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Christ’s death for our life (Jn 18:1-19:42)
Not out of duty, but out of love for God, let us pause at the foot of the cross.

King Milinda should have summoned a priest and asked, “Are you saying that a man who has committed various sins for a hundred years and asks God for forgiveness before he dies will be saved? And the one who commits only one sin and does not repent will end up in hell? Is that fair? Are a hundred crimes less than one?” The old priest replied: “If I take a small stone in my hands and place it on the lake’s surface, will it sink or stay afloat?” “It will sink!” “And if I take a hundred large stones and put them on a boat and it goes out on the lake, will it sink or stay afloat?” “It won’t sink, and it will float.” “Then are a hundred stones and a boat lighter than one pebble?” The king did not know what to answer. The priest explained, “The same is true of men and Christ. Even a man who has committed many sins, when he is converted, cannot go to hell. On the contrary, a person who commits only one sin but does not ask God for forgiveness and mercy will be damned.” (B. Ferrero, More Stories for the Soul’s Delight, p. 68)

Today we stand at the foot of the cross; what a variety of thoughts flashes through our minds! For example: was it possible for Christ to have escaped death on the cross? Surely yes. With God, nothing is impossible. Why, then, did Christ die? Was there no other way, more reasonable, more convenient, or more accessible, to achieve the same goal of reconciling God to man? But Christ did not take the most affordable, the most suitable, or the most straightforward way, but the most beautiful way, the way of love. Does God perhaps have a liking for suffering? If he did, our lives would look very different. But God is not afraid of hell because suffering brings joy and benefit. What is the forgiveness of sins? Certainly not in the crucifixion and death of Christ. The greatness of His pain does not determine the forgiveness of our sins. God alone decides the terms, manner, and measure of forgiveness. If God had wanted to, He could have forgiven without the crucifixion of Christ.
Good Friday is a memento for us as believers when we remember the meaning of Christ’s crucifixion. God wants to tell us today, not just to say to us, but to show us clearly in himself, that our lives, though they may often seem meaningless, have a deep meaning and are worth living even when we find ourselves at rock bottom.

And we are reminded of this memento in many of the familiar words of today’s Gospel, especially the words, “It is finished” (Jn 19:30).

Today, more than at any other time of the year, we think of the cross’s mystery. Many of us find the answer to the questions of our salvation in the sight of the Crucified One. It was not God the Father who crucified Christ, but we humans who have not received the good news of the Gospel. God’s love for us humans is put to its most severe test on the cross. To love a sinner is to risk rejection, betrayal, and violent removal. God has stood this test, and the man, Jesus of Nazareth, will stand it too. The cross reveals both the true nature of sin and the victory of God’s faithfulness and love. God is not pleased with pain, but love is more vital than sin and the pain this evil causes the loving person. Christ did not redeem us by His pain but by the passion with which He willingly endured the deepest humiliation and the most terrible pain. But on the other hand, without this pain and shame, we would never have experienced the breathtaking depth of God’s love in its fullness. Today, we know that sin would not have been defeated without Christ’s death on the cross. It is not only forgiveness but also the inner reformation of the sin-disturbed person. The Lord Jesus is a God-made-man; he is not only the representative of God before men, for He is also the representative of men before God. He is not only God who gives Himself to man; he is also a man who gives Himself perfectly and unconditionally to God. This human self-giving is accomplished in a supreme and unsurpassable way at the hour of death on the cross. All our self-giving to God is but a share in the perfect self-giving of the Lord Jesus of Nazareth to God.

Beneath the cross today, we realize that it is not by our strength that we have access to God, but thanks to the crucified Christ who brings us to the Father. We remind ourselves that our salvation also depends on us, and we are obliged to cooperate with the Crucified One. Today, more than on other days of the year, we realize that Christ has given new meaning to human suffering, hardship, sorrow, sickness, humiliation, and death. Therefore, we look at these values not as a punishment but as a path that leads us to the Father as we leave the abyss of guilt and alienation. The way is open; it is up to us whether we freely and willingly embark on this path and persevere.

