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Were You There?
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"From a very young age I had wondered what I might have done in the situations in which Pontius Pilate and Judas Iscariot found themselves. How were they to know Jesus would be accorded divine status by millions and that they would as a result be condemned down the ages?"
Those are the words of Tim Rice. His wondering led him to write the lyrics for Jesus Christ Superstar. Superstar is more than a box-office sensation (still being produced around the world more than 40 years after its premier). Superstar is a modern passion play, inviting audiences to imagine how they would react if they had been in the shoes of Pilate or Judas, Peter or Mary Magdalene.
It is Holy Week. This week, even "non-liturgical" traditions, such as my own, can get pretty dramatic. We wave palms and wash feet. One after another, candles are extinguished as the disciples desert Jesus and the shadows gather. In a darkened sanctuary on Good Friday, I have heard the sickening echo of nails being driven into a cross.
Why all the drama? To help us imagine what it was like. To help us imagine what we might have done.
"Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" - Bill
 | | Marion Williams -- Were You There When They Crucified My Lord |
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Jesus on the Road
Joseph of Arimathea: "As I am traveling to ask for the body of Jesus, I am dealing with many emotions. I am heart-sick that I didn't get to know this man better when he was alive. What a loss. I also am so angry that I couldn't prevent what has happened. But then maybe this was the way it was supposed to be; at least that's what I hear. Somehow I feel Jesus died for all of us and I don't think I could have been so brave. He really did love us all so much. I will ask for his body. I have an unused tomb and I will prepare him in all his glory for his Father. He will be wrapped in linen and his body will be saturated with the finest of oils. I wonder if anyone would ever care for me the way many cared for him. And yet many will never know the difference because they never knew him. What a loss to them. If what they say is true about the kingdom of God, maybe our souls shall meet again. But today I will carry his message in my heart and share it when I can. Oh, how my heart cries out for my love of Jesus and his Father. Somehow I know that he is with me and I will never be alone again."
This meditation above is a prayer form known as a Prayer of Imagination in which the one praying is imagined in the scripture scene. This meditation was shared with me by one of my Retreatants* while experiencing the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius.
In another Prayer of Imagination, a Retreatant imagined that she was the father of Judas. She related the story of Jesus on the road to Golgotha from the sidelines, all along the way saying, "My son did this. My son betrayed this man, the Messiah. Can my son ever be forgiven?" The father of Judas followed Jesus from the betrayal to the laying in the tomb. The long, descriptive, poignant meditation took a surprising turn at the end. In reparation for what Judas had done in betraying Jesus, the father of Judas promised to protect and care for Mary, the mother of Jesus, for the rest of her life.
If, in our imaginations, we were on the road to Golgotha with Jesus, what would we see and hear and smell? What would we feel? How would our story take a surprising turn?
*used with permission
--by Jan
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