Palm Sunday

Imagine an entirely fictional character named Musonda, who is an influencer cum politician with a large following on social media. He is something of a firebrand, priding himself on his ability to speak truth to power, and roundly criticizing the government of Zambia for its ill-advised policies. He uses his substantial following on social media to air his critical views of the way the government is running the country. Eventually the powers that be get tired of his criticisms and have him arrested on charges of Hate Speech. He is subsequently released on bail to await his date in court. But as his date in court nears he senses the net closing in on him, he decides to skip town and runs off to South Africa, where he continues his assault on the ruling regime from the safety of the Diaspora.

If we are to compare Musonda with Jesus, we need to realize that Jesus, like Musonda realized the net was closing in on him. But instead of choosing to run away from the danger that this posed, he decided to stand his ground and face the music. Like Musonda, he had the choice to run away, he could have decided to go back to Galilee, and laid low during the Passover. Like Musonda, he could have even found many reasons to justify this, thinking that it would be much better for him to remain alive and continue his ministry than to risk getting himself killed by going to Jerusalem. Jesus’ deliberate choice to stand his ground and face the music contrasted with Musonda’s lack of courage makes the difference in their legacies. Noone knows what the fate of the completely fictional character Musonda will be, but the chances are that because of his refusal to stand by his convictions, his legacy will simply fizzle out and he will slowly lose his following on social media. Conversely it is precisely because Jesus chose to take a stand and face the music that his legacy lives on. But it also lives on because Jesus was very deliberate in the manner in which he approached the last week of his life. If he was to be killed, it would be on his own terms by his enemies, it would be own his own terms and timetable and not theirs.

First of all, Jesus chose very carefully and deliberately the time he went up to Jerusalem. Jesus picked the exact time of year when Jerusalem was at its most volatile. With all the pilgrims who flooded in to Jerusalem during Passover, it’s population swelled to 3 times its normal size. He wanted to make sure that his death was witnessed by as many people as possible. Theodor Adorno, a German philosopher in the post Second World War era once remarked that it is the particular hallmark of authoritarian regimes to deny the suffering of their victims. The reason that authoritarian regimes do this is because they know the dangerous power of a martyr’s death. John-Baptist Metz, a German theologian, comments on the power of a memory of suffering. If the suffering of a victim is remembered and cherished, it has a dangerous power to solicit a revolt against an oppressive regime. The Romans did nothing to conceal the suffering of their victims, they wanted the suffering of their victims on public display precisely as a deterrent against revolt. The Christian celebration of the dangerous memory of the cross has probably played a big role in modern authoritarian regimes seeking to deny the suffering of their victims.

The reason that Jesus remains silent during his trial and all the way to his death is because he has already managed to invest his death with the meaning that he wished to give it. He does this at the last supper, surrounded by his closest friends. It was at this Passover meal that Jesus prefigured his death and his role as the pascal lamb. He wanted to make clear to his disciples that he was going to his death willingly, it was not something being forced on him. Having controlled the narrative himself, he can now afford to be silent during his trial and let the travesty of justice take its course. As we know, his followers all abandoned him in his hour of need, and none of them was around to witness to the true meaning of his Way to the Cross. It would only be after the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that his disciples would come to start witnessing to the true meaning of the Cross and impose upon it the meaning Jesus had entrusted to them so that it became a dangerous memory with the power to liberate us from the tyranny of sin. With all his followers having abandoned him, it is left to the Roman Centurion to realize the truth behind the narrative and impose his own meaning. Indeed in Mark’s gospel, this Roman Centurion is the first character in the whole gospel to recognize Jesus as the “Son of God.” Just by the way that he died, this Centurion was able to make this confession of faith.

For our own part, as we accompany Jesus to his death this Holy Week, we will face the same temptations as the disciples and Musonda to run away. We will be tempted to deny the truth that we are complicit in Jesus’ suffering. We will be tempted to deny suffering of so many of our fellow brothers and sisters in whom Christ still suffers today. But like Peter we are called to realize the error of our ways and repent and then proclaim the truth of the narrative of Jesus’ suffering and death as a dangerous memory that has the power to release us all from the tyranny of sin. Questions for reflection

1. In what ways have I experienced Jesus death as a dangerous memory?
2. How can I be a witness to the true meaning of suffering in the Christian life?