I don’t really know if the man who cured hundreds of men and women of their ailments and illnesses, ever stopped to ‘give’ during the three years of his ‘public’ life! He had told his disciples in such unequivocal punch, ‘without cost you have received; without cost you are to give’ (Mt 10:8). His hands should have been quite tired of giving – food to nourish their bodies, living waters to wash away their ailments, healing for their souls! But here is an occasion for him to stop giving and receive from the very people who flocked to him unendingly only to receive what he could offer unconditionally. Here is a reversal of roles in the life of the man who changed many a life!
It is time for the Savior to receive what the people were to offer him! This is not something that you expect to receive after the innumerable good that you have done! How ungrateful the crowds can be, and how so very wicked! Have they forgotten the many good things he had done, the transformation he had brought in their lives, social, cultural and religious spheres? Have they ever come across a person who never stopped to give himself like this man, who had no riches or wealth, no home to claim his own (remember his personal declaration : Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head – Mt 8:20), and yet had all the riches that the world can imagine.
He has not yet exhausted all that he could give to the world, the people who know how to suck him out of all that they can get. He is keeping something for the last moment, his own life; that is the only thing that is left in him! He is ready to receive now, the bitter pill of the Cross! But wait a minute! Is the Cross imposed on his shoulders or is he willingly embracing it? It is improbable that he is forced to take up the cross – he had been waiting for this moment, and he had known what was in store for him even before he stepped into this world! The moment of his glory is just to begin, and that would unfold through the mystery of the Cross.
You have given us enough, and now is time for you to receive from us what we have to offer to you, as a sign of our gratitude and appreciation to you! The whisper of the hundreds of men and women who stood around Pilate to see the fun was deafening to the lonely man, standing as if he was the worst criminal, and he does not hesitate even for a second to accept the Cross. But it is not that easy for me to accept what I am forced to accept, especially if what I am offered is not palatable to my taste! I want what is according to my taste; what is good for me here and now; I cannot accept any pain or suffering for the faults I had not committed. I will fight tooth and nail to refuse the ‘cross’ that I am compelled to accept. I cannot allow myself to be taken for granted.
There is a ferocious rebel in me, who always seeks what will be to my advantage, what would do good to my comforts, future, personal interest and taste; I do not care for what happens to others; that is not my concern, all that I care for is my own interest. I cannot blindly accept whatever the people around me impose on me, especially when I know for sure that I am unjustly implicated in matters and issues I am not part of. How often do I see the Cross kept at my arm’s length; if I stretch my hand, I can touch it, and yet I dare not accept it! Let it rot there, I mutter! At the secret of my heart, I giggle, how many crosses have I managed to escape all these years!
His words still ring in my ears : If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Lk 9:23). But how hard it is to accept the blame and punishment for the mistakes and faults I have not committed! There are hundreds of people waiting outside my room to offer crosses, and I can find hardly anyone who like the Nazarene would willingly accept the bitter pills, which will bring healing to the ailing humanity. I look at the barren cross, the symbol of shame and humiliation, whose every atom is laden with pain and suffering; the cross today beckons me accept it, if I want life, life in its fullness! The one who willingly embraced the cross is there at my side, and I stretch out my hands to embrace it today!
I know it is not that easy for me to even think that I would one day embrace the cross of suffering, of humiliation! Maybe I am not as motivated as you were, and my intentions are not as pure as yours, in order for me to accept the cross. I cannot think of accepting it willingly, and here I am to accept it because that is what you have taught me, and are inviting me to do! This is the least that I can do for all that you had given me; you had given me until it hurt you, and today accepting this cross is not going to hurt my spirit to the least! It may hurt my body, and it may also leave an indelible mark on my mind, but it cannot touch my spirit, because the power of the helplessness and powerlessness which flow from you, is my strength, my comfort!
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