I have imagined the reactions and thought processes of those people involved in the Good Friday and Easter narrative.
I hope that it will assist you to meditate on these events with fresh thoughts.
There
is no doubt that we are the toughest people from our nation – fearless in
carrying out our duty and totally without any moral baggage. Our only role is
to carry out the will of our religious masters in Jerusalem.
We
had been given this assignment to arrest a troublemaker called Jesus of
Nazareth, someone who had wandered around the northern country with powerful
words and apparently healing the sick. It was fine so long as He stayed up
there and kept out of our way.
For
some unknown reason, He brought His followers to Jerusalem for the Passover.
This festival can be a powder keg on the best occasions with so many people
crammed in together in a small space and with emotions running high. He managed
to upset the religious leaders by confronting them. Furthermore, He upset the
moneychangers by turning over their tables at the temple – you should have seen
all the feathers from the frightened doves, the frantic bleating of the lambs
and the golden glint of coins on the floor in the furore.
Because
this Jesus was still so popular amongst the crowds, it was decided that we
would arrest Him somewhere it was quiet. We had been given a tip-off by one of
His disciples that He would be in the Garden of Gethsemane. We arrived there
carrying lanterns and weapons, with a few officials from the chief priests and
Pharisees hidden at the back to ensure that we did our job,
We
approached the group in the garden and stated that we wanted to see Jesus of
Nazareth. He came forward and declared ‘I am He!’ With that, we were overawed
with the latent power coming from Him that we stepped back and dropped to the
ground. When we had recomposed ourselves, one of His followers called Judas
(who had come with our group) went up to Jesus and kissed Him on the cheek in
the act of betrayal as an additional proof of identification.
As
we moved to arrest Him, Jesus pleaded with us to let His followers go safely.
But, before we knew it, Peter (one of the disciples) drew out his sword and
chopped off the ear of the high priest’s servant who had been at the back. What
Jesus did was amazing because He rebuked Peter, picked up the ear and placed it
back on the servant. When Jesus withdrew His hand, the ear was completely
healed without even a scar. Although we now knew that there was something
special about this Man, we knew that we had to follow orders, so we bound Him
and brought Him reluctantly before Annas.
We
wonder: what would have happened if we hadn’t been so bound by our command from
our masters?
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