Who Are You?

Who are you? Who are you in the Gospel stories we have just heard? In 1978 the English rock band The Who released a new album. It had the title song “Who Are You?” The song quickly became the introductory song for the television series “CSI.” “Who are you,” the band sang, “Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Tell me, who are you? ‘Cause I really wanna know.” Even if you don’t watch CSI or listen to The Who, our two gospel passages challenge us to put ourselves into Jesus’ story and to ask ourselves, “Who are you?”

Who are you? Were you an excited member of the ragtag band of Jesus’ followers? Were you one of those standing alongside the road watching Jesus ride in on a colt? Perhaps you were there because you wanted to avoid the imperial parade taking place on the other side of Jerusalem. Scholars tell us that parade was meant to remind Passover pilgrims that the Romans were powerful and invincible. Perhaps you guessed that Jesus deliberately staged his own “triumphal” entry into Jerusalem in order to mock Roman power and remind people of Zechariah’s prophecy that the messiah would return riding on a donkey. Perhaps you wondered if the attention that Jesus was drawing to himself would get him in trouble with the authorities. So where were you that day? Were you watching the Roman legions, shouting along with the crowds who were applauding their power and might? Or did you cast your lot in with the Galilean rabbi and his motley followers? Were you secretly hoping that by coming into Jerusalem as he did that Jesus was inaugurating a regime change? Did you regret your choice when you saw how events played out?

Who are you? It might be hard to admit it, but were you one of the disciples who fell asleep in Gethsemane? You had pledged never to desert Jesus, but when crunch time came, were you disengaged, indifferent, or unmoved by Jesus’ struggle in the garden? Were you afraid of what might happen next? Or were you just plain worn out by the day’s events?

Who are you? You’ll never admit it, even to yourself, but were you Judas? You were Jesus’ friend. Yet, when you saw that he wasn’t doing what you expected, when you realized that he did not intend to stage a military rebellion against the Romans, did you elect to betray him instead? Did you even think about what might actually happen if you betrayed him? Afterwards did you feel any remorse?

Who are you? Were you one of the religious or political leaders? Did Jesus’ staged event make you nervous? Did you begin to fear that Jesus was overly upsetting the status quo, and that Jerusalem couldn’t take any more demonstrations? Did you want desperately to be rid of Jesus? Did you – reluctantly to be sure – join in the accusations against him? When he declared himself to be God’s anointed one, did you agree that he deserved to be condemned to death and handed over to the Romans? Did you even think about what they might do to him?

Who are you? Today were you part of another crowd, not a crowd welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem, but a crowd calling for his death. Did you ask the Roman governor instead to release Barabbas, a known criminal? Were you swept up by the mob? Did you come to think it was OK to persecute an innocent person?

Who are you? Could you have been Pilate? Most of us won’t admit to playing his part either. Did you perhaps see that things in Jerusalem were getting out of hand, and that your reputation for keeping order was in danger of evaporating? Did you reassure yourself that you were innocent, while you gave in to crucifixion, and destroyed an innocent person? Rome does not execute innocent people, does it?

Who are you? Did you stand with the soldiers and the other people who mocked Jesus? After all, he said he was God’s anointed one, didn’t he? It’s easy to mock someone who is unable to answer back.

Who are you? Were you among those loyal women, the ones who didn’t desert Jesus, but, unlike his other friends, stayed with him to the bitter end and beyond? You knew you were powerless to save Jesus, but still you stood, knowing you could not be anywhere else. Were you there with him, weeping and faithful to the end? I’d like to think I was.

Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who wants to know? Does God want to know? Nope. God knows already who we are. Do we? As we walk with Jesus through this most holy week of the Christian year, I invite you to ask yourself: who is Jesus? More important, who are you?