Mocked and Derided
Has anyone ever mocked you? What was their motive?
In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. - Matthew 25:41-42
In today's reading, Jesus is mocked as he hangs on the cross. The people in authority cry out to him to come down from the cross and they will believe he is divinely sent. Really?
What would they really do?
They probably would have declared him a demon and stoned him to death or worse.
How strong and confident we are when our opponent is helpless.
As we read today's Gospel, we probably get a sense of pride in our faith. We believe so we are not guilty of the actions of the chief priests and scribes. We can look at them and wag our fingers saying we know better. But do we?
When God comes to us in the form of anyone in need of help, anyone who we believe is wrong and deserving of anything but grace, do we see them as children of God or do we shake our heads and whisper to each other what we truly feel about them?
Many choose to use social media as a mocking medium, a place to post negative and demeaning comments about others in the hope of gaining support and recognition from people who hold the same views as we have.
We are no different from the scribes when we do that. Especially when we make our statements in a sarcastic way. When we do that, we belittle the one we oppose, true, but we also show ourselves to be weak.
When I read something I feel is nasty or simply disrespectful of those who hold different opinions, I want to respond. But I have discovered that the mockers come out in force when I do that.
Should I dare to have an opposing view, I open myself up to being slammed. Why needs that? It is better to say nothing.
Isn't that what today's lesson is about?
It is not so much that Jesus just took the blows and kept quiet, but that people in authority took advantage of his helplessness to make themselves look pious and righteous.
Ironically, we can find ourselves doing the very same thing when we mock those we don't agree with on line.
So I ask myself, and I being true to my faith when I treat my opponents that way?
Perhaps you think I am making a foolish point, but if we seek to see God in everyone we meet, we should try hard not to fall into the trap of mocking Him through others.
Loving your enemy is hard. Especially when the temptation is great to demean and deride him.
What do you think?
More to come...