Sunday Reading

English: Icon of Jesus Christ — Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The rulers sneered at Jesus and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.”

Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.” Above him there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews.”

Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.”

The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Commentary:

Today’s reading underscores the Christian belief that Jesus is not the king of this world but the king of heaven. As such, we can’t expect him to solve all our worldly problems or help us get everything we want in this earthly life. With all due respect to all seekers, my feeling is that many people reject Jesus as the Messiah because they believe the Messiah should be some kind of political leader.

This certainly is how it was back in Jesus’ day. The people wanted a Messiah who would deliver them from the occupying Romans. When Jesus didn’t deliver – not in that way, anyhow – they just couldn’t wrap their heads around the idea that the Messiah was far greater than that. The Messiah was to deliver anyone, that is, anyone, to the kingdom of heaven. So instead of a temporary worldly glory, believers could expect an everlasting glory, one far surpassing anything that could be experienced on earth.

But there was a price tag, as there is today. And sometimes it’s quite high. We have to really put God first and our worldly concerns second. This doesn’t mean that we should be passive or apathetic and not try to improve our lot and the world in general. Far from it. But it does mean that we shouldn’t put all our eggs in this worldly basket. We’ll end up disappointed if we do. For God is the source, the ultimate source of all this is good. So God can be with us as we try to change the world. But our efforts probably won’t be too effective if God is not behind us.

Just one example: Karl Marx. He didn’t believe in God but I imagine he really believed he was doing the right thing. And maybe some good has come out of his movement. But on the whole, communism didn’t happen as Marx envisioned it, and the entire movement has pretty well proved to be a huge flop!