Passion Sunday Hope beyond sin Cowardice, laziness, cruelty, anger, crowd hysteria, complacency, fear of ridicule, boredom, lies, treachery, denials, bullying, jeering, insensitivity, - these are some of the sins that Mark describes as leading to the unjust and cruel death of Jesus. The different characters in his account, each and all, played some part in the Passion. Aside from the chief priests, most of the people who committed these sins against Jesus were just caught in the flow of the situation. There were ‘reasons’ why they could not resist their sin - Peter was afraid of ridicule, the soldier afraid to disobey the order to torture. Each could also ask what difference would it make if they did do the right thing. Jesus was still going to end up dead. As for the chief priests who deliberately orchestrated his death, envy had consumed them. They had watched the crowds following Jesus; they had seen him serve, lovingly and freely, a true son of God. He only took the chief priests seriously in order to love them, not to be intimidated by their flaunting power or petty rules. When they could not have Jesus’ influence, they would destroy him. When I look at this range of sins, I can see my own behaviour in different situations. Sure I haven’t knowingly killed anyone, but I do know how easy it is to be carried away by mob hysteria. (How often is nasty gossip just a watered down version of that?) I know how difficult, even impossible it is to extricate myself from the web of sin. But in Jesus we see a completely different way of living life. As we look closely at this account of Mark, we see Jesus in each situation, responding in the fullness of life, not allowing himself to act from any motive aside from love. He goes to this death freely, lovingly, faithfully. Even in desolation, he remains true to the end. How can we act like this! Of ourselves, we will fail – but with the grace of the Risen Jesus, we can live as true children of God.
Sr Kym Harris OSB |