WHEN THE HAND OF DEATH COMES!

Friday, April 08, 2011

Lenten Weekday

By Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.

John 7: 1 - 2, 10, 25 - 30

1          After this Jesus went about in Galilee; he would not go about in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him.

2          Now the Jews' feast of Tabernacles was at hand.

10        But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.

25        Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, "Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?

26        And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?

27        Yet we know where this man comes from; and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from."

28        So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, "You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord; he who sent me is true, and him you do not know.

29        I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me."

30        So they sought to arrest him; but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:

A BLESSED FRIDAY TO ALL!

DEATH is one of the most certain and inevitable to happen to any one. No one can escape death. But the mere thought of it to happen at any time and at any place makes one trembles. There is some thing in death that makes one to be afraid of death. At the least, it is the UNCERTAINTY of what lies ahead makes one to be anxious and terrifies with death. For the passion for LIFE and the opportunity to enjoy and make the most of it, we do everything that could make us not to hasten the coming of death upon us. Yet there are those who sought for it. There are those who chose death with full intent than life.

In Gospel today, we are confronted again with an account how the life of Jesus is in imminent and present danger. Jesus knew about it all along. That is why he sidestepped Judea from Galilee to avoid people who sought to kill him. But still Jesus tried to catch up with his brothers only that he took his way privately. Is Jesus AFRAID for his life? Is Jesus AVOIDING DEATH? No! People were in fact surprised seeing Jesus teaching in public. They commented saying, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him!”  Jesus knew very well what his mission would entail, even the giving up of his life. He did not avoid people who had evil intention against him for fear to die. He avoided because it is NOT YET the time for him to face death. And so the Gospel today ended by saying, “So they sought to arrest him; but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.”

Our Lenten reflections always have its focus on the DEATH of Jesus! In fact, reports, may it be on radio, newspapers and television, have started to highlight the preparations of those who annually subjected themselves to be crucified during the Holy Week. This kind of “panata” or pious devotional practice is a witness how our Lenten celebrations put a stress on the death of Jesus. But what can we learn from Jesus as to his attitude towards death?

Jesus never sought death. He came to BRING LIFE, life to its FULLEST. Jesus never sought PHYSICAL PAIN but WELL-BEING. He never sought to be tortured, to be crowned with thorns and be crucified. Jesus did not come to die. His death was inevitable as to the death to any of us. Jesus knew very well that he will die. But he never made it to happen. He even avoided it to happen, because his concern is not death itself but the REASON why it will happen and has to happen. And so when it was not yet his time to face death, because the reason for it has not yet come, he avoided death. Jesus did NOT submit or succumb himself HELPLESSLY to a MEANINGLESS DEATH. Jesus embraced the inevitable death, but a PURPOSIVE and MEANIGFUL DEATH that is LIFE-GIVING! TRUE LIFE begins on the CROSS of Jesus.

As we continue on our Lenten journey, the Gospel today invites us to live life that gives MEANING and a PURPOSIVE character to our death. Like Jesus, we have to live accomplishing what God wants us to accomplish so that if death will knock at our door we will not longer be scared or anxious for its coming. If we have lived, and tried hard despite our lapses and shortcomings, according to God’s will we will also share in Jesus’ glory in his resurrection. As each moment in our lives leading us closer to death, Jesus is calling us to always stand for what is RIGHT, even if it leads us to encounter opposition, so that we can be ready all the time when the HOUR of DEATH comes.