The Way to Life – the Commandments – the Cross (Thursday after Ash Wed, 2021)

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INTRODUCTION

On this second day of our Lenten journey, today’s readings, particularly the gospel, are inviting us to reflect more deeply on the image of the cross; and to cherish the truth that it reveals.

 

REFLECTION

In the first reading (cf. Deut. 30:15-20), Moses presents the people of Israel with two contrasting realities: LIFE-AND-GOOD on one hand; and DEATH-AND-EVIL on the other; and he invites them to make a choice. Now, to help them make an informed choice, Moses explains that the only path to life is obedience to God’s statutes; and the only path to death is unfaithfulness (that is, “…when they are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them”). With no intention of leaving them at the mercy of their choices, Moses admonishes them to “choose life, that they and their descendants may live, loving the Lord and obeying his voice…” (Deut 30:16). 


From the above, it is clear that the discourse is all about the COMMANDMENTS of God: obedience to them leads to life; while deviation from them leads to death. We can now see the reason why the Psalmist declares that “BLESSED indeed is the man whose delight is the LAW OF THE LORD, and who ponders his law day and night” (Ps 1:1a.2). 

 

We all know that obedience to God’s commandments is not as easy as it sounds. It involves a total change of attitude which is brought about by detachment from the “self” and willing acceptance of the cross. And that is why the Gospel acclamation proposes that we should repent (cf. Mt 4:17), and by that we are called to make a U-turn and a swift change from following the track of selfishness and sin to following the track of selflessness and fidelity to God’s laws. 


The Gospel passage takes up this discourse; and weaves a paradoxical twist into it: that the way of the cross, which was ordinarily understood as the way of humiliation and death, has now become the way to life. Jesus understood this very well; and that is why He continued to say it aloud to the hearing of his disciples that “the Son of man must suffer, be rejected, be killed, and must be raised”. Now, we must begin to imagine the shock that the disciples, being Jews, must have had upon hearing what Jesus had said. In the eyes of the Jews, the “cross” is a very despicable object; an object that connotes and denotes negativity and shame. For them, anyone who dies on the cross is under God’s curse (cf. Deut. 21:23). But they heard Jesus preaching the contrary. Again, it sounded like another bombshell to the disciples when Jesus began to say, without ambiguity, that “anyone who wants to come after him must deny himself, take up his cross and follow him; for whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for his sake will save it” (Lk 9:23-24). That is the stark truth! And that is the paradox we are talking about. We don’t need any sophisticated tool of biblical interpretation to understand this. It is as clear as Christ expressed it. No matter how we rationalize it, the stunning truth remains that it is only when we DIE to ourselves that we can truly LIVE.


PRAYER

We pray that Jesus may grant us the grace to keep our gaze firmly fixed on the cross as we journey with Him!




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