Monday of Holy Week

Judas betrays Jesus, and his emancipatory mission, with a kiss that signals to the authorities: he is the one you seek! … In the chaos of the moment, forgetting the nonviolence Jesus has modeled, his disciples ready their weapons. One even swings his sword and cuts off the ear of an arresting official. Immediately, Jesus reminds his people that they fight with words, ideas, and vision. To press the point, he touches the wounded officer and heals him. The power of God that Jesus represents shows care even for the oppressor—even as Jesus uses God’s power to overturn systems of oppression.

Dying on the cross, Jesus reinforces his message of nonviolent resistance in the most heartbreaking of ways. As the authorities crucify him for proclaiming and prosecuting the hope of liberation for all God’s people, Jesus asks God to forgive them. To the end, he fights them by loving them.

Our calling is to go and do likewise. Fight: Consistently. Defiantly. Furiously. Nonviolently. Whenever and wherever we encounter brokenness, injustice, and oppression. To do otherwise is to betray everything for which he lived and died.”

—Rev. Dr. Brian Blount, from his commentary on Luke 22:47–23:46 | @sanctifiedart

Art: “Revealed Through Nonviolence” by Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman | @sanctifiedart