The liturgy we celebrate today will allow us to experience more deeply the love of the Crucified One for us and thus to pay due homage today to the crucified Christ who was crucified for us, who for the love of us endured the sweating of blood, the humiliating captivity, the interrogations, the scourging, the flogging, the crown of thorns, the journey with the cross to Golgotha, and finally the death on the cross. We want to give thanks, forgive and ask. Our adoration of the cross is a moment of grace in our lives. The cross is the sign of our salvation. It is right and desirable of us to bow our knees before the cross and even more so to give Christ the place in our hearts that is rightfully his. We ask for the gift of love to love our God and Lord more. Thomas Merton says that “only the man who has faced despair is truly convinced that he needs mercy.” The cross leads us to God. Indeed, only at the foot of the cross can we find God. The cross is an excellent souvenir for man because it is under the cross that man finds the answer to the questions of life that can only be found under the cross. Under the cross, man can first experience words: “…thy will be done”. Under the cross, man first learns to take up his cross and go on with life. Let us remember these and other events in our salvation history, the needs of our lives when we hear the words: “Behold the wood of the cross on which the Savior of the world died!” And let our response be genuine and convincing: “Come, let us worship!”
It is up to us to give Christ what we are obliged to provide. For it is our salvation that is at stake. We decide for ourselves our salvation, our eternal life in the kingdom of God, and our freedom.

On the day of his wedding, the prince and his entourage walked through the city. The people greeted them joyfully as they were surprised to see the gallows outside the city walls. The executioner was about to perform his task when the princess burst into tears. The prince asked the judge if he could give the condemned a pardon. The judge said that only if the cursed redeemed himself with the price of a thousand ducats. It was a considerable sum of money. Where to take so much? The prince opened his purse and emptied it. There were only eight hundred ducats in it. The princess had given all she had, and there were still one hundred and fifty missing. The judge stood his ground that a pardon was only possible for an equal thousand. The people, at the princess’s appeal, made a collection. They already had nine hundred and ninety-nine ducats. Only one ducat was missing. No one had the last one. “Will this man be executed just because one ducat is missing?” The princess asked. “That is the law,” said the judge and ordered the executioner to carry out the execution. Then the princess exclaimed: “Search the pockets of the condemned man. Perhaps he will have the ducat.” The executioner did so. And indeed, in the pocket of the condemned man, he found the missing ducat. It was the one that was missing to save his life.
Today on Good Friday, we realize that Christ did everything for our salvation. The Church helps us by her means. Others pray and plead for us. And are we to stand by? We need to do everything ourselves for our salvation. Let us work; let us sanctify ourselves to obtain the necessary ducats for our salvation.
God’s love is great. Jesus redeemed us without us, but He cannot save us without us. We are obligated to do what we have to do for our salvation. God forgives our sins, but we must ask for God’s mercy. God’s love can forgive us of many sins when we renounce every sin. And that is why today we remember this reality before Christ was crucified.

The Liturgy of Holy Thursday is not just about memories.
Jesus is alive. We believe and confess that not only in the Word of God but also in the Eucharist and the sacrament of the priesthood, Jesus shows us his love in a tangible way. Jesus desires that we show love to one another, and then Jesus lives and acts in us too.

When Jesus washed the feet of the apostles and Peter, John wrote about it: “I have given you an example that you also should do as I have done to you.” (Jn. 13:15).

On that evening, Jesus knows that his hour has come to depart from this world to the Father, and because he loved his own, “loved them to the uttermost” (Jn. 13:1), he does so and does what man would never think of doing. Jesus acts to the exhaustion of his divine and human capacities. In humility, Jesus’ divine greatness becomes visible. He not only washed the disciples’ feet but his crucifixion, his death on the cross; Jesus wanted to make present through the apostles and their successors, the priests, to all men until the end of time.
Jesus must go, but he will remain just the same. Jesus has chosen to undertake what will be both a mystery and a gift. The miracle that Jesus performs at the Last Supper is something unheard of: it is the sacraments of the priesthood and the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, under the species of bread and wine, Jesus remains as God among those who believe in his divinity. God Himself chose to make this gift to humanity. At the Last Supper, Jesus takes the bread in his hands, blesses it, and with an almighty gesture of God, breaks it and gives it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat: this is my body” (Mt 26:26). Then He takes the cup of wine in His hands, gives thanks, and gives it to the disciples, saying, “Drink from it, all of you: this is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for all for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26:27-28). “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19).
What does it mean to give someone your body and your blood? It means giving yourself to him whole with all he is and all he has. In this way, Jesus gives himself to the disciples so that they may always have him among them and love him. When Jesus offers Himself in the forms of bread and wine, He gives Himself to humanity until the end of time. It is the giving of Jesus as a gift to humanity. The Church’s command to Jesus, “do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19), has accepted its duty and power to make Jesus Christ present under the species of bread and wine. It is not only the remembrance of the supper with the disciples, the remembrance of Maundy Thursday, but under these manners, Jesus is wholly present until the moment when the forms of bread and wine cease to exist. Thus, under the ways of bread and wine, Jesus is present as God and as a man. We are also reminded of this because some of our brethren understand this command of the Lord Jesus to mean that it is only a remembrance or that Jesus is present only for a time.
We realize the greatness of God’s love in the Eucharist that the Lord Jesus Christ wants to be present with us always, even in this way. Jesus loves all people. He wants to be near and available to every person. Whoever comes to the Eucharistic Christ comes to the natural and authentic Jesus Christ. So he is present everywhere on our altars. This is how each one of us can personally encounter Jesus. This does not detract from the fact that we do not see Jesus with our eyes as the God-man, as the people of Palestine saw him until his ascension, and as we will see him face to face when we meet him at the end of our lives. We accept Jesus under ways as true God. He, God and Lord, is with us with his election; it is his desire. Jesus wishes it for each one of us to receive him, approach him, and live with him in this way.

