God did not miraculously save Christ from difficult situations. He did not obstruct the injustice and the death of his son.
In him, God has made it known that he does not overcome evil with any miraculous intervention, but by taking away its power to harm, even making it a time of growth.
Letting him be guided and enlightened by the scriptures—it is difficult to assimilate this logic of God. It is difficult to accept that “unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (John 12:24).
The Gospel of Matthew particularly insists on the repudiation of violence and the use of weapons. Only he reports the words of Jesus to Peter, when he tried to defend him with a sword, “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take hold of the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52).
One of the issues close to Matthew’s heart is the universalism of salvation. Israel cannot consider herself the only and one jealous depositary of the promises.
She played the role that the Lord entrusted to her: to prepare the coming of God’s kingdom. Now she is expected, first among the guests, in the banquet hall (Matthew 22:1-6).
Unfortunately, Israel rejected the invitation. In the early Christian community, it is experienced as a painful laceration, like a sword that pierces the soul (Luke 2:35), as “a thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). The maximum expression of this refusal is the cry, “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:25).
Another incident reported only by Matthew is the death of Judas. This disciple is the symbol of all those who, for a time, follow Jesus. Then they are aware that Jesus does not fulfill their dreams of glory and their thirst for power. They abandon him and even turn against him.
If we free ourselves from the stereotypes for a moment, we can experience respect and compassion for the plight of this man. It seems that, in the group of the apostles, he had no friends. When he saw the only one who loved him go to his death, he must have felt terribly alone carrying the weight of his mistake.
He’s gone, unfortunately, to vent his remorse, his inner torment to the wrong people, the temple priests who used him.
If he had turned to Christ, his life would have ended in another way.
Finally, only Matthew speaks of the guards placed in custody of the tomb (Matthew 27:62-66): they are a sign of the triumph of evil.
Their presence testifies that righteousness is defeated, the deliverer silenced, locked forever in a tomb.
It is the experience that we have: evil always gives the impression of being assured of a final triumph, like the dreams the poor, the weak and the defenseless’ hope for justice.
God, however, ensures his unexpected intervention. His angel will roll every stone that prevents the return to life and will sit on it (Matthew 28:2). The soldiers, placed to defend injustice and iniquity, will flee in terror from his light (Matthew 28:4).
Father Fernando Armellini SCJ
Claretian Publications
bibleclaret.org
Translated by Father John Ledesma SDB
Abridged by Father Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF
