Good Friday
March 30, 2018
The Rev. Canon Marianne Wells Borg
Trinity Episcopal Church, Bend Oregon
Isaiah 52:13-53:12/Psalm 22:1-20/Hebrews 10:16-25
John 18:1-19:42
“After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley to a place…” and then unfolds the story of his arrest, his sentence to death, his crucifixion, the piercing of his side, and then, according to John, his burial.
What were those words spoken by Jesus, according to John, just before our story today? They must have been important.
They are the closing words of a prayer Jesus makes for his disciples: “I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
I will return to those words in a moment.
What is Crucifixion?
But first, let me tell you about crucifixion. It was a Roman form of execution. It may not have originated with them, but the Romans used this form of military and political punishment broadly and strategically. It was a public form of execution for traitors. Rabble-rousers. Violent criminals. Anyone who might challenge or jeopardize the authority of the state. It was designed to be a deterrent.
Jesus’s followers knew he was innocent of any of those charges. He was innocent. And without sin as the accounts say. Sin, “the seductive power of corruption.” That’s how many scholars define it today: Sin, the seductive power of corruption.
Jesus was without sin. He wasn’t about to take up arms against the state. But he refused to accept what Empire claimed as “normalcy.” The structuring of society in an inevitable hierarchy. Empire even suggested that such a social hierarchy mirrored the divine order itself. Jesus challenged that “normalcy” and refused to accept social hierarchy.
Because such a social hierarchy is constructed. By those in power. For those in power. So that everything and everyone knew their place. And stayed there.
Jesus was a Healer
Jesus did not see the world through the lenses of Empire. He saw the world very differently. And his followers were convinced that what Jesus saw was of God. It was what the kingdom of their day would be like if the vision that Jesus saw became theirs.
And Jesus was attracting crowds. There was something about him that transfixed his hearers. And transformed them. His teachings reached into you. His stories forced you to see from a different angle. They were disorienting. And mesmerizing. They made you think. And wonder. And question.
And his presence was healing. You knew you were somebody in the presence of Jesus. And even after he went from your sight you continued to feel differently about yourself. And about your neighbor. About the world. You saw differently. Jesus was a healer. He made all things new.
And Rome crucified him.
Crucifixion as a means to drive out memory
Which was the utmost humiliation. An unspeakable shaming. Perhaps an analogy would be lynchings in the south. A public hanging. From a tree. For all to see. Shaming. Nullifying. Dehumanizing.
The desired effect of crucifixion was to reduce the human being to nothingness. Nothingness. Liquidate them. The crucified one was condemned into oblivion. The crucified one was a god-forsaken nobody. Everyone knew it. Crucifixion intended to drive out the memory of that person. Because remembering was too horrible. Too traumatizing. Who would want to remember that horrible end. Who would consider talking about that person ever again. No one. That was the goal. The victim was silenced. And those associated with the victim fell to silence as well. A social silence. No stories about them would be told again. After all, the person had been eliminated. All memory of them was to be forsaken. End of story. End of stories.
But that was not the case with Jesus. It was not the end of the story of Jesus. His followers were not silent. They continued to tell stories. Stories about him. What is was like to be with him. Stories about seeing differently. Through the heart. Through the eyes of compassion. Through the love of God. His followers came to see what Jesus saw. Through their own eyes. And they couldn’t stop talking about him.
Jesus was innocent. His death was unjust. It was catastrophic.
The Meaning of Jesus’s Death
Jesus’s life meant something. He had lived for something. Something important. For truth. For a better world. He lived for us. He opened the way to possibilities. And hope. And his relationship with God seemed to quicken everyone else’s. Jesus’s life had meaning. And continued to live and develop in his followers.
But his death. His death. That was the horror. How to make sense of it?
So, the early communities of Jesus began weaving stories. In itself, a defiant act. They borrowed stories from the prophets and mystics, from heroes known and unknown. From those who had suffered an unjust death. They “historicized prophecy.” They drew from the past in an effort to make sense of the present and even provide a sense of vindication. A salve for this tragic, tragic loss. His death would not be in vain. Jesus would not be forgotten. The early communities made sure of that.
