Jesus Cried Aloud and Died: Appropriating the Sacrifice of Jesus for Today

And they crucified Him...

The forty days of Lenten observance culminates into the Passion Week. The Passion Week starts with the Palm Sunday where Jesus’s triumphant entry to Jerusalem is celebrated and then follows the commemoration of the Suffering, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, called the Paschal Mysteries. 

The Palm Sunday is an important event to celebrate Easter. On this day, Jesus makes a solemn entry riding on a donkey to Jerusalem. People out of joy welcomed him shouting ‘Hosanna’ with olive branches and spreading their clothes on the road. The exuberance of people was because of a kind of perception they had about Jesus. They thought that Jesus would be their new ruler or king: a king who would rule the people with justice and peace, who would be a humble king, who would protect from their enemies, would eradicate poverty and would provide surplus food, etc. But their joy was only short-lived till the entry to the city of Jerusalem. What was never expected became the reality. They never expected that their hero who healed the sicknesses like the deaf, dumb, mute, paralytic, haemorrhage, leprosy, skin diseases, and fever; who freed people from the demonic possessions, social ostracism, political gimmick; who taught like ‘never-before-any-teacher’ with authority, content, style and wisdom; who lived a simple, humble, loving, cheerful, accommodating life; who hailed from the Davidic dynasty will be awarded a punishment deserved only for criminals, that too within a week instead of awarding the glorious throne of the Kingdom. Neither the perpetrators understood what they were doing, nor did the followers understand the depth of Jesus’ glorious entry to Jerusalem and his passion and death. The things became clear only at the Easter Morning, at the resurrection of Jesus. 

Why did Jesus die? St. John, the beloved Apostle of Jesus says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). St. Paul reiterates this again that Christ died to prove how much God loves us. He says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). The Old Testament is full of God’s loving acts towards His chosen people. Whenever people failed to recognize God and whenever they failed to keep the commandments (Decalogue), He sent judges, kings, prophets and leaders to guide them. And yet people failed. Therefore, time and again God reminds of His promise. “I will not leave you” (2 Kings 4:30); “He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8). God fulfills His word through Jesus, His only beloved Son. Secondly, Jesus died for the expiation of our sins. The sin of humanity was so much that God had to become human, live like any one of us and take upon Himself the sins of humanity. St. Paul in his letter to Philippians says, “Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8). 

Jesus was accused of blasphemy and sedition and was awarded the death penalty by hanging on the Cross, a death which only criminals and anti-nationals were given. The whole passion of Jesus can be found in all the four Gospels in the Bible: Mark 14:26–15:47; Matthew 26:30–27:66; Luke 22:39–23:56; and John 18:1–19:42. Four things can be reflected from the above four passion narratives. 

1. The Suffering of Jesus

St. Mark gives us the depth of the suffering of Jesus. Jesus was tragically rejected, unfairly condemned, viciously beaten, horribly insulted, and cruelly mistreated by multiple groups. How much suffering Jesus went through! From the beginning of His public ministry onwards, there were several people rejected Him. It is our own experience, that whenever we do good there are hundreds of people condemn the good we perform. Several people feel jealous of our achievements. At times we become objects of mockery. People insult us and treat us as third-class citizens. Often, rejection comes from our own people, whom we trust and believe to be with us. The words of Martin Luther are very much true, “Betrayal comes after trust.” 

2. The Kingship of Jesus 

St. Matthew tells us about the Kingship of Jesus, how the de-facto ruling powers, especially Pilate and Caiphas conspired to get rid of someone they saw as a political threat. Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of peace, justice and equality. But people painted Jesus as a political figure and confined His ideals to the political dynasty. Jesus’ kingdom is beyond boundaries. It is the spiritual kingdom that He wants to establish. The King is a shepherd who takes care of his sheep. The shepherd must be simple and humble. Throughout His life, Jesus showed great leadership quality. A leader is one who serves. He said, “I came to serve and not to be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). A leader must have the quality of humility. But today, our socio-political and religious leadership does not depict servant leadership, but rather a ‘bossy or domineering leadership.’ Often times, leaders expect that they should be treated like kings and people must salute them in public. Being meek and servant is construed as a sign of weakness and not as strength. They think that people are their servants. How wrong they are! 

3. The Innocence of Jesus 

St. Luke stresses the innocence of Jesus. Pilate said Jesus did not deserve death (Matthew 27:24). Even people like Herod Antipas, centurion and repentant thief also recognized His innocence. How often innocent people are killed in our country! This is the paradox we live in where the innocent suffer and the criminals walk scot-free! 

