Scripture: Mark 15:1-15
As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" He answered him, "You say so." Then the chief priests accused him of many things. Pilate asked him again, "Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you." But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.
Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. Then he answered them, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate spoke to them again, "Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?" They shouted back, "Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him!" So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
Reflection Questions:
Has there been a time when your voice and your actions been against the love, care, forgiveness, and grace of God? Were you ever silent as others suffered and stumbled in their life journeys? How have you joined the crowd in crying out “crucify him?”
Five-minute Story:
From the core of my being, I wished her to be better. At my Grandma's deathbed, we were like outnumbered warriors on the eve of battle. Cancer surrounded and outmatched our abilities and strength. Only a miracle - like happens in movies and cartoons - could save Grandma. It was what I had been praying for and hoping for with every ounce of my twenty-two-year-old self.
For centuries, Christians have officially discarded magic as an unholy enterprise because it seeks to circumvent and manipulate God. Of course, even as the authorized teaching forbade the occult, on the side, believers still dabbled. Why? Because from the core of their being they wanted to be able to affect the course of life that seemed out of control, arbitrary, and harsh. They sought agency, power, and the ability to change their lives according to their desires, wants, and wishes. “Blasphemy” was an appropriate judgment. “Human” was another.
On the night of my Grandmother’s death, my younger-self would have shaken any rattle that you gave me or drank any potion you offered if it would have caused her to live. Despair threatens us and forces actions that we would not otherwise imagine. That night, my family was devastated in our powerlessness and grief.
In the years since that night, my studies, training, and experience have guided me to make a distinction between "wishing" and "hoping" in my prayers.
Wishing brings to the surface inner desires and needs. Wishing often involves things that are within our control or at least within the scope of human agency. I wish to lose 30 pounds. I wish for the Twins to beat the Yankees. I wish to play guitar. I might fail at these things, but they are possible, if not likely. Wishing directs our dreams and helps to mobilize our efforts. We go on diets; we take lessons, etc. When we wish, we seek to control outcomes.
Instead of seeking magical manipulation, hope trusts in things that move beyond human control. Hope seeks and believes in God to be faithful and bring about transformation and resurrection. Hope yearns for God to do what only God can do. Hope surrenders control in the sure and certain belief that God remains steadfast in love, grace, forgiveness, and relationship. Hope seeks to live in the very place where we find ourselves lost, scared, and powerless.
Although our prayers can and should lift up our wishes/desires to God (if they didn’t they would lack honesty) it is good for us to ground prayer in hope. Hope recognizes that God’s power and agency operates on a different plane than our own. Hope honors the relationship between creatures and Creator.
Scripture witnesses to God’s faithfulness and steadfast love. In the midst of pain, struggle, and even death, God is present and brings life. The Spirit moves among us and between us and gives us the wisdom and peace that transcends our fondest wishes and desires. I have learned that genuine healing occurs on a level beyond the physical.
Returning to my Grandmother’s deathbed, I realize now that my wishes for her to get up, cancer-free were not grounded in the reality of the situation. No magic spell was going to make her better. If there was, she was still at some point going to die. I could wish upon a whole constellation without changing death’s eventuality.
Looking back, though I couldn’t express it at the time, I was hoping for her to be at peace with her Creator. I was hoping for her to experience healing of her broken body that caused her so much pain. I was looking for those things beyond my understanding. I wanted for her (and for myself) to be in the blessing of God’s presence.
When my family left the hospital, in the parking lot, we saw a sunset that still lives in my memory. It was glorious. Across the Meadowlands, golden rays filled the sky. It was a hope-filled sign of God’s steadfast presence. Magical in its own right. Peaceful. For a brief moment, God lifted up our hearts. Hope came as a gift and it pushed against our despair. God had my Grandma and us in eternal care as night closed in around us.