Palm/Passion Sunday (April 13). REBUKE AND ACCEPTANCE

Prepare to Listen.  O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!  (Ps 118:1)
 
Prayerfully Read Luke 22:47-53
47While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them.  He approached Jesus to kiss him; 48but Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?’  49When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, ‘Lord, should we strike with the sword?’  50Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.  51But Jesus said, ‘No more of this!’  And he touched his ear and healed him.  52Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit?  53When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me.  But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!’
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
An enemy approached with a kiss.  A friend attacked with a sword.  What do you think of Jesus’ response to both?
 
There are three rebukes from Jesus.  The first was to an enemy once a disciple.  Judas approached him with the intent to kiss, an unnecessary sign since Jesus had identified himself.  He willingly accepted the suffering to come, thus stopped Judas with a gentle rebuke, as if giving him an opportunity to repent: “Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?”
 
The second rebuke was to a friend who resorted to violence.  This time Jesus’ rebuke was severe: “No more of this!”  He accepted the inevitability of his suffering, and rejected violence, a lesson we sorely need to learn.  Too often the church has resorted to violence to protect their beliefs, only to discover how wrong they were.  Instead of violence, Jesus performed his final miracle, healing the man’s ear.
 
The third rebuke is a warning to the rulers.  Ever since Jesus arrived in Jerusalem (19:41), the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders sought to kill him.  But they feared to lay hands on him during the day because of the crowds who daily came to listen to his teaching.  Night, said Jesus, was their hour, because it was “the power of darkness.”  Darkness is the domain of God’s enemy.  What his captors came to do in darkness, Jesus warned, was on the side of evil.  They were so far gone in their hatred of Jesus they didn’t understand him.  He warned them, but they did not repent.
 
Jesus’ rebukes revealed his willingness to accept the cup the Father had prepared.  How can this affect how you follow Jesus today?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord, help me be more like you and willingly accept whatever you bring my way today.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Be more like Jesus.