By Bishop Stephen Chow Sau Yan, SJ
Step forward; no one is going to do it. No one can do it but you. Come on out! We are with you!
Congratulations! We said you could make it — our future counts on you. Do not be afraid, have faith, dare to go for it, and we shall stand by you.
What? Is there something wrong? You are messing up everything. If you can’t do it, you should not have taken it. Do not be conceited. Step down, take the blame and resign ! We do not know why we were all deceived at the outset!
Do you find the above conversations familiar? Have you ever been the accuser or the one being accused? Either side might feel disappointed, lost, regretful, angry or betrayed. We are human. If we had known that, we would not have counted on you and accepted you! We only have ourselves to blame!
They proclaimed: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” A few days later when the chief priests and elders had incited them, the Jews who gloriously welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem chanted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us! …Crucify him! Crucify him!!”
We, humans, are so unpredictable, with such easily triggered emotions! Have we ever taken part in condemnations like that?
I wonder what Jesus thought and what did He feel? Wouldn’t it be difficult for him not to be disappointed or not to feel the pain? However, Jesus did not run away; neither did he argue with the crowd nor blame anyone else. Despite all those unfounded allegations, he remained silent. Was that because he felt guilty? Was he a weak coward? Why did he not argue for what was right and fight for justice? Is God not the God of justice?
The reaction of Jesus was truly incomprehensible unless He could see that blaming each other and quarrelling with them would not help him achieve his goal. Instead, He remained calm, held back his inner pain, and remembered His love and obedience to the Heavenly Father and his loyalty to His mission. He chose to remain silent and accept injustice to fulfil God’s mission. His choice, however, is difficult to comprehend at this age.
We may consider stepping outside of the box, which includes our proceedings and culture, thinking more from the perspective of Lord Jesus and humbly ask him to teach us his wisdom. Then our troubles may become fewer, and the problems that we are facing may become easier.
