“It is finished” (Jn 19:30).
Yes, the mass is over. Jesus has completed His Mass. The purpose of His coming
to the earth is achieved. Through His suffering and death He has given us the
joy of salvation. We are cleansed. Jesus, our king is put to death. But, all
kings and rulers of the earth stand dumb founded at His death (Is 52:15).
Because they had never seen a king or witnessed a reign that involves a king to
undergo suffering and death so as to defend his citizens. Usually, the citizens
and inmates of the country fight, suffer and die for the King. But with Jesus
this custom is toppled. He brings shame to those earthly kings who promise false
prosperity to their subject. Our king never promises of joy and prosperity. He
does not woe people with false promises. With His suffering, He invites us to
take up the cross. He is truthful. He never hides the demands of His kingship. In
this way He shows the divinity and the highness of His kingdom. We belong to
this kingdom. Let’s dare not to lose it.
On this day, good and evil (Truth
and Lie) confront each other directly with their maximum strength. Jesus
defends TRUTH with His full power and will. The executioners of Jesus dare to
descend into the depths of the evil. They lavishly pour out LIES to get away
with Jesus. One side, Injustice reaches its peak in the holy city of Jerusalem.
On the other side, Jesus faithfully carries out His duty as the bridegroom.
Day of
Injustice
This day is marked with
injustices. Jesus is the victim of injustice. He is betrayed by His own
disciple. One of His close disciple disown Him. Except John all the other apostles
all run away from Him. He stands alone. No one is there to fight and defend His
case. The Sanhedrin bring false accusation of blasphemy on Him. The Jewish
leadership instead of stoning Him to death for blasphemy prefer to hand Him
over to Pilate to win his favour and exhibit their loyalty toward the Roman
Empire. Jesus becomes a scapegoat for Jewish leaders to retain their power and
political influences. In front of Pilate, Jews falsely charge Jesus as King who
plots against the Roman Empire. Pilate gains the good will and loyalty of
Jewish leaders by sentencing Jesus to be crucified. The condemnation of Jesus
exposes the wickedness of the rulers of religion and civil society in
Jerusalem. A just man is victimized to sustain their power and positions.
Besides, the soldiers too have their fun in persecuting and executing the death
of Jesus in a cruel manner. No man can face these many injustices at once.
Jesus withstands all these. This shows His dedication and submission to the
will of the Father. He was perplexed in the Garden, but has not given up. The
cross of Jesus teaches us to be calm and serene in the face of evil and
injustices.
Loyal
Bridegroom
In the book of Genesis, the
first man (Adam) fails to protect Eve from sinning. Adam stands alongside Eve
when the ancient serpent tempts her. Eve gives the fruit to Adam who is with her
at that time (Gen 3:6). As Man, Adam has the responsibility to defend and
protect all the creatures on the earth including his wife Eve. By leaving Eve
to have conversation with the ancient serpent and accepting the fruit from her
to eat, Adam has failed in doing his responsibility. The husband has left the
bride to wander on her own in the garden. This irresponsibility brings
nakedness to bride and bridegroom. They run away from each other. On the
contrary, Jesus as faithful husband of the church fights till the end. He even
becomes naked on the cross to clothe His bride, the Church. Today, we have
nothing to be ashamed of. Jesus with His nakedness and shame on the Cross has
given us salvation. We need not fear death and diving punishment of hell. The ultimate
sacrifice of the bridegroom gladdens the heart of the Father of the bride. Jesus
has excelled where Adam has failed. He is a loyal bridegroom.
In His fight against evil,
Jesus has sacrificed His own life to hold on to the truth. The wisdom of this
world tell us to give up truth and embrace evil in view of survival. Conceding
to the lies seems to be prudent in the eyes of this world. All these are
deceptions. Jesus shows us the way from that cross that it is worth suffering
for the truth. Conceding to the evil and compromising the truth are reducing the
capacity of humans to be slaves. We are made to be rulers of the earth. As
rulers we need to take our stand. Giving into the flow of life without proper
judgment and discernment reduce us into mere animals. Jesus our master, has
excelled in His humanity by standing for the truth. Let us resolve to stand for
the truth and resist lies to the point of shedding one’s own blood (Heb 12:14).
May the blood of Christ save
us!
Comments
Post a Comment