Some sixty years after Jesus’s crucifixion the author of John’s gospel writes a detailed story about Jesus and his arrest and accusations and piercing and execution and burial. Burial. The bodies of the crucified were not given burials. They would often be left hanging or discarded for birds or wild dogs. The crucified were nobodies. Why would a nobody need a burial?
You can further imagine why you wouldn’t want to speak of this… or about the person executed in this way… such images, such memory could drive you mad.
Normalcy of Civilization
But the early communities resurrected story after story about Jesus. And developed a number of their own. Whatever attempts Empire’s Machinery of Death made to eradicate Jesus failed. The ways of Empire and its so- called “normalcy of civilization” were not inevitable. Jesus had said as much. And his followers were convinced that he was right.
Two thousand years since the crucifixion of Jesus his followers have yet to be silent. We are still talking about him. And his vision. There is another way to live in the world. Not violence. Not domination. Not either or. Not us and them. Not in or out. Not up and down. But us. Together. There is a way to live and be together. And that means we must love our enemy. Such a task to ask of anyone. But it is ours.
Jesus says: “I made your name known to them and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
The Love in All of Us
That the love with which you have loved me may be in them.
It is. The love that Jesus knew is in us. That love never died. And never will.
Crucifixion failed to liquidate and obliterate Jesus. It failed to erase him from memory. It failed to silence his followers. There was something about him that proved to be stronger than death. Even death on a cross. And stronger than what some thought was the inevitability of Empire.
Dear Marianne,
Thank you for sharing your inspiring Good Friday sermon and for keeping alive the message and scholarship of Marcus and the historical Jesus. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have known and learned from Marcus and you. It has been a life changing experience for me, especially after having been raised in the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. Challenging the notion of substitutionary atonement and fear-based beliefs has allowed me to focus on the importance of personal and social/political transformation instead. I join all those who greatly miss Marcus and attending his lectures. I keep an assortment of his books on my night stand, and frequently consult “Reading the Bible Again for the First Time.” It helps.
Sincere appreciation,
donna
Donna. I so appreciate your message, Marc’s work liberated us. And do I dare say liberated Jesus? And even God from a harsh and misguided theology? Marc helped us see not only jesus’s personal and political transformations but insisted that is our work as well. Donna, you know his work. Carry it on. And build on it. Make haste. In loving kindness. Thanks, Donna.
True to the tradition of sermons I have heard from you for years – brilliant. Thank you for encouraging Christian communities to continue speaking, teaching, and hoping Jesus’ new world order into being. Reading your words I can almost hear you speaking.
Roy
Thank you. Good to hear from you. I think of you often. Please take care of yourself. Be well. On Marc’s and my behalf, we miss you!
Marianne
Thank you dear Marianne for being clear on the issue of atonement. I’ve never been able to accept that Jesus died for our sins. I’m so happy you’re teaching and preaching in your retirement. I miss you. Fondly, Barbara
Barbara
So good to hear from you! Where are you?? As you know I am now in Central Oregon. Unbelievable. So glad you have come upon the website and are on our email list. And thank you for your kind words about the sermon. I am all for atonement. It’s that substitutionary stuff that I find outrageous. And as you know, the idea of Jesus dying for our sins, Gods great idea???, is unfortunate. At best.
Carry on your own deep spiritual work. Be well.
Marianne
Thank you, I’m sure those who heard your sermon got a new Idea of why Jesus died and why. I have enjoyed Marcus books before and was impressed by his thinking and his understanding of the Christian faith. It was different to hear you say some things I have been thinking about ie” these things were done to fulfill the scriptures” I believe that Jesus was a special man with a strong purpose. He wanted to bring change to the people , help them become better people and in the coarse of that he upset the government. As a result he was murdered because he cause a disturbance in the status quo. I also like your expaination of SIn, it makes more sense to me.
