and, when they had left off mocking him, they took off the purple robe, and put his own clothes on him.
time’s up
we’ve had our fun
you’ve had your honoringoff with your crown
off with your robe
off with your titleyou’re the 2,642nd this week
your 15 minutes of fame
has come and goneget in line
step lively now
hup one two
The anticipated crucifixion from betrayal, arrest, rigged religious trial, handed over to the state, bargained against, beaten and mocked has finally come to the beginning of a death walk.
Stripped again and finding himself back in a single cloak for walking with his partner to practice imaging what a changed life might be like, Jesus continues in silence regarding all the pre-death rituals church and state place around capital punishment to make it acceptable to them—primarily to diminish the person scheduled to die.
Our end is wrapped up in our ordinary life. After all the fake honor, Jesus is satisfied to continue in the same guise he has had all along the way—transient wilderness walker sharing wisdom and healing with those available to it. This is a challenge to the Reader who must decide how their everyday life is going to be changed as a result of looking in on Jesus’ life.
Though we don’t talk about it as much as previous generations have, the question of how we are going to die is important to assist us in making those ordinary decisions that come our way. Allowing that there are personality changes that do come to some with one form of dementia or another, for those not so afflicted there is a direct correlation between life lived and life ended. If for no other reason than it affects what we do today, we do well to consider what our last word will be so that we might have it be so ingrained in us that it will naturally be offered as a blessing.
This being said, it will be interesting to see about Jesus’ last words and how those comport with how he spent his time after his baptism of belovedness and transfiguration leading back down from a mountain-top experience.