C, Midweek Lent 5 - Luke 23:48 "Beating the Breast"

Luke 23:48 (ESV) And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.

To beat one’s breast is an interesting term not commonly used today.  We might thing of Tarzan’s action, making his telltale call to bring together the primates of the jungle as he beats his breast with macho monkey zeal, then swings through the trees to face his foe.

But in reality, beating one’s breast is not so much an action, rather it’s a symbolic expression, for a person who is downcast in spirit, angry, or expressing woe and distress.  

In the bible we hear of beating one’s breast apart from being beaten by someone else.  Saint Paul speaks figuratively of pummelling his body, so he does not lose the eternal prize saying, “So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified”. (1 Corinthians 9:26–27 ESV)

Back in Luke’s Gospel, chapter eighteen, we hear of the judge, in the parable of the persistent widow, who says to himself, “Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.” (Luke 18:4–5 ESV)

Further on in chapter eighteen, Luke focuses in on the reason for beating one’s breast in the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector where we hear of the tax collector who did not trust in himself, nor his righteousness.  Jesus says, “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:13–14 ESV)

Beating one’s breast, biblically speaking, is not an act of psyching up the inner spirit, rather it’s an act of humility where one realises the truth of the situation, or they see the spiritual reality within themselves.

The crowd who had gathered for the Passover feast at Jerusalem welcomed Jesus as the Messiah. They saw him as the king whom they hoped would restore the rule of David.  They hoped Jesus would have freed them from Roman rule.  Yet instead of turning and tossing Pilate out of the palace, Jesus turned towards the temple and tossed out those he accused of making God’s house a den of robbers.  

It took only a week for the mob, who welcomed Jesus, to turn and crucify him.  The crowd was easily agitated by a few who made false allegations against Jesus.  They were whipped into a frenzy by activists to act in one accord. These were those who behaved more like Tarzan, moving the mob, stirring individual spirits in uncompromising confusion, moved by the desire to deal out death and destruction on the holy innocence of God’s own Son.  With one accord evil justice was dealt out upon the “Good One” given by God, Jesus Christ, who was sent to serve humanity.

Once the mob’s collective behaviour moved those with authority to sinfully act in fear, the crowd watched the spectacle unfold on that Passover Friday, on the way of suffering, via dolorosa, the way of the cross.

In Lent we are called to understand,  that the passions of our flesh, meet the paschal passion of Christ on the cross.  This is the place where our defiling desires meet the purifying suffering of the Holy Sinless One.  We are reminded of our part in the passion of Jesus Christ, where our sinfulness is easily whipped up into a frenzy because of the fears of losing our idols – our pride, popularity, pleasures, and possessions.

On the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, we hear what the crowd received as the product of their passions fallen on Jesus Christ. “And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.” (Luke 23:48 ESV) In one accord the crowd began the day calling for the crucifixion of Christ.  At the end of the day they went away with one accord convicted for crucifying Christ.

On the cross the Holy Spirit caused them to see themselves, the crassness of their passion for popularity, pleasure, and possessions.  They walked away beating their breasts knowing that if the Holy One of God can die, what chance have they got of avoiding death when he who is good, received evil from their evil collaboration?

Your sinful passions are put before you to ponder at Lent.  To see the spectacle of Christ on the cross, crucified unjustly for the desires of your humanity that joins in sinful accord with all people of all time.

But right at the place where our passions point us out as guilty, God points out our Paschal Passover.  The Paschal Lamb has taken away our sin.  We beat our breasts for what we’ve done, what we’ve done to him in our sinful human nature!  He was beaten, bruised and hung, in the spectacle where we once crowded around the cross of his crucifixion.  The cross where you and I rightly should have been crucified!

So, the Holy Spirit moves us with one accord to beat our breast.  But also let the Holy Spirit daily raise you to life anew in Jesus Christ, the Sinless One crucified for you!    Jesus did not stay dead.  Yet the death he died has defeated the defiling desires of your heart, that should have meant our death.  Now after Jesus’ resurrection, the Holy Spirit wills you to live each day in the hope of our resurrection, to live in his Word, as he continues to move us to put off and pass over our defiling passions as we walk the way of the cross, with Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Heavenly Father, help us to resolutely set out faces towards our heavenly goal in Jesus Christ.  As the Holy Spirit moves us to pass over and put off our pride, pleasures, possessions, and popularity, as we suffer in giving up these things and are persecuted by others for doing so, let the Spirit remind us that the night of suffering and death is passing away and the dawning eternal light of love awaits those trust in Jesus Christ and not themselves.  Amen.