Hail, King of the Jews!

 

 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. 

 

- Matthew 27:24-31 

 

On Saturday we read that Jesus stood before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.  And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you say."  And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.  Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?"  But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.   Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished.  And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.  Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you?  Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"  For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.  While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him."  But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.  The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"  They said, "Barabbas!"  Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"  They all said to him, "Let Him be crucified!"  Then the governor said, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, saying, "Let Him be crucified!"   

When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.  My study Bible comments on the cry of the people, "His blood be on us and on our children."  It says that this verse has been used by certain groups to try to justify persecuting Jews, which is a grave and terrible sin.  What was seen by many as a curse here is actually, in fact, properly understood as a blessing which is unwittingly invoked, for it is the Lord's blood that is the source of our redemption.  Moreover, these words are implicitly spoken by anybody who sins.  St. John Chrysostom teaches that although this crowd stirred by the Jewish religious leaders "acted with such madness, so far from confirming a sentence on them or their children, Christ instead received those who repented and counted them worthy of good things beyond number."  He then notes the thousands who were converted in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41) as evidence of Christ's mercy.  

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.   My study Bible comments here that every king is proclaimed by his soldiers.  Although the intention was mockery, it is another ironically prophetic act that Jesus should be crowned and hailed as King by soldiers of the governor (see also John 11:49-51, where Caiaphas unwittingly prophesies of Christ's redemptive work).  This mockery, it says, shows Jesus as the One despised and rejected by human beings who bears the iniquity of all of us (see Isaiah 53:3-9).  Jesus is clothed in scarlet, which represents both His royalty and the sins of humanity which He has taken upon Himself.  

As we approach the Cross, the ironies build.  The looks that appear to deceive continue to build up.  We first had Barabbas, whose name means "son of the father" who was chosen by the crowd for mercy in the place of the true Son of the Father, Jesus, whom Pilate tried three times to save (see Saturday's reading and commentary).  In today's reading, the ironies multiply.  The crowd calls down on itself what is intended as a kind of curse.  But viewed through the lens of the Cross and through the faith of Jesus Christ, what they call out is a blessing.  We know that we are cleansed and redeemed through the blood of Christ which this crowd calls down upon itself, as my study Bible points out.  At the heart of Christianity is the understanding that the Incarnate Christ, both God and Man, heals all things precisely through this union in Himself of every component of our lives and our world with the divine.  He has taught us that in the Eucharist we mystically partake of His body and blood, and that this is done ultimately for our own healing, in every dimension, to cleanse what needs cleansing, to transform what needs transforming, to uplift what needs uplifting, to redeem and to bring ultimate peace and goodness.  This is the crux of our faith:  that all must be assumed by Christ for the purpose of salvation, of ultimate healing.  This is how we have to see our faith.  So the crowd inadvertently asks for His healing and salvation.  As the ironies continue, He is also treated as a king.  All of this is meant to mock, but it tells the truth in spite of those intentions.  For He is King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14).  So the Roman soldiers also inadvertently tell us a truth, despite their intentions to deride Jesus their prisoner destined for crucifixion.  In the compounding of ironies here, all of the intentions to subvert the truth are, in effect, displaying that truth in plain sight.  But, of course, one must know where to look -- and, most importantly, how to look.  One must look with the lens of faith.  For this is the only way to know revelation.  Hence, Christ's words are continually true as this story unfolds:  the one way to remain true to truth is to watch and pray (Matthew 26:41).  As Jesus said to Peter regarding our human condition, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  We're subject to temptations such as fear and terror; the unthinkable images described in these scenes -- without faith -- would have doomed the Church to failure without it.  The greatest "irony" of all is to come, the Cross.  And yet it is the Cross that saves, the ultimate sign of the transfiguring healing power of God.