Today we begin to examine the last days of our Lord's human life. His three years of active ministry are nearly over and God's program for the salvation of the World is almost complete. But the events that took place that week almost two thousand years ago, that we now begin to relive, tell us as much about human nature as they do about God and his nature.

           We began this day re-enacting Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The people met him as a conquering king, waving branches and shouting "Hosanna to the Son of David." Jesus was greeted as the leader who many believed would free Judea from the Romans and re-establish the mighty kingdom of Israel of the past. But within a matter of days, public opinion shifted and by Friday morning the people had rejected him as an imposter who led them into making fools of themselves and endangered the peace of the city. They willingly supported the establishment and demanded his death. How perverse human beings are! How foolish we are if we put our faith in ourselves or others rather than God!

           Some time before this week, Jesus had brought back his friend Lazarus from the dead. Up until that time he had probably caused little concern for the High priest and the Religious establishment. His ministry had been mainly in Galilee, a separate province of the Roman Empire, and his impact on the people of Judea was slight. But by raising Lazarus in a village just outside Jerusalem he had, in essence, proclaimed his power and committed an open act of defiance in their own backyard, that the high priest and the Sanhedrin, the high council of Jerusalem, could not ignore. According to the Gospel of John it was at this point that they met, and tried Jesus in absentia for what they could only interpret as crimes against God and religion. He was tried and convicted of blasphemy, punishable by death. From this time on Jesus was a wanted man, to be arrested on sight.

           Passover, the Holiest time of the Jewish year is now approaching. Jerusalem and its suburbs are filled with pilgrims from all of Palestine and beyond. Jesus and his twelve closest disciples are staying in Bethany with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. On the Sunday before Passover Jesus enters into the city riding an ass, fulfilling prophesies of Isaiah and Zechariah about the Messiah. The people knew these prophesies, and, believing that the Messiah would indeed appear during the Passover season, were expecting and understood this symbolic act. But if he were a wanted man, why wasn't he arrested at this point? From our perspective that seems like a reasonable question. But remember there were no telephones. Messages had to be carried by hand, and if someone wanted to inform the Jewish authorities of the presence of Jesus they would have to get through city streets, crowded to overflowing, and find these officials. It could easily taken an hour or two to simply pass on the information. So Jesus rode into Jerusalem, and then faded into the crowds, surrounded by his faithful followers. And because of the crowds he would have been able to preach and teach unmolested during the day, even at the Temple. The dangerous time for him would have been the nights, when the crowds thinned out and his identity and location could be pinpointed more easily. Notice that He did leave the city and return to Bethany every night until Thursday. Then too, perhaps he was safe during the day because the Sanhedrin feared the crowds. If they had tried to arrest him perhaps a riot would have ensued and the full brunt of the Roman army would have been brought to bear; we don't know for sure. But on the Thursday night Jesus and his followers stayed in the City for supper, and afterwards, with the collaboration of Judas Iscariot the troops found and arrested him.

           Remember that he had already been tried, all that was required by law at this point was that he be given a chance to speak in his own defence and that he be told the judgement against him. This explains why things seemed to happen so fast between Thursday evening and Friday morning. A full trial wasn't needed, only a brief hearing, and this is more or less what the Gospel accounts record; the tying up of the legal loose ends, along with the agreement of Pontius Pilate, ending in the final horrible events of Friday.

           Aside from Jesus himself, the two people that seem to stand out in the passion narrative are Judas and Pilate. Judas for betraying the Christ, and Pilate for assenting to his death. We can learn a good deal about human nature--our nature-- from these two men.

           It is too simple to pass Judas of as just a bad man and we too often make him into a flat cartoon character, nothing but evil, but there is much more to Judas than that. Of course he wasn't innocent, but there was more to him than just evil. After his betrayal of the Lord, he did feel remorse for what he had done, and that remorse finally brought him to take his own life. That's not the action of an evil man who got what he wanted, so what happened? Probably Judas really believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but being impatient, a common enough fault, he thought that if he set up a confrontation between Jesus and the High Priest, Jesus' messiahship could be proclaimed all the sooner. But he did not understand the nature of Jesus' Messiahship, so his plans went horribly wrong. The Messiah was condemned and the High Priest triumphed. In regret and shame he returned his blood money, and took his life. What was the sin that was at the base of all that Judas did? He thought he could set the agenda. He thought he could take charge and decide how events should unfold. For all his faith in the Messiah, he had little faith in God. He wasn't prepared to let God's plan unfold. He couldn't accept the fact that God's wisdom surpasses that of men. Yet God turned evil into good. Judas' wickedness turned out to be a necessary part of the Passion.

           Now what about Pilate? Why do the Gospels focus on him the way they do, and why do they seem to let him off the hook the way they do? From other sources we know that Pilate was a ruthless but incompetent bureaucrat who wasn't beloved by the Jews, the early Christians, or even his fellow Romans, and the bottom line was that Pilate was in charge, not the High Priest or the Sanhedrin; he was the one with the troops and the power. Part of the reason why Pilate is treated the way he is in the Gospels may be explained by the situation of the early church. It survived those early years by staying out of the way of the Roman authorities. If the Gospelers had portrayed Pilate differently, it might have triggered an open confrontation with the Roman empire, leading to a total destruction of the movement.

           But be that as it may, Pilate took the easy way out. He allowed what he knew to be wrong to take place because it was politically expedient. He permitted an innocent man to be killed in order to keep peace in the city.

           I don't think we have to look very hard to see ourselves in the crowds of Jerusalem, Judas, or Pilate. The crowds were fickle, searching for novelty rather than truth, Judas tried to outguess God, Pilate sat back and allowed a wrong to be committed when he had the power to stop it. They show us what can happen when God isn't central to our lives. They show us our own failings, how we all do what we shouldn't, and don't do what we should. And the only way we can tell the difference is to listen to God, through his word and through prayer,and to let Him establish the priorities in our lives. We need to let ourselves be guided by God's plan fo us, not our own.

           As we know, God's plan did prevail; on Good Friday on the cross, and on Easter morning at the empty tomb. This should remind us that his will and plan will always prevail everywhere and it is our Christian obligation to follow his will and work with him and not against him. And as we enter this most solemn and holy week reflecting on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, let us consider how we have failed in perceiving his will for us and rededicate ourselves to him, praying fervently and sincerely, "thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Amen.