Divergence on the Lectionary – Passion Sunday, Year B

Because the Passion Narrative for this Sunday is so long, I’m putting a link here so that you can click straight to the Comments and Questions for Discussion if you’d rather do that than scroll and scroll (and scroll). (Click Here for Comments and Questions.)

First Reading

Isaiah 50:4–9a

	The Lord GOD has given me
		the tongue of those who are taught,
	that I may know how to sustain with a word
		him who is weary.
	Morning by morning he awakens;
		he awakens my ear
		to hear as those who are taught.
	The Lord GOD has opened my ear,
		and I was not rebellious;
		I turned not backward.
	I gave my back to those who strike,
		and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
	I hid not my face
		from disgrace and spitting.
	
	But the Lord GOD helps me;
		therefore I have not been disgraced;
	therefore I have set my face like a flint,
		and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
		He who vindicates me is near.
	Who will contend with me?
		Let us stand up together.
	Who is my adversary?
		Let him come near to me.
	Behold, the Lord GOD helps me;
		who will declare me guilty? (ESV)

Second Reading

Philippians 2:5–11

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (ESV)

Gospel Text

Mark 14:1-15:47

It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”

And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” And they all left him and fled.

And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.

And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept. (ESV)

15:1 And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.

And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid. (ESV)

Comments and Questions for Discussion

First Reading

(A confession. As the first and second readings for Passion Sunday are the same in years A, B, and C, most of what you’ll read concerning them is what I wrote in Year A, with a few things added for the first reading that I wish I’d written last year.)

Any discussion of this text, or of the other texts in “Deutero” or “Second” Isaiah known as the Songs of the Suffering Servant (or, “Servant Songs,” for short) must begin with the question, “Who is the Servant of God” described in these songs. (Our text this week is counted as the third of four Servant Songs.)

We followers of Jesus are so accustomed to seeing Him and His Passion when we read passages like ours from Isaiah 50 that we forget that the prophet did not have Jesus in mind when he wrote or spoke those words. I know I keep saying this when we talk about many messianic prophecies, but I’m not quite arrogant enough to assume that you’ve read all the other Divergences that deal with these prophecies, or that even if you did, they were that memorable. Isaiah did not know that he was prophesying about Jesus. He had something else in mind, something else entirely. But that doesn’t mean that Jesus isn’t included in the prophecy, too. When we read the prophets, it’s really important to keep in mind that they saw God’s heart, but saw it only partially. Only in Jesus is the Father fully revealed. So when Isaiah saw the Servant of God about whom he speaks in our passage this week, he spoke to the people to whom he’d been called to prophesy. He applied God’s heart to his own setting, and that’s not wrong. That’s what the Spirit of Prophecy does. It’s what the Holy Spirit inspires us to do in the present when we prophesy in the present.

But one thing about all this prophecy. It must conform to the Father who is revealed in Jesus. And of course, in the case of these verses from Isaiah, they conform very, very closely. I have no doubt that when Jesus read these verses, He understood them to speak of Himself, as well as the Servant about whom Isaiah intended them. But who was this “Servant?”

Scholars have suggested that Isaiah might be speaking of himself. Or He might have had some other individual in mind. Or the Servant might be a representation of the nation of Judah. They have discussed and disagreed to widely and so deeply for so long that one scholar I read basically said that the identity of the Servant is a problem “simply unsolvable by the methods hitherto applied.” 

Among the many interpretations I’ve read or heard over the years, I’ve come to think that the collective solutions work best for me. Those being the ones that understand the Servant as Isaiah’s representation of the nation, or in the case of one author, the city, “Zion-Jerusalem.” The humiliation of, and subsequent exaltation of the city/nation seems to fit best with Isaiah’s vision of God’s people and their tribulations as captives in Babylon (keeping in mind that Second Isaiah comprises prophecies given to Judah during that period). Isaiah describes the nation as an individual several other times, in texts other than the “Servant Songs,” a woman, an man, a mother, a widow. That this pattern might continue within the songs makes a certain sense.

