My brothers and sisters in Christ,

We all know where the narrative of the Passion is leading. We know because we are the beneficiaries of Jesus’ passion and death upon the cross. For us it is a historical and an ever present reality. Moreover, we are joined to Jesus’ passion and death by our baptism.

As St. Paul tells us, in baptism we died with Christ. We died and were buried with Him in the waters of baptism.

What we must do today, and in this Passiontide, the two weeks leading up to Easter, is to find our place within the passion. As the famous hymn asks: Were you there?

Were you there? Indeed! While you were there, what role did you play?

Three things stand out in the Passion, three things in relation to who we are as followers of Christ.

Are we Judas?

Listen again:

—The man I shall kiss is the one;
arrest him and lead him away securely.—

Do we stand ready to betray the Lord when the Lord’s will does not fit our own? Do we place our expectations of God before the reality of God?

Each week you kiss the Lord. You take Him upon your lips when you received the Holy Eucharist. Are you kissing Him in love or in betrayal?

During this Passiontide recommit yourselves to embracing the Lord’s will for your life. Set aside sinfulness and repent. Live your life at one with God.

Are we Peter?

Listen again:

He began to curse and to swear,

—I do not know this man about whom you are talking.—

You don’t have to have a rooster in your backyard to be Peter.

How often do you compromise your spiritual integrity?

Does it happen every time you walk through the doors at work, every time you enter the mall, every time you go along to get along? That rooster is crowing loud and clear.

During this Passiontide recommit yourselves to professing your faith in the Lord. Not the Lord the world wants to hear about, the Lord the world needs to hear about. Set aside weak faith and the tendency to compromise and justify. Live your life with God in the center and on the throne.

Are you the soldier beneath the cross?

Listen again:

—Truly this man was the Son of God!—

You have to listen carefully. —Truly this man WAS the Son of God!—

Well, to that soldier, and to many of us, He was. He’s dead now. He’s dead in the most real way possible, not just in terms of earthly existence, but in our hearts and minds.

We can believe that Jesus was a great guy, that He never caused anyone any problems, that He is all happy-happy, joy-joy. We can even believe that He was real. What we can’t get our minds around is that He is God. That what he taught is the truth. That as God he humiliated Himself, took on our form, and suffered and died for us. It is even harder to believe that what He said was true: That the temple would be destroyed and rebuilt in three days.

My friends,

Ask yourselves this important question this Passiontide. Who is Jesus? God or not God? Alive or dead? Awaken your faith and proclaim the truth. Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Jesus Christ, who suffered, died, and was buried. Jesus Christ who rose again on the third day. Jesus Christ who took away the sins of the world.

Then you will be ready to see the empty tomb. You will see it clearly this Easter Sunday morning and understand its meaning.