WDTPS: The Rejected King
April 9, 2017
by Mico Pacheco
by Mico Pacheco
Today is the Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, the beginning of the most solemn week of the year. We begin our journey through this week as we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus to Jerusalem. We remember how Christ was greeted by the cheers of the people saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David!" The people were excited to see Jesus. He was welcomed with such fanfare fit for the arrival of a king. The palms, the cloaks, the shouts and the cheers, all of these regal honors were given to a man, who rode a donkey into the city. This was what was written in the first Gospel for today.
The second Gospel for today, the one read during the Mass itself, seemed paradoxical with the Gospel read at the blessing of palms. The crowd which welcomed Christ suddenly turned into a mob. The cheers were turned to jeers. "Hosanna" was changed to "Crucify him!". How painful was it for the Lord to see the same faces who cheered for him turn against him? These were people who expressed their love for him, and treated him as their king. How painful it is for the king who did not do anything wrong have his subjects turn against him.
Today, we appear to be those with palms - those who acclaim the kingship of Jesus. We welcome him into our city and into our lives. We acknowledge Jesus as a central part of our lives. We profess our love and adoration to Him. If this feeling of love to God is genuine, then good! What a great foundation of the faith! But if this profession is done because of the wrong intentions, because we think that God's love and mercy will overlook our sinful lifestyles if we profess faith to him, believing that even faith alone can save us, disregarding works, this is very dangerous. Many of us, whenever the will of God does not conform with ours, we chose not to abide with it. If His will demands so much from us, we would sometimes give so little. If He does not grant us what we seek, sometimes, we end up questioning him, rejecting him, and even abandoning him.
With these, we see how the crowd has become a mob. The real Christ did not meet their expectation of what Christ would actually be. Christ has not been sent to build an empire and become a political leader but for the salvation of souls. Jesus valued what would be more beneficial to the spirit than that of the body. Seeing this, they abandoned Jesus, turned against Jesus, and crucified him.
Let us not be confused with the title of this reflection. Our Lord Jesus Christ was not rejected initially, he was accepted. He was embraced, in fact! But after quite some time, it was there where the rejection was manifested.
We are in an age wherein things which are "of God" are quickly dismissed as cheesy, irrelevant and guilty of anachronism. People of today are more concerned of worldly things than spiritual things. They would only have recourse to God as if he is a wishing well and if their wish is not granted, they would not mind to converse with him again, thus there he is, abandoned, rejected, painfully rejected.
Even our observance of the Holy Week says so much about the paradox seen today. We claim to be people in love with Jesus, people with deep devotion and faith - "spiritual but not religious" as some may say. Today, the observance of Holy Week is leveled-down as an opportunity to escape from the stress of the city and daily life to relax and unwind, as the universal Church commemorates Christ's oblation at Golgotha. We are beginning to lose the genuine meaning of this most solemn week. Can we not remain with Jesus?
Brothers and sisters, the indifference to God, the rejection of his will, and the hatred towards expressions of faith are ways of the modern world in saying "CRUCIFY HIM".
Our challenge today is to remain faithful to Jesus, even if others are not, even if others cannot, even is others will not.
Let us remain loyal to Jesus, to whom we have professed our love and loyalty - he is our King, allow him to reign in our hearts. As we have welcomed him today, may our hearts be always open to him at all times. Let us not allow ourselves to abandon Jesus and turn against him for so many have turned their backs towards him already. Let us be with Him and console His heart for he did not leave us enslaved by sin.
May our cheers of "Hosanna Filio David!" be heard over the shouts of "crucify him!".
The second Gospel for today, the one read during the Mass itself, seemed paradoxical with the Gospel read at the blessing of palms. The crowd which welcomed Christ suddenly turned into a mob. The cheers were turned to jeers. "Hosanna" was changed to "Crucify him!". How painful was it for the Lord to see the same faces who cheered for him turn against him? These were people who expressed their love for him, and treated him as their king. How painful it is for the king who did not do anything wrong have his subjects turn against him.
Today, we appear to be those with palms - those who acclaim the kingship of Jesus. We welcome him into our city and into our lives. We acknowledge Jesus as a central part of our lives. We profess our love and adoration to Him. If this feeling of love to God is genuine, then good! What a great foundation of the faith! But if this profession is done because of the wrong intentions, because we think that God's love and mercy will overlook our sinful lifestyles if we profess faith to him, believing that even faith alone can save us, disregarding works, this is very dangerous. Many of us, whenever the will of God does not conform with ours, we chose not to abide with it. If His will demands so much from us, we would sometimes give so little. If He does not grant us what we seek, sometimes, we end up questioning him, rejecting him, and even abandoning him.
With these, we see how the crowd has become a mob. The real Christ did not meet their expectation of what Christ would actually be. Christ has not been sent to build an empire and become a political leader but for the salvation of souls. Jesus valued what would be more beneficial to the spirit than that of the body. Seeing this, they abandoned Jesus, turned against Jesus, and crucified him.
Let us not be confused with the title of this reflection. Our Lord Jesus Christ was not rejected initially, he was accepted. He was embraced, in fact! But after quite some time, it was there where the rejection was manifested.
We are in an age wherein things which are "of God" are quickly dismissed as cheesy, irrelevant and guilty of anachronism. People of today are more concerned of worldly things than spiritual things. They would only have recourse to God as if he is a wishing well and if their wish is not granted, they would not mind to converse with him again, thus there he is, abandoned, rejected, painfully rejected.
Even our observance of the Holy Week says so much about the paradox seen today. We claim to be people in love with Jesus, people with deep devotion and faith - "spiritual but not religious" as some may say. Today, the observance of Holy Week is leveled-down as an opportunity to escape from the stress of the city and daily life to relax and unwind, as the universal Church commemorates Christ's oblation at Golgotha. We are beginning to lose the genuine meaning of this most solemn week. Can we not remain with Jesus?
Brothers and sisters, the indifference to God, the rejection of his will, and the hatred towards expressions of faith are ways of the modern world in saying "CRUCIFY HIM".
Our challenge today is to remain faithful to Jesus, even if others are not, even if others cannot, even is others will not.
Let us remain loyal to Jesus, to whom we have professed our love and loyalty - he is our King, allow him to reign in our hearts. As we have welcomed him today, may our hearts be always open to him at all times. Let us not allow ourselves to abandon Jesus and turn against him for so many have turned their backs towards him already. Let us be with Him and console His heart for he did not leave us enslaved by sin.
May our cheers of "Hosanna Filio David!" be heard over the shouts of "crucify him!".