Tonight’s liturgy brings before us the miracle of love. A new era of God’s relationship with human beings began at the Last Supper. In his humility and simplicity, God entered into another relationship with human beings, which would last until the world’s end. The gift of the Eucharist is God himself. When the priest pronounces over the bread and wine the words that Jesus pronounced in the Upper Room, the manner of the bread and wine cause the real presence of Christ among us, we can receive him after due preparation.

The priest narrates such an event. A little boy was sitting in church with his family. The priest at catechesis asks him, “Who do you like best in the world?” The boy thought for a moment. At the time, Grandma and Grandpa were also in church and were good to the boy, though he would point to them. The boy’s parents thought he would tell them because they were his parents. And meanwhile, the boy, about three years old, surprised everyone when he said: “I like my dog best.” The priest asks in surprise, “You like your dog best?” – “Yes, very much. So much,” and the boy spread his hands. The priest pointed to the wooden cross on which the Lord Jesus was hanging and asked, “Do you love your dog as much as this man’s arms are outstretched?” – “Yes. That’s how much I love him,” said the boy. The priest continued, “Imagine I have a magic wand in my hand, and if you love your dog so much, I will turn you into a dog. You will play together, talk together, live together…” Hearing this, the boy looks around and whispers to the priest, “I don’t love him that much. I don’t want to be a dog.” – “I have a better idea,” the priest continued. “I’d better turn you into a big bone for the dog. Then you could go inside your friend to get to know him better.”

The boy looked around in fright and ran to his father in the pew. Then the priest looked at the people in the church and said: “This may seem funny to you, but God did give us His Son.” (Cf. McKenna, B.: Jesus is my Savior. 

Jesus became one of us. He lived among us as the son of Joseph, the carpenter, just like any other human being. We crucified him. But he loved us so much that he did not leave us alone. He did what we remember tonight. He gave himself to us in the Eucharist. Would any of us like to become a wafer…? And yet, the Son of God made Himself lowly, so He made Himself easily accessible to each of us.

Let us approach the Eucharist and take and eat with such a renewed heart. Let us accept and eat so that more and more, with love, faith, and hope, we may receive what Jesus and only Jesus can give. This is a work of love, hidden by man’s senses under the ways of the signs devised by the loving Heart of Jesus Christ, which gives us his wisdom. This is what the Church teaches and does today, which thus offers a bridge by which we can pass from historical to eternal life, from pilgrims on this earth to participants in the glorified Church in the Kingdom of Jesus. Today’s liturgy reinforces in us the hope of living according to the will of Jesus Christ, who loved us even to death, to the point that by his will, he is truly present among us.

Let us not be afraid of questions tonight, and let us joyfully embrace what the Church teaches and reminds us today. Let us rejoice and give thanks for the gifts of Jesus God that we commemorate today.

