St Matthew 27: 1-2 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death. They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
Reflection A new morning is always a time of hope. We awaken to it often full of good intentions for the day. And yet in this short passage the first 3 words ‘when morning came’, strike an ominous tone for Jesus. Perhaps for his opponents the new morning was the time for them to say “yes, we’ve got him now. This is the day we can bring about his death.” A quite different perspective from that of Jesus’ followers.
Perspective is in many ways a much more difficult concept than perhaps we give it credit for. In a day and age where it would appear that siloed thinking is becoming more and more common, perspective seems to be taking more of a back seat. Phrases like ‘putting yourself in another’s shoes’ or ‘seeing it from another’s point of view’ seem to be, within the public sphere, becoming rarer. Contrast that with those incredible words of Jesus on the Cross, When talking of the self same people who confer and conspire to have him crucified he says “Father forgive them for they do not know what they’re doing” His broad or wide perspective is strikingly different from their narrow agenda and predetermined assumption of his guilt.
In our own day many of the accepted assumptions surrounding freedom of speech, legal rights, the right to peaceful protest, within our society, seemed to many to have been eroded. The notion of the powerful conferring and conspiring together to get rid of troublesome individuals that this little passage talks of has alarming resonances today. By informing ourselves, not shying away from difficult headlines, and not saying ‘this has nothing to do with me’ we can make a difference. In the words of the old hymn ‘Jesus bids us shine…….you in you small corner and I in mine.’
Prayer May the Holy Spirit imbue and inspire us, we who claim to be followers of Jesus, to inform ourselves, and to have the courage, to engage with our own circle and our wider communities, to call out injustice and not stand by. We are thankful for those brave souls who take a stand and pray that in our times and places, we may be equipped to support and stand shoulder to shoulder with them. Amen
Today’s writer
The Revd Fraser Macnaughton is the retired minister of St Magnus Cathedral Kirkwall Orkney.
