WERE YOU THERE?
It’s the day after Good Friday, and one can only imagine the lingering pain and remorse that Peter must be experiencing after his act of betrayal. I wonder what words escaped his lips when his master prophesied about these very events?
“Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” (Matthew 26:35) And yet. . .
Iscariot took it a little too hard. Like Peter, he too had betrayed his Lord, but for thirty pieces of silver too many. Had greed seeped into his heart? “Oh, Jesus what have I done?” The money man could not bear the weight of his guilt and had taken his life to cut ‘things’ short. But was that the way to go?
The crowd’s chant echoed through the air, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Their thirst for blood, innocent blood, filled the atmosphere. Yet, little did they know, it was all part of a greater plan. As the night fell, a man pondered in his sleep, questioning why he had allowed himself to be deceived by the Pharisees. The universe seemed to react to the tragedy, with tectonic shifts and an enigmatic eclipse that left him bewildered. “Who was this man?” he wondered. And just like that, it was over, done and irreversible. But was it?
Pilate may have tried to absolve himself of any guilt in Christ’s crucifixion, but deep down, the weight of condemning an innocent man to death must have haunted him. What actions could he have taken to change the outcome? What had led him to make such a decision? Yet, can we really fault him for his choices?
Herod was probably pondering, “What made him think he could be King? King of the Jews, really!” finding it quite entertaining that the Rabbi had succumbed to such ironic delusions.
But in the midst of everything, where were you? Did you play an active role in the unfolding tragedy of yesterday? As Shai Linne so eloquently expresses in his song “Were you there?”, we fail to grasp the essence of Christ’s crucifixion if we fail to recognize ourselves among the crowd… Let’s ponder upon more poignant lyrics from the song:
We see disciples sleep and mock today with a lot to say But we do the same thing when we don't watch and pray Like Judas, we sell Christ out to get the treasure Whether it's the cheddar or forbidden pleasure Like the chief priests, we want Christ to surrender But we want Him out the way when He doesn't fit our agenda Like Peter, we have misplaced, fleshly confidence But we'll deny the Lord when faced with deadly consequence Like Herod, we're curious about Christ because He's famous But we quickly get bored with Him when He doesn't entertain us Like Pilate, we see Christ and find nothing wrong with Him But when the world chooses the wicked, we go right along with them Despite His kindness, we seek to do our Maker violence The fallenness of humanity at its finest So now He stands before the crowd doomed to die An angry mob who's yelling out 'crucify' The way they treat the Lord of glory is debased and it's foul But you miss the point if you don't see your face in the crowd
Were you there?
Listen to ‘Were you there?’ by Shai Linne line here.
John A. Turkson
‘Still the kid awestruck by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Apparently, he loved me that much!’
