OVERHEARD Conversations by the Cross
by Arden W. Mead
Do you suppose it is possible that various people who were involved in our Lord’s Passion ever had the opportunity to talk with one another about it?… perhaps even right then, while the events were happening? Can you imagine what they might have said?… people like:
–Malchus, whose ear was cut off and healed at Gethsemane, and Mark, who ran from the Garden naked;
–Barabbas, the criminal released when Jesus was condemned, and Caiaphas, the high priest who led the cries for his release;
PontiusPilate and Procula, his wife;
Simon of Cyrene, who carried our Lord’s cross, and the Centurion who compelled him to;
The Two Thieves who were crucified with Christ;
Mary, our Lord’s grieving mother, and John, the “beloved disciple” who took her into his home.
If you could have listened to conversations like those, what might you have OVERHEARD?
With piercing insight and dramatic reality, these Lenten services invite us to eavesdrop on the concerns and conflicts of people whose lives were touched and changed by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ-just as our lives have been.
