PALM SUNDAY
Mathew 21:1-11 and 26:14-27:66
As Christians everywhere prepare to commemorate the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and enter into Holy Week, I could not help but think of the paradox of these upcoming religious celebrations almost colliding with one of humanities darkest days.
Recently, Rwanda held solemn commemorations in the capital, Kigali, to mark the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. The ghastly realization that it only took 100 days to kill more than 800,000 human beings while the world watched is inescapable. One would tempt to think that the Nazi regime that extinguished approximately six million Jews had resurrected in the lives of the perpetrators of the crime in Rwanda. These are not rumours but a fact of world’s history.
The question to ask is how a community celebrates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem as King and Lord when a historical calendar speaks of a different reality, a darker side of humanity.
As far as Christians are concerned, the Palm Sunday commemoration is only one side of the story. Almost immediately the Jews are filled with hate for Jesus. They want to see him stoned, calling Him a blasphemer, especially after offering proof of His Divinity. He returned to Jerusalem on Thursday, to share the Last Supper with His apostles. He was subsequently arrested, tried, whipped, spat upon and experienced the most humiliating death on a cross outside the gates of Jerusalem.
Where were the thousands of people who befriended him and received his love and compassion? On Good Friday there were only a handful of people around Jesus crucifix to provide him some support and care. Many of his apostles were nowhere to be found.
When the Hutu militias targeted the Tutsis, where were the French, Belgian and German colonizers? What happened to the United Nations? The complicity of the so many countries and so called civilised governments are beyond human reasoning. The UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-moon admitted recently the shame over the UN’s failure to prevent the 1994 genocide. It pains me to know that the international community does have the power and mechanism to prevent it from happening. But we simply stood by the road-side and watched as the children were slaughtered.
I like to suggest that when the Jews returned after 70 years of exile, Nehemiah the prophet realized that for the security of everywhere it was necessary to learn to accept both personal and corporate responsibility. In the Old Testament when Judah Jerusalem is under threat. He then took responsibility for it all. He prayed,
“And I’m including me, my ancestors and me, among those who have sinned against you. We’ve treated you like dirt” (Nehemiah 1:6,7).
The world today needs people of good will and prophets of our time to assume responsibility for the failures of generations whom preceded them. The Rwandan genocide is only a mirror of what you and I can do to each other given the ‘right’ circumstances. There is in each of us the lies, hatred, division, destruction and un-freedoms. It is not enough just to see and attend to our own personal failings. We need to learn to take responsibility for sins we did not personally commit. We may ask, “Why, I did nothing wrong?” Well let’s learn from Jesus how he did it. According to St. Paul:
"though he was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:6-8).
From the human point of view this is ridiculous. How a good man could humbly accept the sinfulness of humanity? But Jesus kenosis (self-emptying) is a mystery for humanity to behold. In this self-emptying Christ, true God and true man, truly re-establishes and restores humankind to its original purpose. Jesus, on behalf of humanity, took humanity's debt for sin upon him, and offered it to God as His sacrifice of praise, obedience and love for His Father.
There is no doubt that Jesus was alongside every victim of Genocide in Rwanda and relatives who are left grieving behind. Jesus is in every baby aborted and in every victim of domestic violence. Death, as we know, stinks. It has the power to steal away our hope. It is most awful because it leaves people confused, depressed and scattered.
But one matter still remains in the Passion story – the Resurrection of Jesus .
It is Jesus’ Resurrection that our understanding of suffering, genocide, death and the sinfulness of humanity are now forever changed. Death no longer stinks. Suffering makes sense as mourning will turn into joy, and joy into hope for eternal life.