I am having trouble putting together a podcast on this Sunday’s Gospel reading because I am angry with the text. The fifth Sunday in Lent is supposed to stimulate us to think about the redemptive effects of Jesus’ suffering, but the writer of the fourth gospel is intent on convincing his readers that Jesus didn’t really suffer too much from the prospect of his death, certainly not in the way other gospels depict his time in the garden of Gethsemane. A momentary “troubling” of his soul maybe, in the context of a crucifixion that was really his moment of greatest glory rather than humiliation.
I just don’t like what the writer is doing here, and find it hard to preach on. Maybe I will find myself concentrating on Jeremiah’s new convenant of the Spirit instead…..
My podcast may take another day to appear on this site. Meanwhile, pleased feel free to add your comments below.
Howard Pilgrim