THE CONFRONTATION OF GOOD AND EVIL (TRUTH AND LIE)

 

“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