But let me say that every person who experiences Holy Week does so in a different way. We are all different, and God speaks to each of us in a different way. Even the disciples, the eye-witnesses of Christ's Passion saw something different, and when the story came to be written down in the Gospels, each Evangelist told the story from a different viewpoint. Matthew and Mark saw in Jesus a man who plumbed the depth of human suffering, deserted by everyone. His only word from the Cross is, "My God my God, why have you abandoned me?" God is revealed only when the veil in the Temple is torn from top to bottom and when the Centurion exclaims, "Truly, this man was the Son of God!"
Luke's Gospel, which we heard today, shows Jesus as a person who never stopped loving others, even in the face of death. He heals the slave's ear at the time of his arrest, he worries about the fate of the women of Jerusalem, he forgives those who crucified him and he promises Paradise to the repentant thief crucified with him. The crucifixion becomes an occasion of divine forgiveness, and Jesus dies almost peacefully, saying, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."
On Good Friday we will read the Passion according to John. John's gospel is the one where we see most clearly that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, through whom the world was made, he is the sovereign Lord who declares, "I lay down my life and I take it up again; no one takes it from me." (10:17-18) In the garden he does not pray to be delivered from the hour of trial and death, as he does in the other gospels, for this hour is the whole purpose of his life. (12:27) He tells a frightened Pilate, "You have no power over me." (19:8, 11) and when he dies, it is not with a cry of desolation or a calm resignation, it is with the triumphant declaration, "It is finished!"(19:30).
It is good to have these different perspectives on the Passion. We humans like to have things set out neatly so that we can understand them, but God always works with the things we don't understand, the mysteries that puzzle and worry us. God works with the mystery of life and death, suffering and evil, all that lies beyond our thoughts an in our future. The Christian faith is not a nice neat set of facts to be learned by heart, instead it is a heart-changing experience. This is particularly so of the Passion. Sometimes, when we are desolate, Jesus' cry of desolation is comforting beyond all else. It is good to know that God has suffered the worst of our pain and more. Sometimes it is the shattering loneliness of Christ that speaks to us most clearly.
Or it may be that God's loving company is what we long for, and his promise that, "Today, you will be with me in paradise."(23:43) With Jesus, we can trust God to care for us, our souls are safe in the care of God and no torment can tear us apart. And when our lives and the lives of others are hurt by our own foolishness or wickedness, it is good to hear that Jesus forgave even those who crucified him, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."(23:34)
John's gospel shows us the power and majesty of God, our creator God who destroys death and fear, and whose divine purpose and promise can never be frustrated. We can surely trust ourselves to such a one, the Lord God of Hosts, the Holy God, Holy and Immortal, Holy and Mighty, Compassionate and Merciful.
So what are we looking for, when we come to Holy Week and the Passion of Christ and travel with Jesus to Easter? Are we looking for hope and healing, do we bring our broken-ness and pain? Do we bring our joy and delight, life and love for who we are? Do we come looking for answers or do we come simply to appreciate the mystery of life and death? Let us pray that as we draw close to Christ that we may find what we need, thanks be to God.