Reflections During Holy Week

As a child the Lutheran church I attended performed a yearly passion play- a drama of Christ's arrest, trial, and crucifixion.  I usually participated in this play- one of a host of children with a song to sing, a palm frond to wave, and a place in the crowd.

While the passion play made me very familiar with the story of Christ's death and resurrection, there are two particular impacts this play has had on my understanding of the crucifixion.

God as Father- literally
Several years of the passion play my Dad played Jesus in the passion play.  Nothing drives home the emotional impact of the crucifixion like watching your Father get nailed to the cross.  Year after year.  I would cry real tears each year, moved by the reality that this story was true for Jesus.  I would cry tears of relief that this story was not happening to my Dad.

I am well aware of the grief and pain and confusion felt at the foot of the cross.  I am well aware of the immense relief that death holds no power over the man on the cross.  This play made the cross real for me (without need for the gory images of movies like Passion of the Christ).  This play made the resurrection real.  Seeing my Father on the cross makes it possible to see God the Father on the cross, too.

Confusion of conflicting roles
My two primary roles as one of the hoard of children were:

1. Wave a palm branch in the triumphal procession into Jerusalem.  I would call out "Hosanna" and pile palm branches and garments on the ground before Jesus' feet.  I loved this part.  The people saw who Jesus was, honored him, and loved him.

2. Stand in the back of the sanctuary as Pilate interrogated Jesus.  I would shout "Give us Barabbas" and "crucify him!"  I was instructed to act angry.  I hated this part.  The people were angry and hateful towards Jesus.

These two roles have made me perpetually confused about how the whole thing went down.  How come one day everyone's excited to see Jesus come into town, then suddenly the next day they're angry enough to kill him?  Since I played both roles, I assumed it was the same group of people in the story playing both roles, as well.  How did everyone go from loving Jesus to hating Jesus?

The generic wording of everyone in the Bible as "the Jews" never helped this confusion, either.  But with study and conversation I've begun to realize how different these groups were.  A group that loved and adored and believed in Jesus was a threat to a group that saw Jesus as a heretic and a threat and a liar.  The limited number of actors in my play couldn't speak adequately to the complex political and social climate that led to Jesus' death.


The passion is a complex and moving story.  I see different things every time I read it, yet my experiences are shaped by how I saw and heard the story growing up.  It continues to be an emotional story- hard to read, but life-giving when combined with the resurrection of a God who cannot be bound by the grave.  He is risen- Alleluia!