On Saturday, a few days before the time of Passover, Jesus spends precious time with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus after he has raised Lazarus from the dead. One wonders what Lazarus had experienced when he was in the tomb, and if the friends discuss this. They relax in the trio's home in Bethany, just over the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem. Dinner is served. Mary anoints Jesus' feet with aromatic nard and dries them with her hair. Is she preparing him to be anointed King, or preparing him for his burial? Or both? The family, and the large crowd which comes to see Lazarus, know that the Jewish authorities have heard of Jesus' miracle and, predictably, are furious.
Some Jews who had seen this miracle were the ones who told the Pharisees what Jesus has done. The Chief Priests and Pharisees convene the Sanhedrin to discuss what they should do. Eventually most agree: if they allow Jesus to continue doing what he's doing, he'll gather even more of their people around him and the Romans will retaliate, crack down. They believe he'll come to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. They decide to set plans in motion to capture and kill him there. They also make plans to kill Lazarus because many Jews are believing in Jesus because of him.
On Sunday, at a time of year when the city is thronged with pilgrims arriving for the holidays, Jesus rides into Jerusalem in triumph, on a small colt that he had had his disciples reserve for him. The colt is a sign of kingship, referring to a passage in Zechariah in which a king enters the city on just such an animal. The crowds enthusiastically cover the streets of the city with their cloaks and with palm branches; the branches are a sign of celebration for Jews and of triumph for Romans. Jesus is openly declaring his kingship. We can imagine the angry tirades against him by both Jewish and Roman authorities.
The next day, as Fr. James Martin, S.J. tells us in "Jesus A Pilgrimage," "Jesus enters the Temple Precinct and overturns the tables of the merchants, appalled by their doing business in 'my Father's house.' The Cleansing of the Temple, along with the Raising of Lazarus, is most likely a precipitating factor in his death." Jesus physically drives the merchants out, calling them a "den of thieves." He is angry, with a righteous wrath; his deliberate assumption of such authority must stun everyone around him. And further enrage the Jewish authorities.
Somewhere in this time frame, Judas, one of Jesus' closest friends, secretly goes to the Jewish authorities and promises to sell him out, lead them to him, for thirty pieces of silver.
Does Jesus know that malign forces are gathering a net around him and that he will be captured and dead within a few days? Jesus has predicted his own death all along. As early as the eighth chapter in Mark, Jesus tells his disciples and others quite openly "The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and, after three days, rise again." Peter, horrified at the thought of his friend suffering and perhaps hoping that Jesus will be the next King in the line of David, rebukes Jesus for such a stark statement. And Jesus then rebukes Peter for rebuking him: "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
Martin says "Jesus is not saying that Peter is Satan. Rather he realizes that Peter is giving voice to the temptation to reject reality. Jesus recognizes this voice. It is an echo of the voice that he heard once in the desert: an appeal to self-interest and pride."
Jesus always chooses to follow God, not people. He has deliberately chosen to walk the path of the prophets. The Jewish people always were so infuriated by the challenging words of their prophets that they ended up murdering them. Jesus, who has been honest, challenging, even confrontational, knows the reality of where such honesty leads. Jesus embraces his Father's Will, the call to sacrifice his life for all people of all places and times. During this final, fateful week, he says "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ....Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit." When Jesus hangs on the cross, his Father's glory will surround him; he is the source of our salvation.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 - 1945), a German Lutheran Pastor, Theologian, and Nazi dissident, chose to follow God, not people. He understood that to be a Christian, to follow Jesus, means that each of us will have to become that grain of wheat at some point in our lives. He said, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."
Bonhoeffer was a vocal opponent of Hitler's Euthanasia programs and genocidal persecution of Jews. He believed that "Silence in the face of evil is evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." Later he was arrested and accused of being part of a plot to assassinate Hitler. He was arrested, sent to a prison, then to a concentration camp where he was stripped and walked naked to his execution by hanging - two weeks before the war was ended.
Bonhoeffer's life and death had a profound effect on the spirituality of Martin Luther King, Jr. The night before his death, Dr. King said "Like anybody, I would like to live - a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will."
Each one of us has been called by God to a mission, a cause that God desires us to be passionate about and for. We each have a gift and responsibility to speak out, to speak the truth, about part of God's Kingdom. Think of the causes, the hurting people, the hurting earth! Where is your heart? Do you speak out about abortion? Euthanasia? Human trafficking? Capital punishment? Prison reform? Poverty and joblessness? Global hunger and lack of water? The immigration and refugee crises? Climate Change and Pollution? The need to strengthen marriage and family in a country where people are forsaking marriage itself and often see no need to have children? The plight of the vulnerable aged and people with special needs? The plight of our veterans, often a high percentage of the homeless? Racism? Sexism? Stereotyping of people of different cultures and religions? Peacemaking?
These are not political issues; they are Scriptural issues, straight from the words of Genesis, the Prophets, and Jesus. The cries, the hurts, the needs, seem endless. And, no one of us can "do it all." We need to work in one specific area well - and be willing to be honest and loving and able to bear the brunt of criticism for speaking out and acting. We also should not criticize one another for not working for our particular cause! Again, God calls each of us to a specific place to be, a specific message to hear, a specific mission for His hurting children.
When we are criticized, or afraid of criticism, we need to remember Bonhoeffer's words: "God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."
Follow God, not people.