Whoever has experienced disappointment and betrayal in his life knows that it is a painful matter. Then a man may not feel the pain of the body, and he feels the pain of the soul, which is much heavier than the pain of the body. The betrayal of a friend, the betrayal of parents, a life partner, the betrayal of Christ, one’s faith, and one’s religion. Man commits treason that will never make him happy. We see this in the case of Judas. He goes from the Upper Room to the chief priests and says: “What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?” (Mt. 26:15).
His feet are perhaps not yet correctly dry, which Christ washed for him at the beginning of the supper like a servant; he still smells the paschal lamb and the bitter cabbage in his mouth, Christ’s words still ring in his ears: “I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” (Jn 13:15) and Judas comes to betray his Master. “Woe to the man who betrays the Son of Man.” (Mt. 26:24) is terrible. We understand their explanation, given by Christ Himself: it would have been better for such a man if he had not been born. Judas had no cause to complain about Jesus. Jesus had chosen him as His disciple, and He knew even then that Judas would betray Him. Jesus, however, leaves Judas with reason and free will. Jesus goes to Judas to make up his mind. And Judas, unable to control himself, takes on what was to be the end of Jesus’ mission and the fulfillment of his purpose here on earth, that Christ would die for our sins, thus redeeming us. But Judas does this, intoxicated by evil.

Jesus chose us to be his disciples too. He has called us friends. He often shows us his love. We see his actions and hear his words. Everything is full of love. But Christ does not pull us to him by force. He has also endowed us with reason and free will. Christ also knows about us and how we decide. But this decision is in our hands. We are left with freedom and sense. This will determine our eternal life or our damnation. As a solemn warning, the Gospel tells us: “Woe to the man who betrays the Son of Man!” (Mt. 26:24.) Profound words that must not let us sleep in our sin. For Judas, it was money that decided these words of Jesus; for us, it can also be money, status, career, comfort, selfishness, and so on.

But we must hear the word “woe”; we must recover, turn back, leave, take a different path, another way of life because otherwise, it will only end to our detriment. Let us realize that betrayal hurts a lot. And the more robust the love, the more the betrayal of love hurts. After all, Jesus loved us above all else.

When we equate Peter with Judas and seek the right path for ourselves because we are all weak, we are to adopt the attitude of Peter, who repented of his sin. Peter returns to Jesus and asks for forgiveness. Judas turns away from the mercy of Christ, despises Jesus, and wants to be alone even with his sin. That is despair, and we don’t want that. We need to realize the power of evil. This means that we must not be alone with our sin; we must go with it to Jesus and join with His mercy. Remember the repentant thief on the cross. This is an excellent testimony of the love of the Lord Jesus for us sinners at this time when we remember the passion and death of the Lord Jesus.

Yes, disappointments can be many and in many relationships. The worst and most dangerous can be our disappointment in Christ when, after sinning, we want to avoid finding our way back to His mercy.

In life, we are often faced with situations that have to be resolved quickly, and we have to decide. When we hesitate, we have much to lose and much to inconvenience ourselves and others. For example, a driver pauses, and the accident is unavoidable, even with tragic consequences. A technician can also hesitate – and cause millions of dollars of damage. Parents can hesitate – and their child does not meet Jesus. Every sin we commit is hesitation when we mishandle a situation.
There are two examples in the Gospel: Judas mishandled the situation, got influenced by the desire for money, betrayed Jesus, and when he saw what he had done, he hanged himself. Peter, the dashing apostle, willing to follow Jesus to Pilate’s courtyard, denies Jesus in front of the common maids. But when the rooster’s voice warns him that he has done wrong, he goes and atones for his betrayal with tears of remorse.

Two apostles from the same school of Jesus. Both faltered, and what different results! In the one case, death; in the other, forgiveness and life everlasting. What does this mean? The capture of Jesus and his death was a severe test for all the apostles. Judas didn’t think so much of betraying Jesus or didn’t think it through. He did not assume that there was such anger and hatred toward Jesus among the nation’s leaders. However, when he saw that Jesus was innocent and by his agency was condemned to death, even though he longed for the money, he felt that it didn’t make him happy; on the contrary, it burned him, so he returned to those from whom he received it to exchange it again for Jesus. The other party is not interested in Judas’ actions. Judas is put in a situation that suddenly changes his life. He became a traitor. He knew of Jesus’ innocence, he knew of his powerful teaching of love, and he learned of his love for sinners. He had been present at several events, but now he hesitated. Indeed the sin he was living had blocked his way to go to Jesus, even to the foot of the cross on Golgotha, and say: “Jesus, forgive me!” He has no strength. The power of sin and the evil into which he has fallen is more vital for him than the power of the love that Jesus wanted to give him.

