Have We Forgotten What Christ Did on the Cross?

There comes a time when the ability to accept reality, or even more, the truth about a subject, becomes too unbearable to some because it means their position is incorrect. They will ultimately have to concede the point. The anatomy of this process is where we either encounter the exercise of humility or hubris, and in the case of hubris, potential anger or worse, hatred. This example is found quite often within sacred Scripture and becomes more vivid in Jesus’ interaction with Jewish leaders after Jesus’ miracles.

The backdrop of this interaction is carefully presented by St. John in his Gospel on the feast of the dedication of Jerusalem during the winter season, which in many respects is ominous of how the Jewish leaders felt about Christ.  As Jesus walked within the temple, specifically in the portico of Solomon, the Jewish leaders could not hold their contempt of Jesus and asked him if he was the Christ by demanding to “tell us plainly.”[1] The nature of the question reveals the Jewish leader's unwillingness to acknowledge the Son of God and the miracles he had performed. Jesus’ response to their demand is blunt and direct,

I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness to me; but you do not believe. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. [2]

Jesus’ response is very appropriate as the line of questioning was both disrespectful and antagonistic. Even though the remarks and actions of Jesus were quite public, it was not enough to squelch the hatred the Jewish leaders had against Jesus. The description of Jesus as the Good Shepherd reflects both the Good Shepherd discourse in chapter ten, but also serves as a preface to his entrance into Jerusalem, advocating and proclaiming repentance and forgiveness of sins as a Good Spiritual Shepherd would. Jesus reminds us that if we hear his voice and follow him, he will give us eternal life and thus never perish in the calamity of sin. He reinforces this point by beautifully describing the intimacy of his relationship with God the Father, revealing the Trinitarian relationship between the Father and the Son.

The significance of this entire narrative is the Jews' unwillingness to assent, affirm, and faithfully confirm to the will of the Father through Christ the Son. Regardless of everything that had been said or performed by Christ, it was not enough to convince the obstinacy of Jewish leadership. Even more, the death and raising of Lazarus in the following chapters simply enraged the leaders to the point of plotting to kill both Jesus and Lazarus. The raising of Lazarus had caused an emotional ruckus amongst the people who now were expecting greater things from the Messiah, as the newly anointed King of Israel, or more appropriately, but not on the minds of the people, Christ the King, which most certainly would have enraged the entire Jewish authority.

We are reminded that the entry into Jerusalem serves as Jesus’ proclamation and foreshadowing of his death and resurrection. The celebratory nature expressed by the people in Jerusalem will be the complete opposite when they implore Pilate to crucify Jesus. The question throughout this entire narrative is how could both the Jews and Gentiles forget, and or worse, deliberately ignore what Christ had done, especially the raising of Lazarus? The revelation of the human condition at its worst is revealed through this narrative because it demonstrates the frailty of human behavior, which, when absent from God, chooses to reject a relationship with Him. Even worse than a rejection, the desire to destroy God by killing His Son.  

The behaviors of the inhabitants of Jerusalem provided a clear example of the destructive force that is sin and its deepest longing to offend and reject God’s love for us. Every time we as human beings knowingly choose with full consent to engage in sinful behavior, we deny what Christ did on the Cross. Sin both impedes and encourages us to seek a perverted experience of love that is not sacrificial in nature. A characteristic of sin is the encouragement to place ourselves above God, even to the point of contempt toward him. The reality of the battle between good and evil can be summed up in the premise of the Cross: either we accept the reality of who Jesus Christ is and embrace his self-sacrificial offering for the salvation of humanity, or we reject it in its entirety. There is no in-between.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting St. John Paul II in Catechesis Tradendae, reminds us that,

The whole of Christ’s life was a continual teaching; his silences, his miracles, his gestures, his prayer, his love for people, his special affection for the little and the poor, his acceptance of the total sacrifice on the Cross for the redemption of the world, and his Resurrection ate the actualization of his word and the fulfillment of Revelation.[3]

The nature of our identity as children of God is predicated on the intended image God had envisioned for us on earth, created in his image and likeness out of pure love, and the finality of our image/identity as disciples of Jesus Christ intended for us through his Son on the Cross. It is the image of the Son expressed through his life and death, and our willingness to freely accept his life and death, where we will be judged, which should bring pause the next time we choose to ignore or forget what Christ did for us on the Cross.