A Christian Holy Week reflection

"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

  Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, the most important liturgical season for Christians! It is a time when we reflect upon the last and the most dramatic chapter of Jesus' life on earth: the Last Supper, his passion and death on the cross leading to the glory of the Resurrection (Easter Sunday). The Hosannas of the Palm Sunday crowd turned into hostile "Crucify him!" in a matter of a few days. What was the reason for the sudden change of mood?

   Jesus' solemn entrance into Jerusalem was his acknowledgement as the Promised Messiah by the majority of the people. The general feeling was that 'centuries of oppression, captivity and suffering under foreign rulers' were finally coming to an end. Yahweh, the God of Israel, is finally smiling on his people. He is sending his special messenger in the person of Jesus to set his people free and open to a new chapter of peace and prosperity. He will restore the long-gone Davidic kingdom and just like David defeat all his enemies in a violent combat. All throughout his public ministry, Jesus gave enough evidence that he was not the Messiah some of his contemporaries had in mind. He came to proclaim the Kingdom of God, an eternal and universal Kingdom extending to the whole of creation. He came as a peace-maker promoting reconciliation; justice and equality; love and forgiveness among peoples and nations. He told Pilate that he was a king, but, his kingdom was not of this world. He came as a perfecter of the New Covenant between God and us as the prophet Jeremiah had announced a long time ago. And finally, at the Last Supper, he told his disciples that he came to offer his life as a ransom for many: "Anyone who wants to be my disciple, has to take up his cross and follow in my footsteps!" For many of his followers, it was a hard talk not easily understood. One has to bear in mind that crucifixion was the horrendous form of capital punishment that the Romans inflicted on their most bitter opponents. For a Jewish person, the cross was (and still is) a sign of humiliation and defeat. There was nothing triumphant about it. When Peter tried to talk him out of it; Jesus' response was clear and unmistakable: "Get behind me Satan! For you are not thinking as God does; but as human beings do." It all became painfully obvious in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

   Following the Last Supper, Jesus invited his disciples to join him in prayer and meditation. Most of them either fell asleep or drifted away, gripped with fear and misapprehension. Alone and abandoned by friends, Jesus put his trust in his Father, his only source of strength and inspiration. Yet, in his humanity, fully aware of the horrors that lay ahead, he prayed: "Father, if it is at all possible; take this cup away from me; but, not mine; but, your will be done!" Strengthened and assured by the Father and his angels, Jesus was determined to press forward in his mission of redemption that would change the course of human history. Surrounded by a hostile, jeering crowd and their corrupt instigators and consoled in the presence of his Blessed Mother, his beloved disciple John and a few faithful women, Jesus completed the supreme act of love for "you and me" and for all humanity.

   "We adore you, O Christ and we praise you; for by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world."