Here we see that Jesus cannot save us without us. He created us without us, but He will not redeem us without us. Under the pressure of remorse, Judas acts unwisely and against Christ’s teaching of mercy. He goes and undertakes a cowardly act. He commits suicide. He commits treason upon himself. He did not give his life and had no right to take it. Peter’s action is the opposite. Even though Peter hesitated, he realized that Jesus loved him. He knew this from several encounters, most recently in Gethsemane, when he could not stand to be awake with Jesus in prayer. Peter, who had been given to fear by the servants, may not have even considered his offense for what it was. He did not admit that he was one of those who had lived with Christ for three years. However, there came a moment when Jesus was passing by, and the rooster crowed. Here Peter remembered the words of Christ, “Will you also lay down your life for me? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice.” (Jn. 13:38). The cock crows, and Peter realizes that he has denied Christ three times. He, the leader of the apostles, he who had found a place of honor in the eyes of Christ, he, Peter the Rock, had hesitated. Peter, however, does not think but acts. His weeping, his regret for the action he had just committed, is a sign that he loves Jesus. Peter has not fallen as low as Judas. Peter regrets his actions.

Two hesitations. Instructive for us, and only one of them is an example. We are weak even when we strut like Peter. We need to remember that when our faith costs us something in difficulty, our love for Christ shows through. It is not so evil to fall into sin as to remain in sin. Judas could not rise out of it. He did not believe in the forgiveness of Christ, which Christ would indeed have given him if he had come and asked. Christ never reproached Peter for his actions and betrayal, perhaps only reminding him when He asked him three times after His resurrection, “Simon, son of John, do you love me…?” (Jn. 21:15). And Peter, on the third answer, cries again, “Lord, thou sees tall things, thou knowest well that I love thee.” (Jn 21:17). And Peter, who has denied Christ, becomes the one who is to lead his fellow brothers. To Peter, Christ entrusts the primacy.

This means for us to always believe in Christ so that even in those moments when we falter when we commit a betrayal of Jesus and his love, we do not sink so low as to allow the thought that there is no forgiveness for us. After all, the Lord Jesus said in the parable of the Good Shepherd that there would be more joy in heaven over one who needs repentance than over ninety-nine righteous.

As we meditate on the Gospel, let us ask for strength even in moments of hesitation so that we may not lose the love of the Lord Jesus. Yes, we believe in forgiveness. We believe that if we remain faithful to Jesus, He will forgive us our trespasses. Let us be always like Peter, returning to Christ.

We call the week we are living Holy Week or Holy Week. We began it yesterday by remembering the entry of the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem when the jubilant crowd with palms in their hands cried out: Hosanna! Hosanna!” and greeted Jesus with enthusiasm. However, this crowd soon changed their minds and later cried out in Pilate’s courtyard: Death, crucify him!

The man quickly changes his mind. However, in this week’s lesson, we will see that Jesus said: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn. 15:13), and Jesus sacrificed His life for His enemies even more. Our sin, our weaknesses, and imperfections brought Jesus to the act of redeeming humanity. For this, we should thank Jesus. If it is so evident that we can say thank you for service rendered, how much more should it be true for our eternal salvation.

The actions of Mary, the sister of Lazarus, inspire us to do the same. Mary was grateful to Jesus for raising her brother Lazarus, and on one occasion, she took a pound of precious genuine nard ointment, smeared it on Jesus’ feet, and rubbed them with her hair. This was thanksgiving for Jesus’ love. We know that the cost of this ointment she used on Jesus’ feet was worth about a year’s wages for a laborer. Jesus quietly accepts her ministry, thus showing that he is pleased with Mary’s actions. But there is one of his disciples, Judas, the steward of the common treasury, who doesn’t like Mary’s actions, nor does he agree with Jesus about having this woman do it for him. Therefore he says: “Why did they not sell this oil for three hundred denarii and give it to the poor?” (Jn. 12:5). True, he did not say this because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, he was taking what everyone was putting into it from the common treasury.

Mary’s actions should lead us to thank Jesus within ourselves. We have much to give thanks for. We know our weaknesses, faults, mistakes, and falls. We should kneel at the feet of Jesus and, instead of the precious ointment that Mary used, place at the feet of Jesus our goodwill that we want to change our lives. At the same time, we should thank Jesus that he chose to do such a painful and essential act for us – freely and willingly giving himself to the torturers to wipe away our sins. Forgiveness and thanksgiving during this Lenten season are honorable and necessary for us.

