April 6, 2007 Good Friday – Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion (C) - Red
First Reading: Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 31 "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit."
Second Reading: Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
Gospel: John 18:1 – 19:42
The Greatest Betrayal and Denial the World has ever seen
“He was spurned and avoided by people, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom people hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.”
The Passion of the Christ, released three years ago by acclaimed director Mel Gibson, gives a vivid and striking narration of the last twelve hours of Jesus before his death on the cross. Today, Good Friday, we once again commemorate the last twelve hours of our Lord. But now, we focus our reflection on the two acts that led to the cross – two acts that pierced the heart of Jesus.
The film opens at the Garden of Gethsemane, when Christ, like any human being, agonized over the coming events and prayed for strength and conviction. However, the more poignant event happens. Judas the Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, enters and kisses his master on the cheek – a sign of selling his Lord and Master to the world. More agonizing to Jesus are his words, “See, my betrayer is here,” (Mk14:42), alluding to one of his closest collaborators. Hence, the hardest to Jesus’ heart is the fact that his disciple betrayed him and sold him “like a slave.” There is no corporal torture that happened here to Jesus but there is this emotional torture that took place. This betrayal will lead to a more serious set of events that will eventually lead to the cross.
Another striking sequence but not given much importance in the film is Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus Christ. We know and see that after the arrest of Jesus by the Jewish guards, the apostles fled away except for Peter who followed the procession of Jesus towards the city. While Jesus was being tried in mockery, Peter stayed outside of the high priest’s palace. Three times, Peter was asked if he was with or knows Jesus. He said no. Peter denied his master three times. Peter, who was “the closest to Jesus”, denied him. What a painful thing to know that you were denied by your closest collaborator. Once again, there was no corporal torture that took place. It was the emotional torture that spoke loudly and struck Jesus the most. This denial would leave Jesus alone to suffer, after what he did for his disciples.
Betrayal and denial – two acts that led to the cross. These two acts led to his eventual suffering and death. The suffering of Jesus physically was intense. But what was more intense was the fact that Jesus was tortured, Jesus’ heart was pierced by two of his closest collaborators. These two acts were the most painful to Jesus during his passion.
The question is now posed on us – Are we going to betray and deny Jesus just as his disciples did? Are we going to leave Jesus to suffer alone? This is what Good Friday is about – challenging us to become better disciples of Christ, being with Christ on his way to Calvary, helping him carry his cross.
- E.J. Segovia
March 26, 2007
during the Spiritual Exercises for Holy Week 2007
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