DON’T BE DISAPPOINTED WITH HUMAN BETRAYALS IN LIFE
(1st Part: Procession: Matt 21: 1-11, 2nd Part: At the Mass: Is 50:4-7, Psalm 22, Philippians 2:6-11, Matt 26:14-27: 66)
Today Mother Church begins the celebration of Holy Week, the last week which prepares us to celebrate befittingly the resurrection of Christ and for that matter the salvation of humanity. On this day, the church recalls the entrance of Christ the Lord into Jerusalem to accomplish His Paschal Mystery, the summit and the pillar of our Christian faith. My dear friends, the church presents to us at the beginning of the Holy Week His Triumphant Entering into Jerusalem and His Passion which becomes a major focus in this week. I have chosen to reflect with you on this theme because the celebration of His Triumphant Entering into Jerusalem and that of the Passion presents to us the irony of life as we all do experience sometimes. This has to do with joy and sorrow which are part of our human existence and the fact that these human realities are caused by our fellow humans. More often than not we become welcoming when it has to with the aspect of joy, but it becomes difficult for us to accept when it comes to disappointments and betrayals which bring about sorrow. Friends in Christ, until we psyche ourselves up to accept this reality we become sometimes so bitter to the extent that some of these situations destroys us and makes us miserable in life. Just after ushering Him into Jerusalem as the King and singing Hosanna in the highest to the extent that some of the people even put their garments on the road for Him to pass on with His donkey, some of these people contributed to His Passion which even included His own disciples. People he had spent much of His life with at a point abandoned Him and it was as if there was no one with Him. This to me seems contradictory when people are praising you and saying all kinds of good things about you then all of a sudden they turn against you as if they have never known you anywhere. And the most painful side of it is that you have not done anything against these people. This is the reality of life which you and I have to come to terms with in this journey of life.
In the first part of today’s celebration, Jesus is accompanied by His dear disciples and people from all walks of life, who had also come to Jerusalem for the Jewish Passover celebrations. Aside His disciples who had had personal contact with Him, others from the crowd might have heard about His great works from people who have witnessed some of these works themselves or are beneficiaries in one way or the other. All these people joined Christ and His disciples to share in His joy as a great prophet and teacher who has arisen among the people of God. In fact, they gave Him a resounding audience and respect as a great person among them. I believe some of the people aside His disciples also saw in Him the personality of the Messiah, whom they have been waiting for to bring forth their deliverance (Lk 24:21). They all hailed Him as theMessiah hoped for and am not surprise some even laid down their garments on the road for him to pass on as He rode on His donkey. I believe this was one of the joyous moments in the life of Christ,when you have people around you to share in your joy and to hail you as a great person.
But some of these people who were singing His praises in the first part of today’s celebration turns around in the second part of His Passion to betray Him and abandon Him. Key among them were Judas Iscariot His treasurer and Peter His right hand man. Some of the people from the triumphant crowd (the crowd at His Triumphant Entering into Jerusalem) were of no exception in dissociating themselves from the man they had earlier testified as a great personand perhaps the Messiah. In the psalm which is also referred to as the psalm of the Suffering Servant of the Lord having it fulfilment in Christ, the Suffering Servant of God, portrays a person who seems to be in distress and frustrations which Jesus also quoted in Mark 15: 34b and I quote “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. Jesus Himself felt very strongly the betrayal of His own very people but He had consolation in His Father who sent Him and will not abandon Him even if everybody does.
I will single out three categories of people who betrayed Jesus and possibly some of the reasons which led to their betrayal. The first is the crowd who joined in singing His praises and later asked for Him to be crucified as we hear in the passion narrative. Of course, is not everybody in the crowd who was ungrateful by betraying Him. Some of the people in the crowd am sure had benefited a lot from the great works of Jesus. Some might have been healed by Him, or any relative or a friend of theirs, some also might have been touched by His words, to mention a few. Then why should they betray the very person they were singing hosanna for? Some of them might have been misled by others especially the leaders who concocted a lot of stories which caught the attention of the multitude. Some were possibly just following Him through the Triumphant Entering just because others are following. It is also true that some of the people who disliked Him were also following during this period, so that they can gather facts they wanted and not because they were there to also hail Him as a great person. People had different reasons for betraying the very person they were following through in the Triumphant Entering. The same way people can also do to us based on these various reasons.
For the part of Judas Iscariot, we can say that he wanted to use the opportunity to amass wealth. He was an opportunist and as I mentioned earlier on he was the treasurer for the apostles, thereforesomehow he was a money conscious person. Since the elders of the Jews wanted a way of arresting his master he saw that opportunity to get something into his pocket as he desired. Some biblical scholars interpret that he was the one who was lamenting over the use of the oil by the woman who anointed the feet of Jesus because he could have gotten some profit if the oil was sold ( Matt 26: 8-9, Mk 14: 3-5, Lk 7: 37-38). The same way our loved ones will betray us just for material things, do not be surprise.
Peter of all people should had known better because he promised to stand by Christ even if everybody abandoned Him. But because of the fear of suffering the same fate like his master, he denied Him three times that he does not know Jesus. The right hand man of Jesus publicly denying knowledge of Him. Is a shock right? But that is the reality of life. Some close people of yours will betray you because of fear of what others might do or say to them.
The truth is that what cannot kill you makes you strong. We do not have to be bitter about some of these situations in life, because as people of faith God uses them to teach us a lot in life. And the fact that He uses some of these situations to open up doors in our lives if only we cooperate with His grace. If Jesus had become bitter about these situations without seeking out the will of God for Him in those moments, I do not think our salvation would had been achieved. Do not become so bitter about them but seek out the will of God for you in such moments.
Friends, betrayals will always come in our lives but let us seek out the will of God just us as Jesus did. Again, do not expect everybody to like you in this life. Some people will forever hate you but bear with them as a true Christian and treat them well. Our God will always fight for us as He has always been doing. May the Holy Spirit grant us the grace to be steadfast in our faith in these moments, since sometimes it is not easy as humans. May we resurrect with Christ with a new life at Easter. AMEN.
Accept human betrayals in good faith. Don’t be bitter about them.
I wish you a fruitful Holy Week and a happy easter in advance!
REV. FR. AKAKPO MATTHEW