Those who have rendered us friendly service in our daily lives, those who have helped us in our time of need, to them we are grateful, and so we thank them as best we can. We realize that we are weak and often fickle people. Therefore, all the more should we give thanks and supplicate. We may also be reminded of this thought by a simile of the preacher Johann Tauler, who points out vividly what human mistakes can be used for: a horse makes manure in the stable, and though it is clogging dirt, it has to be led with great effort out into the field, where the grain grows from the fertilized earth. It would not have happened if it had not been for the manure. Your manure is the defects you can neither remove nor put away – so carry them with toil into the field of God’s will in humility and meekness. No doubt a noble harvest will come from it.

This week, our place before the cross is on our knees… No one needs to be ashamed of this gesture; on the contrary, the more we love, the more this gesture means salvation and reward for us. We must not become a crowd that cries out: “Hosanna!” “Death, crucify him!” Our effort must be to walk consciously and willingly towards our goal: Christ, and in this Lenten season, to give thanks to Him like Mary, the sister of Lazarus, did.

Jesus,der sagte: Denn die Armen habt ihr allzeit bei euch, mich aber habt ihr nicht allezeit, sei mit euch.

Diese Woche wird Große oder Heilige Woche genannt, weil in ihr die größten Ereignisse stattfanden, durch die Jesus Christus das Erlösungswerk für die Menschheit vollbrachte. In der ersten Lesung aus dem Propheten Jesaja wird das erste Loblied auf den Gottesknecht gesungen. In vier solcher Lieder beschreibt der Prophet aus der Distanz von sechs Jahrhunderten fast minutiös den Dienst, das Leiden, den Tod und den Sieg des Gottesknechts. Es ist buchstäblich wie ein Foto von Jesus Christus, das besonders in dieser Woche Tag für Tag und dann Stunde für Stunde seine volle Form und Farbe annimmt.

Jesus, du ließest beim Gastmahl deine Füße salben. Herr, erbarme dich unser.

Du kanntest den Tag deines Todes und deines Begräbnisses. Christus, erbarme dich unser.

Du gingst den Weg des Todes zur Auferstehung. Herr, erbarme  dich unser.

Dieser erste Hymnus spricht von der Mission dieses Dieners Gottes. Er arbeitet unter der Führung des Geistes Gottes. In wenigen Zeilen wird das gesamte öffentliche Wirken Jesu umrissen, das sich durch seine Sanftmut, seine Liebe zu den Sündern und seine Befreiung von Leiden, insbesondere durch das Wirken von Wunderheilungen, auszeichnet. Der Höhepunkt dieser Werke war die Auferstehung des Lazarus, den er aus dem dunklen Kerker des Todes und des Grabes herausführte.

Auf dieses Ereignis folgt das Evangelium, in dem berichtet wird, was an diesem Tag, “sechs Tage vor Ostern”, geschah. Jesus ist im Haus des Lazarus. Er ist umgeben von der Ehrfurcht, Freude und Dankbarkeit des Lazarus und seiner Schwestern. Eine von ihnen, Maria, erweist Jesus großzügigen Respekt: Sie gießt etwa dreihundertzwanzig Gramm (das Gewicht eines Pfunds zu jener Zeit) kostbares Öl auf seine Füße und salbt sie. Aber es zeichnen sich bereits andere Haltungen gegenüber Jesus ab. Der erste kommt unmittelbar aus dem inneren Kreis seiner Apostel: Judas, der für die Wirtschaft der kleinen Gemeinschaft zuständig war, betrachtet diese Aktion scheinbar rein professionell und geschäftsmäßig. Er schätzte die Kosten für das ausgelaufene Öl sofort auf dreihundert Denare (etwa das Jahreseinkommen eines Arbeiters), die für sinnvollere Zwecke hätten verwendet werden können. Wie der Evangelist Johannes offenbart, war Judas’ wahres Motiv ein anderes – er wollte sich selbst bereichern. Er war bereit, Geschenke an die Armen für dieses Ziel zu missbrauchen; dieses Ziel machte seine Augen blind, so dass er nicht in der Lage war, die großzügige Dankbarkeit und Liebe zu sehen und zu verstehen, die materielle Werte außer Acht lässt – und kurz darauf war er bereit, seinen Meister für dasselbe Ziel zu verraten.

