Three little words (an easter blog)

by Joel Bates

​Three little words—a noun, a verb, and an adjective or object—a short sentence, but it can pack a powerful punch.  Take for instance, many of the three little words I’ve heard while leading expeditions: “We are lost,” tearful, trembling participants have confessed to their group members.  “I am afraid,” words admitted by numerous courageous people when faced with overwhelming leadership pressures and decisions.  “I need help,” one girl told her group as she struggled with the weight of her pack.  She had struggled all day to speak such a simple phrase that made all the difference.  “We found it!” jubilant navigators have said after searching for hours to find an elusive waypoint circled on a complex topo map.  One participant, who had wrestled throughout the expedition with self-doubt, emerged from the wilderness at the end of the trip surprised and elated, saying, “I did it!”  Three little words can reveal a world of inner turmoil or joy.  

Consider famous headlines that have marked milestones in our culture.  The headline from The News, April 1955, simply said, “Einstein is dead.”  No explanation was necessary for these three words that communicated the loss of someone everyone agreed was great.  How about the impact of the words that read on the front page of the November 11, 1918, issue of The Daily Telegram?  “World War… Over!”  The soldiers knee-deep in muddy Belgian trenches along with people all over the planet breathed a sigh of relief at those three little words.  And what about the headlines from a little closer to home? “America’s Darkest Day” and “Terror Hits Home.” It took just three words in the newspaper headlines to convey our nation’s shock after the attacks on Sept 11, 2001.  Just three little words, but they expressed the collective horror of an entire society.

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With just three little words, so much can be communicated.  It was a cursory read though an all-too-familiar passage of scripture—the crucifixion of Jesus—that started these thoughts.  The gospel narratives of this event are the most central to the entire Christian faith.  It’s the fulcrum of the gospel and the fulfillment of the Old Testament.  I heard it as a child sitting on my granddad’s knee, read it in my children’s Bible primer during elementary school, and studied it in depth as a Bible college student. However, a few weeks ago as I read it again, I latched on to the little bite-sized phrases that pack a lot of theological power, and most of them appear as a three-word remark.  Readying my heart for Resurrection Sunday, I found myself meditating on the old, old story in simpler, more potent terms. 
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Take up the story in the gospel of John chapter 18.  Jesus and his disciples have finished eating the last supper; Judas has excused himself to plot a coup; and the setting is a quiet olive grove at night on the outskirts of Jerusalem where Jesus is praying so fervently that he sweats not bullets but blood.  Then Judas shows up with a band of Jewish armed guards but they stand there awkwardly until Jesus strides out and asks, “Who are you looking for?” 

Intending to seize the Christ they reply, “Jesus of Nazareth.”  In a moment of sheer mystery and utter strength, Jesus says the first three words that caught my attention, “I am He.”  Three little words, but their impact causes the brawny, swashbuckling soldiers to literally fall down upon themselves in a heap.  In the face of this “I Am” statement, they are powerless to obtain Jesus by force.  Therefore, He gives Himself away to them.  As He is led to His unlawful, all-night trial, ironically His chief follower stands outside the gate speaking his own “I am” statement. 
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A servant girl questions Peter, “Aren’t you a disciple of Jesus?”  His response is short and terse, “I am not.”  A second time, he is questioned, and again he answers, “I am not.”  It is a servant of the high priest who finally confirms, “I’m sure you’re a disciple of that man on trial.”  Peter emphatically, with an oath speaks three little words, “I AM NOT!”  Peter’s own three little words uttered right before the cock crows pierce his heart and send him running out into the night, weeping over his own betrayal of the One he has faithfully followed and so earnestly sought to defend.  

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​Later in the story, Jesus stands before Pontius Pilot, the Roman governor, for questioning.  The Jews want Jesus dead, but they lack the authority to carry out the sentence.  They need Rome’s permission.  So, the uninformed Pilot questions Jesus.  And, Jesus tells him point-blank that He has been sent by God to testify to truth, something so mysterious and so elusive that Pilot asks with skepticism, “What is truth?” These three little words of Pilot are absurd when you think about the fact that the Truth is standing right in front of him.  Despite feeble attempts to free Jesus, in the end, Pilate simply washes his hands of the business and grants the verdict the crowd is demanding—death. 
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This brings me to the next three little words, so appalling, scandalous, and cutting to my soul that as I read them from my 21st century perspective, I feel a lump in my throat forming: “They crucified Him.”  How is it possible that we could do such a thing to such a Man…to such a God?  See Him?  His arms are outstretched; the rugged spikes are pounded through His wrist bones pinning Him helplessly to the cross.  There’s a sense of finality, like the scene in a movie when you know the hero isn’t going to escape.  We avert our eyes because total surrender, total vulnerability, and total loss are too devastating to watch.  Jesus, the Lamb of God, has made Himself helpless.  “They crucified Him,” three little words that shook the foundations of heaven.
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Jesus is raised on the cross, and struggling for breath, He can only utter a few short statements, which is not surprising considering His extreme exhaustion from the past 24 hours—an intentional last supper, an intense prayer time in the garden, an illicit trial complete with repeated beatings, and an injurious and vicious flogging the likes of which often killed a man, complete with a thorn-studded crown smashed into His skull.  There Jesus hangs from nails with His earthly life rapidly fading.  With his last ounce of energy and with one final breath, He speaks three little words, “It is finished.”  The veil of the temple is torn; the sky is all darkness; the women who cared for Jesus are weeping; and one Roman guard falls to his knees, declaring in earnest, “This was God.”  And Almighty God, Father, Abba, Maker of heaven and earth, whose heart has been breaking right along with His beloved Son’s, with just three little words is restored to His children.

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​In the aftermath of these events, the Jewish leaders celebrate; Pilot sulks; and the disciples hide in fear behind locked doors until the third day when some of the women go to visit the tomb of Jesus.  They find neither guards nor a stone blocking the entrance.  Instead, angels clothed in white radiance greet them with the best three words they have ever heard, “He has risen!”  Just three little words resound in time…words that change the disciples fear into boldness, words that confound the haters and convict the doubters, words that turn the world upside down with more than just a far-fetched legend, but far-reaching, life altering, good news.  “He has risen!” three little words that brought life and conquered death.  For us today, those three little words cause us to celebrate three little words that only exist because of Jesus, “We are Free!”  

 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:36