I am a Christian because I ty to follow His way, as hard as it is sometims. Thank you again
Harold
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. Yes Marcus’s understanding of the Christian faith and life and of Jesus has flung wide the doors for many of us. Christianity may still be a narrow way. But it’s welcome is broad. I am with you. I think Jesus saw what was possible. In us. And through us. Even amidst the structures and powers of empire. And the complex religious, economic,social framework of his day. Ours is as complex. If not more so. Jesus I would say unfailingly saw the world through a different lens….and we are invited to see as he did. And do what we can to make the world a better place. I also agree with you, this is not an easy task. But it is ours.
Marcus had a way of being and teaching that renewed my spirit. He still does. Glad he has been an encouragement for you as well. Press on my friend.
In gratitude,
Marianne
Thank you for that wonderful Good Friday sermon . You have given us some very good insights into what the death of Jesus actually meant and how His voice and His Love have never been extinguished . Gertrude de Kleine.
Gertrude
Thanks so much for responding. And I love how you have put it. Love is never extinguished. That phrase for me puts resurrection in that light. As long as we participate in and with love, something continues…..and long after we do. I would like to think that the love of Jesus continues. With us. And even in us. It is love of and for humanity. And for this wondrous and often unmanageable life!
Abide in my love, he says in Johns gospel. Yes. That is our meeting place and ground.
Deep peace to you,
Marianne
I so appreciate Marcus Borg. In a way, my memory of him cannot be lost, just as my memory of Jesus. The idea of Substitutive Atonement means nothing to me. Jesus as person, the life he lived means everything to me. I remember my young son, on hearing that Jesus died for our sins, said: I wish he hadn’t done that. ;o) Jesus showed us the way we should live. That’s enough.
Marlene
I was touched to read that your memory of Marc cannot be erased as the memory of Jesus cannot be. I am with you!! When Marcus and I first met I told him Jesus was my number one man. He got it. But I will tell you, they run neck and neck now..
I love your son’s comment about Jesus dying for our sins. I might want to use that…with attribution.
Yes, Jesus shows us how to live. And what is possible.
And we follow in his way….together.
Thanks again,
Marianne
Your Sermon shows that the church can preach about events from history in a meaningful way, and that is what needs to happen. But I don’t think just leaving out God, Son of God, Resurrection, etc. is enough. For far two long the Christian Church has, and still does, preach these things and the dying for our sins message so we can get into heaven. This is never going to change until we address these issues head on. The number of people leaving the church because they can no longer believe is growing. Maybe we must wait another generation, but I think it is far past time for the thinking the Jesus Seminar and all its scholars to come to the forefront.
I couldn’t help thinking of MLK,Jr. as I read your sermon. We must get people to realize that Jesus was not any different from others who fought for change and justice. He was a man who wanted a better future for all people. A goal we should all be able to rally around.
Jim
Thanks so much for your thoughtful response. I agree. Words like son of God, God, Resurrection prompt a kind of default setting in many people’s minds. Which continues a narrative that no longer springs to life. For those who still find the traditional narrative functional fine. But I am with you. Christianity is in crisis and the power of its narrative and Jesus in particular has become so domesticated that it is blending into the cultural commonplace of what Dom Crossan calls the “normalcy of civilization”. A far cry from what the gospels call the kingdom of God.
I am keeping watch of Westar. In fact they have invited me to serve on a committee! I think their scholarship and no holds barred investigation of the development of the canon, and what was left out, is intriguing and helpful.
Thanks Jim for being part of this conversation. Keep it going.
Marianne
I wonder if it might be a good idea to mention that many of his followers who spread the word were women.
Emily
Thank you so much for responding. Yes. A very good idea. And as you know our earliest gospel Mark had women be witnesses. And in those days a woman could not legally testify. In other words, her experience didn’t count. Even for an early gospel to affirm that women were witnesses I think speaks to the idea that Jesus himself shared his ministry and presence with women. Mark written decades later continues the radical acceptance of women as having voice. Thank you for yours. And for spreading the word about Jesus then and now.
In gratitude,
Marianne