Worship Booklet
Sermon
Sermon by Rev. Jerry LiaBraaten
I’d like to begin by asking you to answer two questions. The first is this: When you read or hear the story of Jesus' crucifixion here in Matthew 27, how does it make you feel? What does it make you think? The second is this: Where do you see God in your life?
Me? When I read this text in preparation for my sermon today I got depressed. I don’t get depressed easily or often. But that’s exactly what happened. And it happened because what I saw when I read it was humanity at its worst…on both the individual and collective levels. I saw the raw ugliness of humanity’s inhumanity to humanity…the ugliness of Pilate who comes off as a self ambitious coward and his “don’t get us involved” wife who is controlled by her fears…the ugliness of the religious powers that be, the chief priests, scribes, and elders, who use their corrupt leadership to foment a crowd of fickle people into a mob. I saw soldiers who condescendingly mocked and ridiculed Jesus. I saw bystanders who had nothing better to do than watch Jesus die. For entertainment! I saw those passing by who callously laughed at Jesus’ predicament shouting, “If there is a God, let God come and save him.” I saw a whole lot of ugly. And I got depressed.