One of the things that tends to distinguish an Episcopal Church from a Roman Catholic Church, is that we usually have an empty cross, a symbol of the resurrection, rather than a crucifix, which has the figure of Christ on the cross. However, on Palm Sunday, and again on Good Friday, we do give our full attention to the crucifixion of Jesus. We seek to understand what it meant then, and what it means to us today. And we want to know what the most appropriate or the most faithful response is, to this central event of the Gospels. Traditionally, we have tried to seek this understanding by reading the narrative of the Passion--that is, the suffering--from one of the Gospels, Matthew, or Mark or Luke. We hear all the details of the arrest and trial of Jesus, we hear how he was beaten and mocked by Roman soldiers, how he was forced to carry his cross on the long walk to Golgatha, and finally, how he died on the cross. But in that traditional reading, we only hear WHAT happened, not WHY it happened.

On Friday, a new explanation of why it happened was announced by the National Geographic Society. An ancient manuscript, which was discovered in Egypt in the early 1970's, called the Gospel of Judas, is finally published with translation. It is one of the Gnostic Gospels, composed toward the end of the 2nd century, probably 80 or 90 years after the 4 Gospels in the New Testament. It says that Jesus asked Judas to hand him over to be crucified. This appears to be a new explanation, but if it were true, it would only change our view of Judas, it would not give us a new explanation of why Jesus chose to die. Throughout Lent, we have heard each Sunday that Jesus' ministry was different from anything ever heard or seen before. Not only did he teach forgiveness and unconditional love, not only did he welcome outcasts and heal the sick, not only did he model a life of servanthood and non-violence, but he openly challenged the religious authorities. He made no effort to hide, or to evade arrest, because he knew that he "must undergo great suffering . . . and be killed" (Mk 8:31). He taught his disciples to deny their culturally ingrained desires to be better than others, and to seek treasures on earth, and to be praised by their community. No, he said, you must lose that life, you must let go of your striving to be somebody, if you want to gain the true life of God's kingdom.

The Passion Gospel that we will hear in a few minutes, reveals more clearly the intention of Jesus to redeem us by his self-giving love. It was put together by an Episcopal priest, the Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault, from all four Gospels, adding in some of the teaching of Jesus, and taking out some of the details of the trial and the scourging of Jesus.

I have not provided you with a copy of the text, because I want you to look and to listen to this story, not to read it. Think of it as a painting, or a moving picture, and allow me to describe the 3 part frame in which it is set. The outer frame is the season of Lent, the forty days plus Sundays in which we hve been preparing to celebrate Holy Week and Easter. By giving more of our time and attention to prayer and meditation, to reading and study of Scripture, we have been getting our hearts ready to witness the crucifixion. The inner frame is the Palm Sunday liturgy, in which we have just participated, as it were, in the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. That was his one brief moment of popular acclaim, and now it is already past. The third part of the frame is the mat, which lies between the wood of a frame, and the painting itself. This is the reading we just heard from Philippians, in which St. Paul describes the self-empting of Christ. Because Christ loved us so much, he relinquished his divinity in order to become human. Because Christ loved us so much, he gave up his human dignity when he washed his disciples' feet, and did not avoid arrest. Because he loved us so much, Christ let go of his soul, his incarnate life, trusting in the Father's will to give him that true life of the Kingdom of heaven.

Let these three frames, of Lent, of the trimphal entry, and of Christ's choice to empty himself for us, focus your attention on the Passion Gospel.