The other reason I lean toward this collective understanding of the Servant of God is that it makes a new sense of this application of the Servant to Jesus. Do I believe that Jesus read these verses and understood them to speak of His own humiliation and exaltation? Yes. (Sometimes I think this is why some scholars cling to the idea that Isaiah spoke of an individual. It makes the messianic interpretations a little easier.) But I also have come to believe that Jesus saw in these passages the link between Himself and the collective meaning of the Servant. He would undergo the humiliation of the Servant on behalf of the collective. His own people, His own nation, but also the “new Jerusalem” that would arise with His resurrection and ascension.

We who are baptized into Jesus’ death, are no less baptized into His humiliation. His resurrection? Of course. But in Jesus we are also present in the humiliation and vindication we read this week in Isaiah 50.

How does it change our appreciation of this text to read it as speaking of the people as a whole rather than an individual?

Second Reading

I can’t read this passage from Philippians without hearing one of my favorite hymns, crashing in my head:

At the Name of Jesus,
Ev’ry knee shall bow.
Ev’ry tongue confess Him,
King of Glory now.

‘Tis the Father’s pleasure
We should call Him Lord.
Who from the beginning
Was the mighty Word.

I don’t think I’ve ever planned a Palm Sunday (or Passion Sunday, if you prefer) liturgy without including that hymn. And I don’t think there’s a passage of Scripture that better summarizes why it is that Jesus is worthy of our worship.

It isn’t that He saved us from death. 
It isn’t that He conquered sin. 
It isn’t that He rose from the grave. 
It isn’t that He healed and taught.

All those things are wonderful. Marvelous. But the Son could have accomplished His ends in any number of other ways. 

What makes Jesus worthy of our worship, our praise, our adoration, what causes the angels to sing night and day, what causes the elders to fall on their faces and cast their crowns before Him, what causes all of that is the manner in which He chose to save us. Not with His power, not with His authority, but with His humiliation, His self-emptying. 

That is what sets our Savior apart from every other “savior” or sage or prophet. That is what sets your Gospel apart from every other message from every other religion in the world. Your Savior gave up being God. For you, and for the rest of Creation. That is why the foundations of heaven shake at the angels’ praise. That is why the saints’ songs roar like thunder in the courts of the King. Because He did not count equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself and became like us, suffering even to the point of death, death on a Cross. 

Gospel Text

Last year, as an aid to the study of the Passion narratives I created a PDF that lays out the three from Matthew, Mark and Luke in parallel, to illustrate where they the same and where they differ. Here’s a link to that document. As I did last year, I won’t try to comment in any detail on the text for this year. It’s just too much. But I’ll try to suggest some questions worth pondering.

We begin with the beautiful story of the woman who came to anoint Jesus at the Last Supper. Both Matthew and Luke omit this account, but it bears a clear resemblance to the story of Jesus’ anointing by Mary in chapter 12 of John. In John, Judas is offended by the use of ointment so valuable. In Mark we have the same complaint but it isn’t ascribed to any one disciple. Even so, after Jesus corrects them for scolding the woman, Judas departs to betray Him. This is one of several places where Mark shares things with the Fourth Gospel that Matthew and Luke lack. It seems clear to me that Mark knew something of John’s Gospel or some version of it. On the other hand, some scholars maintain that John was writing for believers who had read Mark. That might account for it, but as I date Mark later than many students of the NT, it seems more likely to me that Mark knew and added something to the Matthean narrative than that Matthew chose to omit a story so meaningful. What does all this mean for how we read it?

Mark’s Passion narrative follows Matthew’s fairly closely, with some minor expansions and compressions then until 14:51, where he gives us this interesting detail, “And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.” This nameless young man was with Jesus and the disciples in the Garden, wearing sindon, a linen cloth, or tunic and nothing else. This is indicative of baptism, as the sindon was the white garment put on Christians of the first century at the time of their baptisms (they removed everything before being immersed and this was put on them afterwards). This supports the tradition followed in some parts of the early church that Jesus baptized His disciples on Maundy Thursday and their choice of Maundy Thursday as a preferred date for baptisms. John’s Gospel (another Mark/John link) gives us the story of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet at the Last Supper. This was interpreted by many in the early church (including Origen) as an image of baptism. Mark’s young man in a baptismal gown appears to support this. 

This young man will reappear on Easter morning, but I’ll save that for next week.

For a more easily printable version of this Divergence, please CLICK HERE.