Meditation for Passion Sunday, Year B
“They led Jesus to the High Priest; and all the
Chief priests assembled, with the elders and the teachers of the law” (Mk
14:53). What kind of trial did they organize for Jesus since they had already
made up their minds? They started digging out for evidence to support the accusations,
even those that came up to speak defeated themselves by conflicting witnesses
(Mt 14:55-59). What next since all the evidences could not convict Him? They
High Priest and the Elders were at the verge of self-defeat and shame! Then the
High Priest stood up in the midst of the crowd and questioned Jesus. First, he
asked Jesus to comment the allegations brought against Him. But those
allegations conflicted themselves and failed! So Jesus was silent. Secondly, he
asked Him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus answered, “I
am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Most
Powerful, and coming with the clouds of Heaven around Him. The High Priest
pretended to be shocked at the answer, tore his garments to stir up the people
against Him. And it worked. They began to spit on Jesus and beat Him (Mk 14:60-65).
The High Priest and the Elders were put to
trial by their own jealousy and hatred; their gang up against Jesus exposed
their wicked hearts. When they taught they had gotten what they wanted, they realized
immediately that they had no power to sentence Jesus to death, only the civil
authorities could do so. Therefore, they took Jesus to Pilate. But Pilate was a
Roman Governor, who cared less about issues of Jewish religion. He was only
interested in collecting taxes and maintaining order. The issues tabled by
these religious leaders had no legal relevance, not to talk of death sentence! In
his mind, Pilate had already set Jesus free but was looking for whatever
pretence he could use to allow Jesus to go.
The real trial was now between Pilate and the
Sanhedrin, each struggling to outwit the other and have the upper hand! Pilate was
shocked to discover that Jesus was not interested in the ‘freedom’ he was
offering, neither was He interested in the ‘condemnation’ the Sanhedrin was
pushing for. Pilate found himself losing the battle, his authority had no
relevance to Jesus, and the crowds and Sanhedrin were rejecting his power too. Pilate
made a last minute attempt to win the favour of the crowd, since it was obvious
that Jesus would not answer him, and the High Priests and Elders had made up
their mind. He offered to sentence Barabbas, the man who had hurt the people,
and set Jesus, the King of the Jews, free. Seeing that Pilate wanted to
outsmart them by having the crowd to his side, the Chief priests blackmailed
him and stirred up a riot. Now, Pilate’s position as governor was on trial,
while the pride of the High Priest and the Elders were on trial! The crowds
always follow what appealed to them as the ‘popular demand’ for the moment. But Jesus remained silent and calm; He was
making a free offering of Himself to the Father (cf. Mk 15:1-20).
In life we go through this kind of trial. We
may be drawn to follow the path of Pilate, conscious of our ego, power and
influence, thinking we have power to give freedom to others. We may be on the
path of the jealous Sanhedrin, being selfish, lustful, competitive, greedy and
unsatisfied. At times we want to cheer the crowd with no responsible
conscience, and no personal commitment. Oh, how easy it is to hide under the ‘crowd’
to commit evil without being personally accountable for it. However, we still
have Jesus standing quietly, innocent and free, knocking at the doors of our
hearts, inviting us to His wounded side, where we freely offer ourselves to the
Father through Him, with Him and in Him, forever and ever! Amen.
Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Sunday March 28th, 2021.
Palm Sunday
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