Jesus and the Scottish Play
The Rev. Amy Morgan
November 21, 2010
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [[ Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’]] And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’
One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’
Macbeth was a king who was not a king. After being told by three weird sisters that he would be king of Scotland, he decided to help fate along by murdering the sitting king. It indeed happened that Macbeth was crowned king, but it was a brief reign marked by murder and madness. When Alec Baldwin played the role of Macbeth, he acted with perfect incompetence. His Macbeth shouted, threw tantrums, whined, and jumped on the furniture. In short, he did everything a king would never do. Because he wasn’t really the king. He was a usurper, a traitor, a murderer. He wore the crown briefly, but he was never really the king.
This is how people see Jesus on the cross. He’s a king who does everything a king would never do. He allows himself to be betrayed and imprisoned. He submits to torture and ridicule. He gives himself up to be killed in a painful and humiliating way. His followers are left deserted and without direction.
A king is supposed to be mighty and powerful. He’s supposed to be ruthless and conniving. He’s supposed to kill those who might be a threat to him and vanquish his enemies. These were the kinds of rulers the people of the first century knew.
So its little wonder Jesus is scoffed at and mocked and derided by the people surrounding him at the cross.
The religious leaders acknowledge that Jesus has saved other people. But if he can’t use his power to save himself, what kind of king is he? What good is power if you can’t do whatever you want with it? What self-respecting king wouldn’t save himself?
A sign reading “King of the Jews” hangs over Jesus like a “Kick Me” sign on his back. It was meant as a warning to any would-be zealots who might have crazy ideas about liberating the Jews from Rome’s oppression. It was meant to emphasize how pathetic Jesus was and how powerless his people were. Insult is added to injury, abuse is added to injustice, as the soldiers mock Jesus with the words, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself!” In the eyes of the soldiers, Jesus has failed to save his people. How could he save his people if he can’t save himself?
The final humiliation comes from the sorriest of the players in this crucifixion drama. A criminal derides Jesus, questioning his identity as the Messiah, questioning his ability to save himself, questioning his ability to save others. The word “deride” more accurately translates as “blasphemed.” Luke is making the point that this final taunt disrespects God, shows contempt for the sacred. The criminal doesn’t just abuse Jesus as king. He insults Jesus as God.
It’s not surprising that Jesus is not recognized as the king. He doesn’t act like the king. He does everything a king is not supposed to do.
What is remarkable, however, is that someone does recognize his royalty.
The other criminal being crucified with Jesus somehow realizes that Jesus is the king. From the looks of things, no one is being saved – not Jesus, not the criminals, not the Jews, not anyone. Three men are hanging on crosses waiting to die a slow and painful death. The Jewish people are still waiting for the one who will defeat their enemies and reign in power. Leadership is abusive and corrupt, people are greedy, religious and political factions fight through their differences while the majority of people are caught in the crossfire. It doesn’t look like anyone is being saved. So how does this criminal have hope in Jesus’ kingdom? How does he recognize Jesus as king?
In my first year acting class at NYU, we did an exercise where the teacher told us to “be the king.” That was it. That was all the instruction we got. We had a line of nonsense to deliver as we entered the room to “be the king.” Most of us strode into the room confidently, stood up as tall as we could, looked down on everyone else, or above everyone else, and delivered our line in the most booming, regal voice we could muster. Finally, the teacher stopped us. He told us we all had it wrong. He entered the room, quietly composed, looked us each in the eye, and delivered the line in a voice barely above a whisper. We were all captivated. “Remember,” he said, “the king never has to raise his voice. End of lesson.”
He was right. If you really are the king, people will listen. They will watch you. If you really are the king, your power is in your very self, not in anything you can put on or play up or capture or acquire. If you are the king, you are the king. You have the power and authority. There is no need to prove it.
