By Pastor Nissa Peterson
Chatfield and Root Prairie
Lutheran Churches
When I was young, the Lutheran church I attended performed a yearly passion play – a drama of Christ’s arrest, trial, and crucifixion. I participated as one of many children by singing, waving palms, and being in the crowd.
This play taught me a lot about Christ’s death and resurrection that we hear during Holy Week – especially in ways particular to my roles in the play.
God as Father – Literally
Several years of the passion play my dad played Jesus in the play. Nothing drives home the emotional impact of the crucifixion like watching your father get nailed to the cross. Year after year. I would cry each year, moved that this story was true for Jesus. I would cry in relief that this story was not happening to my dad.
I have felt some of the grief and pain and confusion felt at the foot of the cross. I have felt some of the immense relief that death holds no power over the man on the cross. This play made the cross and the resurrection real for me.
Confusion of
Overlapping Roles
As a play with a limited size cast, I had to fill two roles. They were:
Role 1. Wave a palm branch in the triumphal procession into Jerusalem. I would call out “Hosanna” and pile palm branches and garments on the ground before Jesus’ feet. I loved this part. These people saw who Jesus was, honored him, and loved him.
Role 2. Stand in the back of the sanctuary as Pilate interrogated Jesus. I would shout “Give us Barabbas” and “crucify him!” I was instructed to act angry. I hated this part. The people were angry and hateful towards Jesus.
Playing both roles left me confused for years about the arc of the story. How come one day everyone’s excited to see Jesus one day, then the next day they’re angry enough to kill him? Since I played both roles, I assumed it was the same group of people in the story as well. How did everyone go from loving Jesus to hating Jesus?
With study, education, and age, I’ve learned these were different groups. The group that loved and believed in Jesus was a threat to the group that saw Jesus as a heretic and a liar. The limited actors in my play couldn’t fully address the complex political and social climate that led to Jesus’ death.
The passion is a complex and moving story. I see different things every time I read it, yet my experiences are shaped by how I saw and heard the story growing up. It continues to be an emotional story- hard to read, but life-giving when combined with the resurrection of a God who cannot be bound by the grave.
Lent is our journey towards these difficult, hard to hear stories. Lent is our journey towards understanding our own sin and mortality, and rejoicing in the hope of the resurrection and our freedom through forgiveness. Blessings on your Lenten journey!
Peace, Pastor Nissa
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