Eine weitere unheilvolle Wolke am Horizont des Wochenbeginns war die Entscheidung der Hohenpriester, die zu einem weiteren Mord bereit waren (sie hatten bereits zuvor ein orthodoxes Urteil über Jesus gefällt) – sie wollten sogar den “krönenden Zeugen” der Göttlichkeit Jesu, Lazarus, radikal beseitigen. In den Ereignissen dieser Woche wird Jesus zu dem Licht, von dem der alte Simeon bei seiner Opferung sprach; gleichzeitig wird er aber auch zu einem Zeichen des Widerspruchs und der Opposition. Die Menschen in seinem Umfeld müssen sich gegen ihn wehren. Bei der Betrachtung dieser Ereignisse kann niemand von uns in der Position eines unbeteiligten Zuschauers bleiben, sondern es ist notwendig, dass wir uns mit einer Figur identifizieren. Wenn es sich um eine negative Figur handelt, müssen wir Jesus Christus bitten, uns zu innerer Heilung und zu einer richtigen Einstellung ihm gegenüber zu verhelfen.

Jesus Christus, der Sohn Gottes, war dem Vater gehorsam bis in den Tod. In seinem Namen beten wir zum Vater.

Den Herrn, den Sieger über Sünde und Tod, bitten wir um seinen Frieden.

Selig, die bei der Auferweckung am Letzten Tag beim Herrn sei werden.

People often ask: Did it have to happen? Some will say it was fate; others will say God ordained it from eternity.
Yes, God from eternity knows everything. But He is not a tyrant, a violent man, but a love God. Therefore, he has given man the gift of reason and free will, and therefore, a man decides his own life. But God knows from eternity how a man chooses to.

This is also how we view the actions of Caiaphas. After the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus gained many followers. Many Jews were present at the resurrection because they were comforting Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus when Jesus came and manifested His power before their eyes. Even the high council was involved in this in their meeting because they are worried about their power, which none of them will say, but they want to turn their problem in a different direction. They are afraid lest this Jesus lead an open rebellion against the Romans and destroy Jerusalem. It is a paradox that it was they who longed for such a revolutionary, that he would free them from the hated Romans. Now he is here, but they do not accept him, and only because of their pride because Jesus does not stand on their side and does the opposite of what they expected.

Caiaphas takes advantage of this situation in Cyrus, the high priest that year, a friend of the Romans, because it was a time of corruption. He said to them: “You know nothing. You do not realize that it is better for you if one man dies for the people and the whole nation does not perish” (Jn 141:49-50).
With bitter irony, the evangelist describes Caiaphas, the high priest, as the political leader of the Jewish nation. He observes with concern that Christ’s ministry is stirring up a movement unacceptable to the people, who may also openly oppose him. He explains to the others what would eventually follow: They would lose their freedom, their temple, and their income.
By the statement – you know nothing – with which he admonishes the undecided syndrome, he touches himself, for even he does not know that the death of Christ, which he seeks, will destroy the old Israel, its law and covenant. So a new Israel and a new covenant, or New Testament, will be formed.
We can say that Caiaphas, at this point, is unwittingly prophesying that Jesus will die not just for a nation but for all humanity to gather the scattered sheep into one flock.

We know that Jesus was not a victim of chance and that his crucifixion and death were not mere execution, mistake, etc. Though they all thought they had a part in it, they did not know that this was the death that redeems, for which humanity, through the prophets, had cried and pleaded so much.
We know that behind the actions of all those who were instrumental in the death of Jesus, whether it was Judas who betrayed, Caiaphas and Annas who demanded from Pilate the death of Christ, whether it was Pilate who pronounced the sentence and washed his hands, whether it was the deceived multitude in Pilate’s courtyard-these were all in the hands of God, and were fulfilling that which is behind the words: He gave his Son as a ransom sacrifice for all.
We also see that Jesus did not resist arrest or condemnation, and that only because He had willingly accepted His condemnation and death long before these events began. The will of the Heavenly Father and the irrevocable consent of Christ made his execution on the cross a redemptive act. All was in the plan of God. And he used people for his redemptive mission.
With this thought, we enter into next week, which we also call Holy Week, because these events are still alive and relevant to us.

Let us remember that we are in the hands of God not only when we are down but also in moments of joy. We alone decide the continuation of our life after death, and it will be a state of bliss or damnation. We do not believe in chance or fate. We believe in the justice of God.