Tonight we gather in darkness to hear a tale of darkness. It is, for many of us, a familiar story. This is the story of the arrest, torture, and execution of Jesus. It is a difficult and bloody narrative that concludes this night with his being laid in the tomb and with each one of us praying and processing what all this means in this time and this place. I know. For some, the mention of the word, “politics” from the pulpit is troublesome. But friends, let us be clear and unambiguous. This was a political execution. Jesus was set up as a would-be “King of the Jews” and neither Jews nor Romans were eager for competition in the power game. So Jesus got eliminated.

In order for such a process to proceed, however, it was important that a narrative be constructed that met the needs of the “pri…