Minority Report
Read Luke 23:26-56.
Just because it's a popular opinion doesn't make it right. That's an unpopular opinion in itself today. We think if we can get the most number of people to believe or support something, it must be right. But that's simply not the case. It could just mean that the most number of people are wrong.
Take, for instance, the story of Jesus' crucifixion. There is not much of a description of the actual act of crucifixion in Luke's Gospel (or in any of the others, for that matter) because everyone who read it originally knew what a crucifixion was like. They knew how horrific, painful and bloody this Roman method of execution was. What Luke chooses to focus on are the many people around Jesus who mock him, who ridicule him in his hour of need. It's doubtful even the women who were weeping and mourning were sincere; many think these were "professional mourners" who did what they did for people who otherwise had no one. That may be why Jesus silences them. "Don't weep for me," he says. "Weep for yourselves and your children" (23:28).
One of the criminals next to him mocks him. Odd how suffering can cause fellow sufferers to turn on one another. Rome mocks him by putting a sign above his head that, while intended to be insincere actually ends up being true: "This is the King of the Jews" (23:38). The soldiers mock him by dividing up his clothing, "taking the spoils" as it were. They weren't paid much, so they took what they could get. It was small compensation for the horrible work of crucifixion. The crowd mocks him, calling him to save himself (not realizing that if he saves himself he can't save them or us). Everyone around Jesus mocks him. But just because mockery is the opinion or practice of the day doesn't make it right or true.
There is a minority report in this passage. There is a man named Joseph, who apparently was at the Sanhedrin meeting the night before but disagreed with the outcome. He may have been a secret follower of Jesus before now, but as he watches what happens to the savior, he can't stay silent any longer. His minority report is in the form of an outlandish request to Pilate: "Give me Jesus' body to bury." It's outlandish because normally a criminal such as Jesus, a crucified man, would have been dumped into a mass grave. There were no burial honors for such persons, but Joseph asks, and amazingly, Pilate agrees. I suppose Pilate figured it was one less body Rome had to worry about. But Joseph doesn't do it for Rome's sake. He does it so that he can honor the one he knows is the Messiah. I don't believe he knows what will happen next, but he does know he must give honor to the one everyone else is mocking.
How do you honor Jesus when everyone else is mocking? Are you willing to be the one who gives the minority report? That's a question we need to have an answer for in a culture that is increasingly joining the crowds, the soldiers and the empire in mocking Jesus. Who will be the minority report?
Just because it's a popular opinion doesn't make it right. That's an unpopular opinion in itself today. We think if we can get the most number of people to believe or support something, it must be right. But that's simply not the case. It could just mean that the most number of people are wrong.
Take, for instance, the story of Jesus' crucifixion. There is not much of a description of the actual act of crucifixion in Luke's Gospel (or in any of the others, for that matter) because everyone who read it originally knew what a crucifixion was like. They knew how horrific, painful and bloody this Roman method of execution was. What Luke chooses to focus on are the many people around Jesus who mock him, who ridicule him in his hour of need. It's doubtful even the women who were weeping and mourning were sincere; many think these were "professional mourners" who did what they did for people who otherwise had no one. That may be why Jesus silences them. "Don't weep for me," he says. "Weep for yourselves and your children" (23:28).
One of the criminals next to him mocks him. Odd how suffering can cause fellow sufferers to turn on one another. Rome mocks him by putting a sign above his head that, while intended to be insincere actually ends up being true: "This is the King of the Jews" (23:38). The soldiers mock him by dividing up his clothing, "taking the spoils" as it were. They weren't paid much, so they took what they could get. It was small compensation for the horrible work of crucifixion. The crowd mocks him, calling him to save himself (not realizing that if he saves himself he can't save them or us). Everyone around Jesus mocks him. But just because mockery is the opinion or practice of the day doesn't make it right or true.
There is a minority report in this passage. There is a man named Joseph, who apparently was at the Sanhedrin meeting the night before but disagreed with the outcome. He may have been a secret follower of Jesus before now, but as he watches what happens to the savior, he can't stay silent any longer. His minority report is in the form of an outlandish request to Pilate: "Give me Jesus' body to bury." It's outlandish because normally a criminal such as Jesus, a crucified man, would have been dumped into a mass grave. There were no burial honors for such persons, but Joseph asks, and amazingly, Pilate agrees. I suppose Pilate figured it was one less body Rome had to worry about. But Joseph doesn't do it for Rome's sake. He does it so that he can honor the one he knows is the Messiah. I don't believe he knows what will happen next, but he does know he must give honor to the one everyone else is mocking.
How do you honor Jesus when everyone else is mocking? Are you willing to be the one who gives the minority report? That's a question we need to have an answer for in a culture that is increasingly joining the crowds, the soldiers and the empire in mocking Jesus. Who will be the minority report?
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