21. Mark 14:61b-64

Posted by DJL on Mar 16, 2012 in Lenten Devotions | 1 comment

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I am; and
’you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power’,
and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?” All of them condemned him as deserving death.

The charge is blasphemy – the act of speaking of God sacrilegiously, of uttering falsehoods about God, of slandering God’s name. On this occasion, Jesus is accused of blasphemy because he claims for himself the title “Son of Man” and asserts that he will sit in the position of authority with God and come to judge the world in righteousness.

But Jesus’ blasphemy didn’t start here; it started earlier, much earlier. Jesus’ offense started all the way back near the beginning of Mark’s account hen he cast out a demon, and then healed the sick, and fed the hungry, and chased out the money changers from the Temple. In each and every situation, you see, Jesus challenged the common sensibility of where God was, of whose side God was on, of what God expects from us and desires for us.

But his chief offense was forgiving sins. Indeed, this was the first time he was charged with blasphemy. He had just healed a man of paralysis after four of his friends let him down to Jesus through the roof. After healing him, Jesus told him that his sins were forgiven. It caused an uproar: “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Why is offering forgiveness such an offense? Because forgiveness implies guilt. There is no better way, in fact, to challenge the status quo than by forgiving its keepers, thereby implying that they need forgiveness and that the status quo they protect is bankrupt and needs redemption. And so because Jesus’ words and deeds challenged the reigning assumptions about God and about the present ordering of the world he was charged with blasphemy.

And on that count they were right. Jesus did, in fact, proclaim a God that looked nothing like the God the people imagined. And he still does. Jesus’ proclamation of a God of forgiveness, mercy, and grace slanders the God of our imaginations – the God who is always on our side and whose anger we call down on others. Jesus comes bearing peace and mercy, forgiveness and grace, and because these things undermine our sense of order and convictions about what is right, he’s as threatening and sacrilegious as ever.

Prayer: Dear God, help us to recognize you only in the suffering and vulnerability of Jesus so that we might know your love extends to us and to all people. In Jesus’ name, Amen.