Tuesday of Fifth Week of Easter

Lectionary: 286

I will no longer speak much with you,

for the ruler of the world is coming.
He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father
and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.”

On the night before died, as his “hour” approached, Jesus carefully explained to his disciples why he would die by crucifixion. In the presence of a living, healthy man it’s very hard to imagine his being dead within a few hours, much less why it is necessary. I wonder if his disciples were even listening.

Jesus explains it simply, “… the world must know that I love the Father, and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.”

His crucifixion will seem to the ignorant like the defeat of all goodness and the triumph of evil. Some will behold this spectacle in apparent foolishness and draw the obvious conclusion -- that Evil and Satan have triumphed once and for all. Didn’t he calm the waves with a whisper? So why should he die? Obviously evil was more powerful than good.

They will see no purpose in Jesus’ crucifixion. They will dismiss prima facie every reasonable explanation. They will see that the “ruler of the world,” who was “coming,” had more power than Jesus and could impose his will upon anyone regardless of their power, wealth or influence.

These pundits are not prepared to wait even until the third day before they announce their findings. They have drawn up their conclusions and drawn down their open-mindedness and disregarded every new datum or fact or bit of information.

Theirs is not a bad way of life if you have enough money to block out all the signals from reality. You’d have to start from a gated community someplace, with a v-chip to block out all images of faithful, honest people who live happily with their poverty. You could assure yourself that no one can be happy without excess power, security, pleasure and material goods. Your v-chip would have to interface with whatever drug you’re taking to stifle the discontent in your soul, that rumor in some neglected corner of your mind that there must be more to life than this.

But not even that gated community with its v-chips, alcohol and drugs can completely suppress the news that Jesus loves the Father and does just as the Father has commanded him.