The second criminal being crucified with Jesus got this. He didn’t need proof that Jesus was king. He knew the king by the power of his very presence. Jesus the king never had to raise his voice. He simply and quietly said, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Forgiveness for enemies. For those who tortured and killed him. For those who mocked and ridiculed him. Forgiveness, pardon is the act of a king. When everyone else saw death and defeat, when everyone else saw that no one was being saved, the second criminal saw the king. Jesus never had to raise his voice. As it says in Isaiah, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” In the book of Acts, Philip uses this text to teach an Ethiopian eunuch about the kingship of Christ. Jesus is the king, and the king never has to raise his voice.
Recognizing this, the second criminal asks that Jesus remember him when he comes into his kingdom.
Jesus responds to the man saying, “today you will be with me in paradise.” The king’s last words to another human being before his death are words of pardon, words of salvation. It is a promise only a king can make. Paradise was a Persian term that described the hunting grounds of the king – a place of beauty and relaxation and joy. Jews and Christians adopted the term to describe the Garden of Eden and the eternal, heavenly garden, but here it is yet another reminder that Jesus is the king who can bring people to places they would otherwise never be able to go.
Jesus promises the criminal that they will be in this paradise “today.” The way that “today” is used throughout Luke’s gospel, it doesn’t refer to a 24-hour period of time. Earlier in the gospel, Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah, laying out God’s vision for releasing, renewing and restoring the world. Then Jesus declares “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” “Today” is the event of God’s salvation, the still-unfolding process of God’s grace in a hurting world, and the final return to Paradise. As one commentator put is, “today is the moment when God’s salvation fractures time.”
In Luke’s brief account of the crucifixion, Jesus releases, renews, and restores God’s world. He releases God’s world from sin and death in his prayer asking that God forgive all those implicated in his death. He renews God’s world by following through with God’s plan for salvation, even to the point of death on a cross. And he restores God’s world to right relationship with the offer of eternal life.
Looking around the world, walking through our daily lives, searching the dark places in our souls – it’s often hard to see God’s kingdom. If Jesus saved others, why can’t he save a mother from cancer or a child from hunger? Why can’t he save the girl from abuse or the young man from addiction? The scoffing and mocking and blaspheming that took place around the cross still takes place today. We want Jesus to be the king who makes everything right, but we don’t see salvation happening. We see death and weakness, we are deserted and drifting. We see abuse and corruption and greed and anger. It doesn’t look like anyone is being saved. In Afghanistan and Haiti, in Detroit and Pontiac, in our hearts and our minds – we don’t see God’s kingdom restored. If Jesus is the king, he’s not acting like one.
But that’s just the point. Jesus doesn’t act like the king. He is the king. He’s the king of the Jews, the king of all God’s children, the king of the church.
But we follow kings like Macbeth, kings who are not kings. They may be the loudest or the richest or the most popular or claim to have the solutions to all our problems. These kings might look like politicians or professors, bosses or bankers, gurus or grandfathers. Anyone or anything that tries to take the place in our lives that rightly belongs to Jesus Christ is a king who is not a king.
The king never has to raise his voice.
So if Jesus is our king, we will listen to him, we will watch him, we will follow and obey him.
If Jesus is our king, we will see salvation precisely in death and weakness, in grief and hunger, in abuse and hopelessness. We will see God’s kingdom precisely in Afghanistan and Haiti, in Detroit and Pontiac, in our hearts and minds.
If Jesus is our king, we will acknowledge our guilt and his innocence.
If Jesus is our king, we will carry on the work he left for us to do. We will forgive as we have been forgiven. We will follow through with God’s plan for salvation, no matter the cost. We will offer others abundant life in Jesus Christ as it has been offered to us. We will release, renew, and restore God’s world.
If Jesus is our king, we will, as Francis of Assisi said, “preach the gospel and use words if necessary” because the king never has to raise his voice.
If Jesus is our king, we will practice outrageous mercy, extend scandalous forgiveness and invite people to places of rest they would otherwise never be able to go.
