Let this Cup Pass. Maundy Thursday
“And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’”—Matthew 26:39.
Jesus, Romero, MLK, Bonhoeffer
Romero (March 24), MLK (April 4), Bonhoffer (April 9)
Interestingly, Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, three of the best-known 20th-century Christian martyrs, die close to Easter. Archbishop Romero is shot on March 24 at age 62 at the altar in El Salvador while celebrating the Eucharist after he speaks out against the reigning government’s brutality. Martin Luther King is shot on April 4 at age 39 in Memphis, where he went to support striking city sanitation workers. Bonhoeffer is hung on April 9, also at age 39, for participating in plans to assassinate Hitler. He is killed 23 days before the Nazi surrender.
Romero is shot while elevating the chalice at the end of the Eucharistic rite. When a death squad kills him, his blood spills over the altar and into the chalice’s contents.
All three men are icons for our Lenten and Holy Week journey, people speaking their truth that offends the ruling authority.
This is also what happens to Jesus. Jesus’ message offends the temple’s religious rulers, who then conspire with the Roman Empire’s authority to kill him. Jesus is not killed at age 33 by the Jews, but by the elite ruling Jewish religious leaders. They convince the Roman command that Jesus’ presence is an impediment to keeping the peace in occupied Palestine.
Romero, MLK, and Bonhoeffer don’t begin the Lenten journey of their lives as the spokespersons for the truth. They are all three quiet, unassuming men. The Vatican approved Romero as bishop with the El Salvadoran government’s blessing because he seemed “quiet and safe.” Black leaders select King to lead the bus boycott because of his youth and because he is the newest and youngest black pastor at age 25 in Montgomery. Bonhoeffer is simply a deep-thinking Lutheran theologian.
But, in their journey, the three see the wrongs imposed by those in authority on those without power. They die to an old life of quietness, living in the darkness of conformity, and are resurrected to a new life of speaking out Christ’s truth in love.
Eventually, like Jesus, all three realize they will be killed for trying to change the injustices and absence of love in the world around them. Their writings all suggest that they, like Jesus, ask that this cup pass from them, but it doesn’t. So, with a price on their heads, they walk head-on into the turbulent storm.
We remember them today, as we remember the night the one they followed is also about to die. We pray for just a little of their courage and strength to speak out against the injustices in our world supported by authorities where we live, work, play, and worship.
We pray we will be empowered to do “the next right thing,” as Jesus taught Oscar, Martin, and Dietrich….. And this morning, we pray they will be mentors for the rest of us.
Joanna Seibert. joannaseibert.com. https://www.joannaseibert.com/