Psalm
22: 1–11 / Philippians 2: 5–11 / Matthew 26: 14–75; 27: 1-54
This
is the homily provided for the people of St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, March 22, 2020. This homily was not delivered as
part of our Sunday morning worship, because St. John’s is currently closed due
to the COVID – 19 viral outbreak. Instead, it was provided via electronic means
and in hard copy to those without email.)
“GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN, BUCKING THE SYSTEM”
(Homily
text: Matthew 26:14–75; 27: 1–54)
If we’re not careful, whenever we handle a piece of
wood, we run the risk of getting splinters in her hands. So, it’s important to
be attentive, and especially, to be careful not to go against the grain of the
wood in the wrong way.
That image is an excellent way to characterize our
Lord’s entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, His overturning of the tables of
the money changers in the Temple, His challenge to the powers of the Sanhedrin,
King Herod and Pontius Pilate, and His victory over death in Easter Sunday
morning: In all of these things, He was
going against the grain, He was bucking the system.
In the first three Gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark and
Luke (known as the Synoptic Gospels, because they share a similar outline and
outlook), it is Jesus’ action to drive out the money changers that was the
spark that caused the ruling elders of the Sanhedrin to decide that it was time
to get rid of this challenger, Jesus.[1]
If we think about it, Our Lord poses a continuing
challenge to the “way things are” in the world. He goes against the grain of
those who would exploit others for their own benefit. He goes against the grain
of those who would promulgate evil, those who would seek to separate people
from God and God from people.
When you and I take up the mantle of being a
disciple, a follower of Jesus, part of that call involves going against the
grain, bucking the system. That call means that we will refuse to live by the
values, the standards, and the expectations of the secular world around us. We
are called to be different.
If we look at the events of Holy Week, on whose
threshold we stand in memory this Palm Sunday, we can see that, for our Lord,
the path forward for Him meant getting some painful splinters, going the way of
pain, suffering and death.
For we, His followers, the path forward in life
will involve self-sacrifice, possibly loss, and going against the grain. We
need to be very realistic about those prospects.
In our Prayer Book, there’s a wonderful Collect
which summarizes the way of the cross, the way Jesus walked. It is the Collect
for Fridays in Morning Prayer (page 56):
“Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to glory but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
AMEN.
[1] By contrast, in John’s Gospel account, it is
Jesus’ raising of Lazarus which prompts the decision to kill Jesus. It’s
possible that it was a combination of Jesus’ challenge to the status quo, both
His raising of Lazarus and His action in the Temple, that were taken as signs
that the time had come to dispatch Him. Indeed, Jesus’ entire ministry
constituted a challenge to the powers of the day.
