When we read a story or watch a movie, we can often relate to certain characters because of their behavior or mindset. Great stories evoke the deepest human emotions, desires, and flaws. They push us to consider who we are and how we are being called to grow into who we were created to be.
When it comes to the players inside of the historical events surrounding Jesus’s suffering and death: who can are you right now?
This was the question posed to the congregation a few years ago by a priest during the Palm Sunday homily. As he went through the details and mindframe of several characters in the account, it truly came alive for me. I finally realized that we read the entire Passion Narrative because it is a forever true story about the human condition.
That priest, years ago, highlighted some key figures and called us all to reflect on how we act like them at different times in our lives.
Peter, Judas, Pilate, the soldiers, John, and Mary: these are the main players in the true story behind Jesus’ last day on earth. They each offer us a blueprint for how not to and how we ought to approach Jesus.
Peter is the leader of the inner circle of Jesus’ followers. He vows that he would die rather than deny the Lord. Even though Jesus told him what he would do, and even though he promised he wouldn’t – he still turned against Christ in a serious manner (Luke 22:33-34).
What are the sins that we choose even though we know that Jesus and the church have definitively spoken against them? These are the decisions that we make, turning a blind eye to the clear desire of God for our heart and soul. Even those who have a serious prayer life and a deep desire to follow Jesus can fall in this way. This is the lesson of Peter. We must never convince ourselves that we are beyond sin. We are all in need of vigilance against temptation and dependent on Jesus for strength in temptation.
Then there is Judas. We can never know the exact mindframe of Judas when he decides to betray Jesus based on the facts, however, we do know that money was a part of it. Judas was in charge of the money for the Apostles. In return for handing Jesus over, he was given 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15). The priest in this homily challenged us to consider how we tend to choose money or possessions over a love for Jesus. Even those who are not extremely wealthy can have an unhealthy desire for riches that can extinguish their service of God.
Pilate is an interesting character in the story. He seems to respect Jesus, even though he cannot exactly figure out who he is or what he is about. He knows that something is different about him. However, fear of the crowd and fear of losing his authority push him to condemn the most innocent man. He washes his hands (Matthew 27:24), but the blood truly is on him. Do we ever tend to give in to the pressure around us? Does worrying about what others might think of us at work or in our families incline us to not be vocal about the truth of Christ and his Church? We cannot wash our hands of the responsibility to proclaim Jesus as God, no matter the cost.
The soldiers brutally whip, mock, and beat Jesus on his way to Golgotha. They seem to be numb to the torture they inflict upon the king of kings. What people are we numb to? What sins are we numb to? The soldiers brutally whip, mock, and beat Jesus on his way to Golgotha. The soldiers are crude, but we all have that inside of us. The passion narrative urges us to allow Jesus to wipe that part of our hearts clean.
Finally, we have Mary and John. They remain with Jesus until his last breath. John would’ve been a teenager. His youth does not make him scared of being seen with this criminal. Unlike the other apostles who fled and ran from Jesus, John stays until the end. Are we willing to remain with Jesus no matter what it takes?
For Mary, this was her son she was watching die. She knew his true identity, and she loved him more than anyone has ever loved him. If we desire to truly see the power of the cross, we must ask Mary to give us her eyes on Good Friday. That will allow us to see that, while we are all flawed, like the many characters in the passion narrative, her son died so that we could be raised out of our sin and reach the heights of heavenly holiness.
The entire passion narrative, and all the characters involved, should help us grow in self-awareness and sinfulness and cling to the One who conquered sin and death. So, what character are you? We may see ourselves in all of them. May the Holy Spirit reveal to us the character traits we need to attend to this Triduum.
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Image: What is Truth by Nikolai Ge, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
