At a funeral or memorial service family members and friends often offer some thoughts about the deceased and what he or she meant to them. There is something similar going on in the Bible with this added bonus – Jesus has not gone away from us at death but through the resurrection is with us still. So when we hear about Jesus in the gospels it is not so much that we remember him from back in the day but that we are invited to meet him today. Think of a funeral service – You get a different picture of the departed as you hear about the individual from the various people who remember them. There is something similar going on in the Bible when we have Matthew, Mark, Luke and John each talking about Jesus in the way he had impacted them. Today we hear the story of the passion and death of Jesus according to St. Luke. Like us Luke had never met Jesus in the flesh but came to know him through the preaching of others. When we look at the way he told the story, we can see what Jesus meant to him. All of the gospel writers tell the story of the passion of Jesus, but St. Luke’s version has some specific memories that only he relates. Looking at them, we get the portrait of Jesus he is painting so we can meet Jesus as Luke did.
For example, only St. Luke reports that Jesus consoled the women of Jerusalem. Even in the midst of exhausting task of carrying the cross is reaches out to those bystanders who are grieving. Jesus does not lick his own wounds but sees his suffering as part of the greater picture of suffering in the world. When he reaches Calvary’s hill, only Luke tells us that Jesus prayed: Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. He does not blame or judge those who have brought about his death. He excuses them as ignorant of the enormity of their offense. Jesus extends that same courtesy to us, offering forgiveness no matter what we have done. While all the gospel writers talk about the criminals crucified with Jesus, only Luke has the compassionate conversation with the one we call today “the Good Thief.” This day you will be with me in paradise. How extraordinary – in the face of death Jesus responds to the needs of another for compassion. We see that no matter what we are going through Jesus will be there for us. Instead of the prayer of Jesus as he was dying being take from Psalm 22 as Matthew and Mark report, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me,” Luke has Jesus pray a different prayer in his last moments from Psalm 31: Father, into your hands I comment my spirit. St. Luke wants us to understand that Jesus continued to trust in the plan of God even though he was in great distress. Jesus models for us the kind of radical trust we can have in God if we remain confident in our state as beloved children of God.
Luke tells the story of the crucifixion of Jesus so that we will come to know that the power of the cross involves forgiveness and compassion. Despite all that he is going through, Jesus is still attentive to others and always connected with God. St. Luke invites us to meet Jesus who has shown us how we are to carry our cross each day.
