This Sunday is a day of stark contrasts – the joyful proclamation of the Lord and the anticipation of His kingdom, yet the knowledge that before five more days have passed, He will be cursed, maligned, tortured, and hanged on a cross.
He is hailed as Lord and King, yet He rides a colt; He has garments and leafy branches spread before Him, yet His own garments will soon be torn from His suffering body and divided among His captors.
Palm Sunday gives rise to deep reflection as we contemplate our own relationships with Christ, the realisation that in many ways, we are like the crowds who shouted ‘Hosanna!’, yet who turn our backs against Him and choose to offend Him as the occasion suits us.
We wonder at the two-facedness of the crowds and cannot comprehend the glee that many showed openly as He was cruelly whipped and spat upon. We condemn them for what they did to the innocent Son of the Living God but push from our minds the uneasy thought that, but for the historical timing, we too might have been shouting and jeering.
It is not a thought that we want to entertain, but it is a reality that as fickle human beings with our own agendas, we might well have been among those who chose the release of the criminal Barabbas and called for the crucifixion of the Saviour.
In our own land, we are suffering from the evil deeds of men and women who choose to inflict pain and death on others, regardless of the consequences to those who mourn and on the innocent children left to find a way in the chaos of their lives.
The Harpe Place carnage shocked the nation because of the brazenness and unexpectedness of the violence that took the lives of the five men who were killed there.
It was, however, not the only instance of the “… evil that is now widespread as a ‘gun culture’ in Trinidad and Tobago,” as the Prime Minister described it. He condemned the “ever-increasing total wanton disregard for human life” that saw six more people murdered that weekend in several other parts of Trinidad.
These sensational killings are currently in the public eye, but we are all aware of the home-invasions, the vulnerability of our women who are attacked in their homes and in public spaces, the cruelty visited upon the heads of our children who are trapped by circumstances–and by the evil of others.
We fear for our lives on the roads because of the ever-increasing instances of lawless driving and the road rage that is becoming more the norm than the exception.
As we enter Holy Week and anticipate the glory of the Resurrection, we should find ourselves drawn ever closer to the suffering Christ. We need to examine ourselves and to plead with Him to help us to carry our own individual crosses, which we often wish to reject. We must place our nation in His hands as we deliberately turn our backs on the insidious evil that is trying to destroy us.
The Day of the Resurrection is close at hand. Christ’s triumph over sin and death is our assurance that, placing our faith and our lives in Him, we too shall triumph over the challenges that we face and shall one day be united with Him in the glory that is promised to us.