4. The Exaltation of Jesus 

St. John portrays the exaltation of Jesus, how He remains in charge, driving the all action, completing the will of the Father, and being glorified as he is lifted up. Jesus was fully aware of the things unfolding throughout His passion and death. He was totally in control of the situation, yet he focused himself in executing the plan of the Father. Even at the time of his execution, he showed mercy and compassion. When one of Jesus’ disciples cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave (John18:10), Jesus healed him immediately. When women were weeping on his way to Calvary, Jesus consoled them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luke: 23:28). His aim was to reach out the needy even at the time of his agony. The compassion and love reaches the zenith when Jesus forgave the people who crucified him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). This is the highest point of being divine. This is one of the unique features of Christ which becomes the symbol of Christianity. 

Jesus is Crucified Even Today 

The people responsible for Jesus’ death were not the people who devoutly followed Him. But the accusers were the people who were very much aware of his work and mission. They were the religious leaders, the chief priests, elders, scribes and the governing people of the time like Pilate. Jesus was the pricking thorn in the flesh of their self-righteousness. This is not uncommon even today. 

Today Jesus is represented by all those incidents and events of mercy, peace, brotherhood, harmony, equality, service, charity, humanness, justice and peace. Jesus is also represented by those people who serve selflessly for the last, the least and the lost. 

Today, Jesus is being crucified every day and everywhere, socially, religiously, economically, culturally, politically, ideologically, theologically, and so on. When the self-righteous, selfish and idiosyncratic people do not recognize the rights and duties of the weaker sections of the society, Jesus is crucified in them. When the democratically elected government fails to recognize the plight of the common people and when it closes its eyes to the basic needs, Jesus is crucified. When the common man is unable to avail the basic needs like water, food, house, health care facilities, when he is dictated what to eat and what not to eat, where to go and where not to go, what to do and what not to do, Jesus is crucified. Government has lots of schemes for the ordinary people – like free education, free medical facilities, free ambulance facilities, free of cost delivery care for the pregnant women, girl-child welfare schemes, subsidies for the farmers, stipends for the widows, widowers, retired teachers and soldiers. But the rampant corruption, grabbing mentality, unhealthy bureaucratic rigmarole, red-tapism and materialistic life crucifies Jesus. Human dignity has become the word of the past. Rivers and animals are given human status, but humans are left to fend for themselves.

While rich industrialists and business people draw loans after loans from the government and escape to foreign countries for shelter without paying it, the poorest of poor farmers unable to pay the paltry sum they have taken from the bank is committing suicide. While the tribals protect the forest and natural resources, the government is not sparing a chance to sell it off to rich industrialists and business people without even giving an inch of land to live. Jesus is being crucified even today 

The innocent people are made scapegoats for the sake of development in various parts of the country. The mother earth cries for care and returns to the roots. The original inhabitants of the land who cared for and loved from the very beginning are deprived of their right. The land is alienated or mortgaged to build factories, ‘fly-overs’, ‘hospitals’, ‘welfare’. Who are the beneficiaries? ‘Only the rich and powerful!’ What a paradox. The development is only for the ‘developed’. It’s my land, my money, my sweat and my people, but I am taxed for it. While the real beneficiaries look for few crumbs, the so-called custodians enjoy the fruit of the labour. The best example is the food price and menu available to the ministers in the Parliament canteen, or their shooting salaries. Yes, Jesus is crucified today. 

Religions who are supposed to be the guarantor of one of the meaningful life systems of faith, morality and devotions have become the centres of marketing institutions. Higher the tower, magnificent the building, greater the amount of silver and gold statues, bigger the collection boxes, louder the noise is understood to be the best religion. Preaching the Word of God has become a money-making business. They have enough and more money to invest in the shares and mutual funds but not to the one who is begging in its porch. Is not Jesus crucified? 

Jesus is crucified even in our own communities and culture. The blood of caste and creed is very thick in our blood. Somehow, we are not able to come out of it, be it Christians or in any other religions. Jesus did not make any distinction between sex and creed. He only propagated egalitarian society and annihilated differences. He tried to cross the boundaries of the dissention. Yet, he was accused. People are suffocating due to this sickness in our communities. Are we not crucifying Jesus again? 

We are in need of Jesus’ resurrection today. The society is in very much in need of resuscitation. Jesus’s incarnation was to put an end to the physical, moral, psychological and spiritual suffering and thus to establish the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of peace and harmony. Where there is really a growth, where there is a brotherhood and there is Jesus. The distance between the Good Friday and Easter is not a big one, just ‘three days’. This means, darkens, sin, our negative attitudes will not last long, nor should they persist. Jesus the light and life of humanity (John 9:5; 8:12; 12:46) will be triumphant irrespective of our co-operation or non-cooperation. It’s my firm conviction and belief that whenever chaos reaches to its zenith, the re-incarnation of God takes place in some form or the other, in the form of righteous people or the events. When one human being recognizes the other fellow human being as ‘brother, sister, mother, father’, Jesus becomes alive. This is the day of resurrection which I am longing for. 

Dr. Fr. Raju Felix Crasta