCARIOT'S LAST NAME MEANT “LITTLE SWORD”, AND INDICATED THAT HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A JEWISH PATRIOT WHO BELONGED TO AN ORGANIZATION THAT ATTEMPTED TO ASSASSINATE ROMANS. AND HE LOOKED FORWARD TO JESUS LEADING AN ARMED UPRISING AGAINST THE OCCUPIERS, AND A RETURN TO AN INDEPENDENT ISRAEL. AND HE HAD COME TO REALIZE THAT THIS WASN'T JESUS' WAY; AND HE REALIZED THAT HE DID NOT KNOW THE MAN.
THE PHARISEES HAD ALWAYS HAD A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. SOMETIMES THEY FOUND THEMSELVES LISTENING TO HIM WITH RAPT ATTENTION, AND OTHER TIMES HE HORRIFIED THEM. AND THERE WERE ARGUMENTS AMONG THEM ABOUT WHETHER JESUS WAS OF GOD OR OF SATAN. HE CURED PEOPLE – THAT WAS GOD-LIKE; BUT HE DID SO ON THE SABBATH – THAT WAS DEMONIC. JESUS VERY PRESENCE UPSET THEIR TIDY WORLD, AND MOST WERE GLAD TO BE RID OF HIM. THEY DID NOT KNOW THE MAN.
AND PILATE? IT'S HARD TO FIGURE HIM OUT. SOMETIMES HE SEEMS TO BE CYNICAL AND CALCULATING – HE SAYS, “WHAT IS TRUTH?” AND HE OFFERS THE CROWD THE CHOICE OF JESUS OR BARABBAS. JUSTICE MATTERS LITTLE TO HIM. IN ANOTHER PLACE THOUGH, HE INSISTS THAT HE IS INNOCENT OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS. BUT WHATEVER ELSE YOU CAN SAY ABOUT PILATE, JESUS DIDN'T MATTER TO HIM. HE DID NOT KNOW THE MAN.
AND SO IT GOES, EVEN DOWN TO THE PRESENT DAY. YOU AND I ON ASH WEDNESDAY RECEIVED A BLACK SMUDGE ON OUR FOREHEADS AND WERE TOLD THAT JUST AS WE CAME FROM DUST, WE ARE GOING BACK TO DUST. A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW WE WON'T EVEN BE REMEMBERED. AND WE'VE JOURNEYED THROUGH LENT, AND SEEN JESUS AT WORK. WE SAW HIM TRANSFIGURED. WE SAW HIM HEAL A MAN BLIND FROM BIRTH. WE SAW HIM RAISE A MAN FROM THE DEAD, A MAN WHO HAD BEEN ROTTING IN THE GRAVE FOR FOUR DAYS. AND TODAY WE SEE HIM TAKE UP HIS CROSS AND SUFFER AND DIE SO THAT THE REAL PERSON WHO IS YOU AND I WILL NOT CRUMBLE INTO DUST; THE REAL PERSON WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN, BECAUSE WE WILL LIVE FOREVER. AND UNLIKE THOSE APOSTLES AND OTHERS WE HEARD ABOUT TODAY, WE KNOW HOW THE STORY WILL END, WE KNOW JESUS HIMSELF WILL RISE.
BUT LET US BE CLEAR; IF WE ARE NOT CHANGED BY WHAT WE'VE HEARD AND WHAT WE KNOW – IF WE AREN'T MOVED TO RESPOND TO GOD'S WONDERFUL GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH HIS SON, WELL, THEN, WE WILL JOIN PETER AND PILATE AND JUDAS AND THE PHARISEES – BECAUSE IF WE AREN'T CHANGED, THEN IT IS CLEAR THAT WE DO NOT KNOW THE MAN, WE'VE MISSED THE WHOLE POINT.
MAY JESUS NOT HAVE DIED FOR US IN VAIN.