We may all agree that Palm Sunday has a confusing liturgy. It starts with a joyful procession followed by the sorrowful reading of the Passion. Perhaps those who are accustomed to the liturgical tradition may not give it a second thought. This would be unfortunate. The Liturgy beckons us to reflect. Firstly on the person of Jesus and then on our response to Him. In fact, the whole purpose of Holy Week is to invite us to reflect on Jesus and our response to Him.

Let us start our reflection today with the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. This is not something which happened by chance. It was carefully orchestrated by our Lord. He had planned to enter into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey. This is hardly a majestic creature by any stretch of the imagination. It is a beast of the peasant. Jesus entered the city in a manner completely contrary to the kings and queens of His time who processed into cities with their majestic horses announcing their great and mighty deeds. Our politicians of today are not much different. Even the procession of popes, bishops, and priests of today do not reflect the utter simplicity of our Lord. Jesus, in His simplicity, revealed to the people who He is. This is the only thing Jesus offered to the people. No empty promises. No lies or manipulations. He just offered Himself. The people responded to this. For a brief moment, this sufficed for the people. The people were able to see Jesus as the Christ, the complete fulfillment of all things necessary for all creation to have a rich and abundant Life.

Perhaps today the title, “Christ” has lost much of its significance. For many modern people like ourselves, the title is often used as if it is the surname of Jesus. In the New Testament times, the title “Christ” was designated to the person who would fulfill all things good and necessary for abundant life. The “Christ” is the final and perfect answer to the deepest need of all humanity. After the appearance of the Christ, there was no more waiting for anyone or anything else.

Abundant Life is one thing Jesus promised to humanity. The problem is that we often have confusing ideas of what it means to have abundant life. Each generation has its fair share of confusion in this matter. Today many think abundant life has to do with material wealth. Consequently we believe that certain ideologies which we hold onto would give us abundant life. It doesn’t matter if this ideology is on the left or right, the objective is the same; material wealth. In the pursuit of this material wealth, Jesus had very little offer to us. He lived as a poor person, He came into Jerusalem as a poor person. He died as someone who had no resources to bribe and sway the opinion of the masses. In other words, He died as a poor person. Jesus has very little to offer to a world which is obsessed with material possession. If He was here today in person promising abundant life to this world, He mostly likely would be rejected if He was lucky. It is very probable that He would face the same fate as He did two thousand years ago. The abundant Life that Jesus offers still does not appeal to the vast majority of the people today.

It does not mean that Jesus is not given an important role in our lives today. We want Jesus to give us good feelings and a sense of spiritual security. However, we won’t see Him as the Christ until we accept the abundant Life that He offers us. It does not mean that we are worse than the people who welcomed Jesus in the gospel. It means that we are just like them. They recognized something powerful and special in the person of Jesus. They recognized in Him that there was genuine life. Unfortunately, they had different priorities from that of the Christ. These priorities took over their hearts and minds. The story of Palm Sunday ends in a tragic manner where the people who cried, “Hosanna to the King” ended up shouting “Crucify Him!” This is the tragic story of humanity. This is our story.

I am sure not any of us today participating in the liturgies of the Holy Week would deliberately put Jesus on the Cross. The fact is that no one who welcomed Jesus in Jerusalem thought the same. They were genuinely happy to welcome Jesus. It wasn’t just an emotional event. There was a genuine response to the prompting they sensed in their souls. It was a true religious experience for the people. However, religious experiences are not enough to transform us into good and saintly people. In fact, the most dangerous people in the world are religious people. I am not talking about fanatics. I am talking about people allow themselves to be convinced that sometimes “evil” is necessary in order to have so-called good things. The people who put Jesus on the Cross were religious people. They believed that they were doing something good. The idea for the phrase, “necessary evil” is even found in the gospels. The Pharisees said it in order to convince people of the necessity of murdering our Lord;

“You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” John 11:50

This argument of “necessary evil” still flourishes today in Christianity. It reveals to us that many in the church do not believe in the sufficiency of the life of Jesus. They believe that Jesus still needs help from our earthly wisdom. Even worse, they believe that Jesus needs the help of “necessary evil” to accomplish good in this world. This is an idea that is completely incompatible with the gospel.

The bottom line is either we believe Jesus is the Christ, the complete fulfillment for abundant Life or we reject Him as such. There is no middle road.

Having religious sentiments or even a powerful religious experience does not mean we understand the person of Jesus. It doesn’t mean we are good people. We still need to make a conscious decision. This is not a one time deal. If it was, then Jesus would not have been crucified. The people who courageously welcomed Him would have stood up for Him. We know that this wasn’t the case. They failed to recognize that He is Christ. They were holding onto the idea of what a King should. They were holding on to their idea of what abundant life meant. They could not fit Jesus into their old ideas. Instead of changing their mindset, they crucified Jesus. Jesus warned us,

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. Luke 5:37-38

Every year during Holy Week, we are challenged with the true image of Jesus. We are confronted with the Christ who broke bread with the very friend who would betray Him. He withstood insults and physical injuries without raising a finger to retaliate. He forgave unconditionally those who hurled words of hatred at Him. He showed us what it means to be a truly good person. This is the Christ of the gospel. This is the very Christ who overcame death. This Christ showed us that we can overcome this world with all it miseries and sufferings to have abundant Life. He promised us abundant Life. However, it is not a Life free from pain and suffering. It is not a Life of luxury. It is Life that this world can never offer us. It is Life that we can only discover when we are willing to give our hearts and soul to the Crucified Messiah. It is a Life which will transform us into agents of Life to those around us. This is a promise our Lord made;

“Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” John 4:14

Have a Blessed Holy Week!