Breaking the Cycle of Violence

Devotional Reflection, Wednesday, February 22, 2022

The week of the seventh Sunday after Pentecost

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading

Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all! 50You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.’ 51He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, 52and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 53So from that day on they planned to put him to death.

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 949)

AM Psalm 119:145-176; PM Psalm 128, 129, 130

Prov. 6:1-19; 1 John 5:1-12; John 11:45-54

Today we celebrate the Feast of Polycarp. (See below.)

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Office Gospel, John 11:45-54

45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. 47So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, ‘What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. 48If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.’ 49But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all! 50You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.’ 51He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, 52and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 53So from that day on they planned to put him to death.

54 Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples.

David’s Reflections

René Girard, a French literary critic who taught at Stanford, published the latest in a life-long series of works on religious violence after he retired, I See Satan Fall From Heaven. On the final page, he writes: “The Resurrection empowers Paul and Peter, as well as all believers after them, to understand that all imprisonment in sacred violence is violence done to Christ. Humankind is never the victim of God; God is always the victim of humankind.” * (Girard’s earlier work, The Scapegoat, devoted a chapter to today’s Gospel reading.)

The Jewish council in today’s reading met in a highly charged atmosphere. The city was gorged with pilgrims for Passover, and the spirit of patriotism coursed through the throngs. The people, chafing under the Roman yoke and energized by the story of Moses’ deliverance of the people from Egyptian oppression, often rioted during this feast. The Roman governor routinely relocated to Jerusalem from his capital in Caesarea, bringing extra troops to quell anticipated violence.

In that atmosphere, the Sanhedrin frets about the impact of Jesus’ presence and the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus might become the flash point for just such violence. If that occurred the Romans might react with a major counterstroke and remove the Sanhedrin from power for being unable to maintain internal order. The phrase “destroy both our holy place and our nation” in verse 48 literally reads “ both our place and our nation.” The translators add “holy” because they view “place” as referring to the Temple. It also could simply be a reference to the “place” or role of the Sanhedrin as the internal governors of Judea. If so, the Sanhedrin’s plot seeks to secure their political power by keeping order. The New International Version translates more literally “take away both our place and our nation.”

The high priest suggested that turning the attention of the Romans on Jesus might just transfer that potentially destructive energy away from them and from the people. Rather than the nation suffering reprisals for any misconduct that might occur, the Romans could vent their resentments of the Jews on Jesus and order would be preserved.

The narrator of our Gospel sees this oracle as an unwitting prophecy of the saving power of Jesus’ death and of its wide-ranging impact in bringing nonJews into the experience of the salvation that Israel had anticipated for centuries. How thought-provoking is the Evangelist’s comment regarding the scope of the impact of Jesus’ death. “52and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God.” The Evangelist underlines that divine intent several times—gathering all people unto God. Would that our sense of urgency matched the Evangelist’s and the Jesus of John.

Here Jesus becomes the ultimate scapegoat, bearing in himself all our rejection, all our emotional and physical violence, all our tendency to victimize and blame others rather than assume responsibility for our own woundedness and brokenness. Girard is right when he says “Humankind is never the victim of God; God is always the victim of humankind.”

What is remarkable about Jesus’ death and resurrection, and Girard points to this as validation for the veracity of the Gospels, is that those who place faith in him do not perpetuate the cycle of violence. Just as Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of his executioners, those who come under the power of the cross live with that same nonviolent and nonretaliatory response to rejection and violence. Only where the power of the cross does not operate to transform does religious violence and victimization prevail. Jesus called it loving our enemies (Matthew 5). Paul called it overcoming evil with good (Romans 13).

Our calling is to suffer as Jesus did rather than perpetuating the cycle of violence by resentment, retaliation, victimization, and scapegoating. We find in the presence of the loving spirit of Jesus the power and the incentive to bear such suffering (See 1 Peter 2 for a majestic summary of innocent suffering.) And, Jesus did not passively bear his suffering. He actively engaged the Sanhedrin and his executioners. His was an active, intentional love. Our calling is to respond actively to those who misunderstand and abuse, to chose creatively to engage on our own terms rather than our responses being controlled by how we are treated.

* René Girard, I See Satan Fall Like Lightening, trans. James G. Williams (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2001), p. 200.

Collect of the Day, Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany

O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 216)

Today we celebrate the Feast of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and martyr (died 23 Feb 156 CE).

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Polycarp.htm

Collect of the Feast of Polycarp

O God, the maker of heaven and earth, you gave your venerable servant, the holy and gentle Polycarp, boldness to confess Jesus Christ as King and Savior, and the steadfastness to die for his faith: Give us grace, following his example, to share the cup of Christ and rise to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

A Collect for Grace

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100)

A Prayer attributed to St. Francis

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. (BCP, 833)

A Collect for Early Evening

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, creator of the changes of day and night, giving rest to the weary, renewing the strength of those who are spent, bestowing upon us occasions of song in the evening. As you have protected us in the day that is past, so be with us in the coming night; keep us from every sin, every evil, and every fear; for you are our light and salvation, and the strength of our life. To you be glory for endless ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)

A Collect for Mission

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen. (BCP, 101)