MAKE FUN OF OR CALL UPON?
Luke tragically describes Jesus’ agony in the midst of insults and jeering from those around him. No one seems to understand his self-giving. No one has grasped his love for the least. No one has seen in his face the compassionate gaze of God for us human beings.
From a certain distance, the religious «authorities» and the «people» make fun of Jesus, making «faces» at him: «He has saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah». Pilate’s soldiers, when they see him thirsty, offer him cheap wine, very popular among themselves, while they laugh at him: «If you are the king of the Jews, then save yourself». One of the criminals crucified next to him says the same thing: «Aren’t you the Messiah? Then save yourself».
Luke repeats the mockery three times: «Save yourself». What «Messiah» could he be if he has no power to save himself? What kind of «King» can he be? How is he going to save his people from the oppression of Rome if he can’t escape the four soldiers who keep watch over his agony? How is God going to be on his side if God doesn’t intervene to free him?
Soon, in the midst of so much mockery, there’s an invocation: «Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom». It’s the other criminal who recognizes Jesus’ innocence, confesses his own guilt, and full of confidence in God’s forgiveness, just asks Jesus to remember him. Jesus responds immediately: «Today you will be with me in paradise». Now these two agonizing people are united in desertion and powerlessness. But this very day these two will be together enjoying the life of the Father.
What would happen to us if the One Sent by God would seek his own salvation, escaping that cross that unites him forever with all the crucified of history? How could we believe in a God who leaves us drowned in our sin and our powerlessness in the face of death?
There are those who even today make fun of the Crucified One. They don’t know what they do. They didn’t know what they did to Martin Luther King. They are making fun of the most human person that history has given us. What is the most dignified posture we could have as we stand before that Crucified One, the supreme incarnation of God’s closeness to the suffering of the world: make fun of him or call upon him?
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
