We Crucify Him

What follows is an excerpt from a reflection posted at Practicing Intentional Gratitude. I found it a powerful reminder as we head into Palm Sunday and then various reflections and recollections of what followed. You can click on the link if you would like to read the rest.

We crucify Jesus when we act out of impatience or anger or fear, rather than acting in love. We crucify Jesus when we scorn the homeless man standing in front of the grocery store. We crucify Jesus when we seize and hoard, but refuse to care for those who have nothing. We crucify Jesus when we stand by as a crowd takes on an individual, physically or verbally, and we do nothing. We crucify Jesus when we ignore our elders in the hospital and nursing home. We crucify Jesus when we put people to death, when we revile and condemn anyone. We crucify Jesus when we shut people out of our lives. Jesus told us that when we take care of others, we are taking care of him; when we reject others, we reject him. Every act of rejection, every act of not-love, every time we turn a blind eye, we stand with the mob shouting, Crucify him! Crucify him!

It doesn’t feel good to confront this in ourselves, does it? This isn’t happy stuff, like consider the lilies or blessed are the peacemakers. This is the real thing; this is earthy; this is human. And at the same time, there is another side to the real thing. Because Jesus did not end on the cross. His body died, but Jesus lived on. We know the rest of the story; we know what’s waiting for us on Easter. We still have Holy Week to slog through — the gritty, dirty, awful realness of Jesus’ last days as a human with us — but we know that on the other side, there is redemption.

Beginning tomorrow I will share some music and poetry as we go through Holy Week. It is really for me--sort of a way to process my own thoughts and feelings, but, as always, you are welcome to join me on the road as I seek wisdom, music, story, and a prayer for the journey.