Lectionary Notebook Matthew 26:31-46, 69-75

Thoughts on the Gospel Reading

Passion Sunday, Year A
(See TEXT below Matthew 26:31-46, 69-75)
April 17, 2011 

THE Gospel Lectionary reading for today, Passion Sunday, is an extended passage from St. Matthew's Gospel, only a small portion of which we will examine today. 

I have chosen these pericopes because they offer us a deep forage into a Christian discipleship based upon a solid rendering of the human condition. Said another way, these verses force us to cross over the line from an idealize psudeo-discipleship to what it means to attempt to follow Jesus in a flesh and blood world of failure and loss. Or, said still another way, these renderings from St. Matthew give us a solid snapshot of the dire humanness of the disciples and Jesus' response to his own humanity and to theirs.

To get underneath the skin of these texts I will examine three difficult questions which I would ask you to bravely answer within your own heart. All these questions are impertinent, for they exceed the bounds of sermon propriety, and so I apologize beforehand.

#1 -- HAS YOUR FAITH EVER BEEN SHAKEN?

The first question: Have you ever had your faith shaken? Have you ever had a time when what you thought you believed was so shattered that all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put the beliefs back together again?

The TEXT reads: "Then Jesus said to them, 'This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed; but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.'”

Put simply: The disciples' own faith was about to be shaken to the core because the one in whom they placed that faith was about to be killed by the State. And this, of course, is most generally how our faith is shaken, when the one whom we trust, the one in whom we believe for some reason falls or fails.

When life becomes unhinged, when things turn and cease going our way, when tragedy strikes our lives, when a trusted friend or mentor fails, suddenly the systems of certainty we trusted are pulled from us and we are seemingly left alone. Here, the questions are all boiled down to the very most pointed decision: Will I continue to have faith in GOD, or not?

It is important to remember two things about the experience of a shaken faith. First, a shaken faith is a time of testing that need not ultimately end in our own complete failure. That is, a crisis such as this can eventually lead to a strengthening of resolve within the center of our faith, if we so choose. 

Second, a shaken faith clearly offers new a perspective, allowing us to jettison what may now be seen as dodgy beliefs and understandings. That is, a crisis such as this can strip away innocuous mindsets that are bloated or wrong-headed, leaving only the base essentials. And this gift of a toughened clarity is the real basis for moving forward to a deeper discipleship.

#2 -- HAVE YOUR EVER PRAYED AND GOTTEN "NO" FOR YOUR TROUBLE?

The second question: Have you ever prayed and gotten "NO" for your trouble? Of course you have. How many times have you taken your burden to the LORD, asking for relief or deliverance, only to be told in your soul that what is there confronting you must be experienced, that you must walk through that particular death valley?

The text reads: He [Jesus] advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.”

It may be of some comfort that Jesus himself had this as a life experience, but only moderately so because when we ourselves are in the fire it matters very little what others have thought or said or done, for now it is our pain, our grief, our loss. 

Still, Jesus is here the modeled response to a "NO" answer: "yet, not as I will, but as you will." The question is how do we get to this kind of spiritual resignation? I must say, the air is very thin when we enter this kind of discipleship. 

For the Christian disciple this kind of resignation comes only after the continuing (life-long) investment and practice of GOD's will as found in the Jesus-way. For, what is discovered only after the practice of this kind of investment is that to follow the Christ is actually the best path life has to offer.

Said another way, to know GOD's will and to do GOD's will, this is true discipleship. But we would do well to remember that this kind of discipleship involves denying self, carrying a cross and following a narrow way. Which leads to the final question.

# 3 -- HAVE YOU EVER BETRAYED THE LORD?

The final question is the most difficult to hear: Have you ever betrayed the LORD? Have you ever turned your back on the promises you made? Have you ever denied him to others? Have you ever broken faith with him?

The text reads: Then Jesus said to them, “This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed; but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him in reply, “Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be.” Jesus said to him, “Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him,  “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” And all the disciples spoke likewise.

Initially, this question reminds us that to follow Jesus as an informed disciple, as opposed to a mere onlooker, means we have actually counted what that discipleship would cost us. 

To this end there is a powerful passage from St. Luke's Gospel, chapter fourteen, that illustrates what I mean. Great crowds are following Jesus, which would eventually come to be the measure of success in the Western church, but for Jesus it was a cause for concern and confrontation:

"Great crowds were following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, "If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters -- yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple." (vss. 25-26)

It's like he is saying, "Now, listen all you people! You don't understand! So let me explain what you are seeing. To follow me it costs you everything! It costs your most precious possession -- your future! So, if you can't give that for the Kingdom, turn around now!"

Sadly, for some of us this was never explained upfront. We only learned afterward the cost of the Jesus-way. This fact alone can lead to a life-long struggle with faithfulness to the LORD and questions of loyalty and betrayal.

The thing to remember here concerning the question of betrayal is that Jesus predicts the disciples shaken faith and their future failure, especially Peter's. He offers this prediction as a warning, but a warning that includes a promise: "but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee..." 

This is tremendous comfort. Jesus lets his men know where he will be after their failure! Far from writing them off, he accepts them in their failure and their shaken faith. He understands that, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," and he recognizes that intention does not always produce follow-through. 

The LORD's goal for the betrayer, for the failure, is restoration and return to fellowship. We probably could not have this as our conclusion were it not for St. Peter, who betrayed the LORD to his face (Luke 22:61), but whom the LORD restored to himself in spite of the betrayal (John 21:15-17)

This story of Peter reminds us of the most important truth of all -- within the heart of the LORD is a love that is so much stronger than our failures or successes. The lesson of the betrayer is that GOD does not love us more when we succeed and GOD does not love us less when we fail. GOD loves us because GOD loves us, the reason for the wonder of his love lies deeply rooted within himself. Can there be any more important fact?

Matthew 26:31-46, 69-75

Then Jesus said to them,
“This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken,
for it is written:
I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed;
but after I have been raised up,
I shall go before you to Galilee.”
Peter said to him in reply,
“Though all may have their faith in you shaken,
mine will never be.”
Jesus said to him,
“Amen, I say to you,
this very night before the cock crows,
you will deny me three times.”
Peter said to him,
“Even though I should have to die with you,
I will not deny you.”
And all the disciples spoke likewise.

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane,
and he said to his disciples,
“Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,
and began to feel sorrow and distress.
Then he said to them,
“My soul is sorrowful even to death.
Remain here and keep watch with me.”
He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying,
“My Father, if it is possible,
let this cup pass from me;
yet, not as I will, but as you will.”
When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep.
He said to Peter,
“So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?
Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again,
“My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass
without my drinking it, your will be done!”
Then he returned once more and found them asleep,
for they could not keep their eyes open.
He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time,
saying the same thing again.
Then he returned to his disciples and said to them,
“Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
Behold, the hour is at hand
when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.
Get up, let us go.
Look, my betrayer is at hand.”

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard.
One of the maids came over to him and said,
“You too were with Jesus the Galilean.”
But he denied it in front of everyone, saying,
“I do not know what you are talking about!”
As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him
and said to those who were there,
“This man was with Jesus the Nazorean.”
Again he denied it with an oath,
“I do not know the man!”
A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter,
“Surely you too are one of them;
even your speech gives you away.”
At that he began to curse and to swear,
“I do not know the man.”
And immediately a cock crowed.
Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken:
“Before the cock crows you will deny me three times.”
He went out and began to weep bitterly.