Jesus and the Poor

Gospel: John 12: 1-11

"The poor you will always have with you, but me you will not always have." 

John's Gospel is filled with ironic comments like this one. Those who preach neglect and indifference to the poor love this passage as an apologetic for their neglect and indifference, but such misses the irony of the statement in the Gospel.  This neglect and indifference, seen in Judas using money set aside for the poor for his own personal use, is why we will always have the poor with us always.

For we know that Jesus is present in the poor (Matthew 25) as we will realize on judgment day.  We also know that the highest form of worship we can provide to God is in our care for the poor, marginalized, and abused as we see in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37), a parable Jesus proclaims just before visiting Martha and Mary.  

Again Holy Week is election season.  Lent called us prioritize our care for the poor by direct support of them and our detachment from worldly goods in our lives.  We can choose to care for the poor and by extension the Lord Jesus as a priority, or we can neglect and show indifference to the poor.  We can create structures of support for the poor, or structures that give priority to subsidizing opulent episcopal residences while closing parishes and schools for the poor.  It is our election week, a time to make different choices than we have previously.  

Holy Week - Election Season!

Gospel: Matthew 26: 14 - 27: 54

The candidates on the ballot are Jesus and Barabbas.  Both have similar names, both being "Son of the Father" so confusion arises as to name recognition.  As election week begins the polls look good for Jesus.  Big crowds turn out for him and the people are abuzz with enthusiasm for the candidate of hope.  But as the week progresses, the smear tactics against him start to have their effect and Barabbas begins to rise in popularity.  We know the outcome of this race.

The platforms of Jesus and Barabbas could not be more different.  Barabbas was a violent revolutionary who only sees solutions in political terms: salvation for Israel will come only through violent uprising and political maneuvering.  By contrast the message of Jesus is that the world will be transformed through loving-kindness, works of mercy and service toward others, even to the point of death.  

The crowd then as now will choose Barabbas and in each rendering of this story we find different ways to mock Jesus.  Nowadays we turn Jesus into Barabbas, changing the message of love and nonviolence to that of the crassly political and overtly violent.  But once again we are given the choice, once again it is election week.  We have the opportunity to choose differently than we have, to choose the savior and the means of salvation that will truly save us from sin and from ourselves.   

By What Authority?

Gospel: John 11: 45-56

The religious leaders gather together and conspire to put Jesus to death after he raises Lazarus from the dead.  In their thinking, if Jesus is the Messiah, the people will follow him and sweep the Romans out of power in order to restore the kingdom of Israel.  They would then be out of power since they only have their positions because Rome appointed them; they are not legitimate leaders according to the Law of Israel.  

Those in positions of power tend to rely on the fact of appointment or the position itself as justification for their authority.  The religious leaders of Jesus' day do so as well.  As noted before, Jesus relies on the good deeds he performs to speak on his behalf; in short, Jesus relies on moral authority as the basis for his work and ministry.  Good deeds come from God and the one who performs good deeds has God's authority.  

Someday religious leaders will learn that moral authority is far more important than authority of position or rank.  If one does not possess moral authority then they in fact have no authority at all.  When scandals are allowed to exist and when religious leaders have sold themselves out as mere mouthpieces for political agendas, moral authority is lost and it is difficult to recover.  This Lenten time of repentance and reform is an occasion for such recovery and conversion for us all.