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Sermon Text: Luke 22:1 – 23:56

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

That Gospel reading is a lot to take in. With all the betrayal, conniving, injustice, denial, mockery, beating, and torture, we may wish to turn away from this reading. But we can’t. We must see. We must look. We must ponder because in this reading we see who we truly are.

We are the priests who refuse to listen to Jesus’ preaching and repent. We would rather murder an innocent Man rather than listen to one more word from His mouth.

We are Judas. We are more interested in money than our relationship with God. And we hide it all behind a show of love and devotion.

We are the disciples who, after receiving our Lord’s body and blood, dispute with each other about who of us is the greatest. Like them, we get bored and tired of spending time with our Lord, and so we fall asleep while Jesus is in agony. We unjustly rise up against those who threaten violence, and we leave a bloody mess in our wake.

We are Peter and fear what others might do to us if they know we are Jesus’ disciple. So we deny our Lord.

We are the false witnesses against Jesus and we misrepresent Him.

We are Pilate failing to work for justice because we are afraid of the consequences if we do what is right.

We are Herod and the guards who treat Jesus with mocking contempt.

We are the crowds crying for the release of Barabbas and shouting, “Crucify, crucify Him!”

Repent.

Even though, like Peter, your initial reaction is to boast about our devotion to Jesus, deep inside you are like the disciples (Lk. 22:23) wondering if you are so innocent. Is it your sin that drove the nails into Christ’s hands and feet?

Sure, but only in a small way. Sin did not bring Jesus to this world. Sin did not cause His death. Instead, love did. The never-ending love and mercy of God did. God would simply not allow Satan to win. The devil could not be allowed to hold his claim over you. Instead, the Lord of creation – out of sheer love, grace, and mercy – would restore and redeem His creation and set Jesus in dominion over it.

Because of that very love, through the faith Jesus has given you through the working of the Holy Spirit, you are those who cried out, “Hosanna! Save us now, Lord!”

You are the disciples who simply follow Jesus’ direction. And even though His words seem odd, you find everything just the way Jesus said it would be.

You are Barabbas. Even though you are guilty, you go free.

You are Simon of Cyrene. You carry the cross for Christ and bear the burden of His confession in this world.

You are the penitent thief who pleads for mercy and finds its source is there upon the cross.

And you are the centurion who confesses that the Man who died there on that cross is truly the Son of God. You see that blood has been shed. You know that blood opens heaven’s gates to you.

You know all of this because the stone will not hold Jesus. He is not dead, but lives.

Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest. Amen.[1]

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] I am thankful for a sermon by Rev. David H. Petersen as inspiration for this sermon.