Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
July 29, 2024
Invitatory
The earth is the Lord’s, for he made it: Come let us adore him.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Matthew 27:24-31
So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood;* see to it yourselves.’ Then the people as a whole answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children! ’So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
Meditation-Rebecca Northington
I will never understand why we humans can be so mean. What is it in us that drives us to be cruel to another? What does it satisfy, and for how long? From little insults in our own communities to obsessing over celebrities while waiting for them to fail, fall, or fall short, we look to pounce on other people. We wait for politicians to implode-on either side, rather than rooting both sides on to be the best version of themselves. We were not at all surprised that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt failed and failed publicly, miserably, and in high drama. We watched like vultures. We watched Johnny Depp and his ex-wife go through a gruesomely public court battle and we acted like we knew who was good and who was evil. We have greedily watched the British Monarchy go through their various travails and heartaches with conviction regarding who is in the right and who is in the wrong. Are you team Megan Markle, or Princess Kate? Why?
I think we hope for certain failure so that we can feel superior. Is this what happens with Jesus? They turned on him and watched with bated breath as he was tortured and killed. Even as Pilate literally washed his hands of the entire ordeal, the people and the soldiers owned their responsibility for his demise. They said “His blood be on us and on our children”, a fascinating foreshadowing of our universal role in the rejection of God.
The second paragraph of this text really upsets me as the soldiers bully and torment Jesus. Pilate, their Governor, has questioned why Jesus is the one the people want crucified. The soldiers should be representing Pilate and instead they are treating Jesus like a cat who has caught a mouse, torturing it before they kill it. This should evoke fear and shock in us. What happens to us in a mob? Why do we lose our sense of right and wrong? What did these soldiers have personally against Jesus, or more accurately-if they had nothing against Jesus, how could they torment him so?
I know I am asking a lot of questions, and maybe you think unnecessarily. But we continue these behaviors today in micro ways. Too often we follow people expecting them to bring us joy, and when they cannot fix us, we turn on them. We fail to stand up for our beliefs in a crowd; we fear retribution and keep our mouths shut. We are the same as that crowd in Jerusalem over and over again, and it is a kind of violence to others and to ourselves. Jesus rejects all of those human tendencies in his self sacrifice. He is showing us that no amount of scapegoating, no amount of looking down on others, will help us to feel better. It is actually the opposite. While we may get an initial rush from the act of gossiping, or the act of bullying; in the end we feel worse about ourselves. It is only in unconditional forgiveness that we heal. As we forgive and love others we learn to more truly forgive and love ourselves.
I believe it is fear and self loathing, having more to do with our own individual issues, that drives us to cruelty towards others. But again, it does the opposite of healing us, it continues to degrade us-more than the ones to whom we aim our vitriol. I cannot speak for the ways you or anyone else experience this in your life. I know I have said unkind things about celebrities, politicians, and even those I perceive to be a threat in my own life. I am constantly reminding myself to consider why, both before, and sadly, after, I speak. I need to be reminded by this passage to intervene on behalf of Jesus; to choose love over fear, kindness over malice.
Celtic Morning Blessing:
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors. Amen
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