There is “A Good Thief” Too – Less we Forget the Impact of Leadership from the Cross
2 Samuel 5:1–3; Colossians 1:12–20; Luke 23:35–43
Today, Christ-the-King Sunday, with our processions, dancing, singing and showing to the world that Jesus Christ is universal King, and not just the King of the Jews, we proclaim that Jesus is in-charge of all governments, rulers, and leaders of the world – “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). We also proclaim it loud and clear that we belong to the kingdom of God, through Christ – “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:12-14). Jesus-Christ has made us princesses and princes, according to our second reading – “We shall reign with him!”
An analysis of our gospel reading today reveals the relationship of hatred and ostracism four segments of our societies have against God and those who stand on the side of God: the spectator-crowd, the leadership of the day/rulers, those saddled with the maintenance of law and order/the military and the rogues/thieves; still, Christ stands in the heart of the mess and brokenness of our society – hanging on the cross. This is the dramatic metaphor of the world Jesus comes to save, where the leadership and the military condemn God to death, and fraternize him with thieves as his companions on the cross, and make a comedy out of the tragedy of God. The kingship of Christ, which we celebrate today, comes out of this ignoble scenario. But, you know what? Christ is King, despite it all; and so must you and I be, princesses and princes!
Going by the drama of today’s gospel, one notices that, sometimes, when the chips are down, they are hopelessly down – one questions the meaning of life, whether it is worth living. Look at Jesus-Christ of today’s gospel, the whole society rejected him: “The rulers scoffed at him” (Luke 23:35), “the soldiers jeered at him” (Luke 23:36) and the crowd watches on as all that unfolds (Luke 23:35), and even a thief mocks Jesus’ power, “save yourself and us” (Luke 23:39)! The only consolation Jesus-Christ gets, while hanging on the cross, is the consolation of a thief, the so-called “good thief” – “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42)! Earthly power confronts and surrounds Jesus flexing its muscles – the rulers, the soldiers and thieves; only a thief believes Jesus’ innocence, at least he has the audacity to declare Jesus innocent – “we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41). This scenario is déjà vu, for those of us from developing countries – brute, raw and naked power for killing innocent people; yet, Jesus gives hope in an apparently hopeless situation – silently hanging on a cross; the irony of Christianity.
Analogous to our democracy, our first reading of today presents God’s desire to be relevant in our politics, in our living and interacting with one another. Instead of ballot papers and electoral campaigns on humanly contrived manifestos, God proposes a human candidate to the society that believes in him, and asks for their support of his candidate. Today, the candidate in question is David – God’s selection of David to be leader of his people – and the anointing with oil, after an agreement to lead on the basis of God’s commandments and precepts, David becomes king in Hebron – the oil of God making David a leader in the household of God; leadership by power and killing ends with davidic kingship.
Unlike the davidic kingship and our democratic campaign and televised debates that lead to stardom, leadership in the community of God goes this way: “the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘HE SAVED OTHERS; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One’” (Luke 23:35). Jesus’ leadership is so conspicuous and clear that the people admit he “saved others,” hence the scandal why he is not saving himself, as they save themselves instead of others in their own leadership positions. It is a temptation to make Jesus like unto themselves, and not themselves in imitation of Christ! Earthly elections invoke constitutions, human rules and regulations, as the basis for leadership. On the contrary, the person God calls to leadership has to uphold God’s commandments, to prove the strength of virtue, the ability to bear insults, in God’s name, while being convinced of the power of God. The society appeals to one’s instinct of self-preservation, “If you are the King of the Jews, SAVE YOURSELF” (Luke 23:37), to sway from the model of Christ’s leadership example.
Curiously, it is in the gospel of today that we see the manifesto under which a leader, who leads in God’s name, Jesus Christ, functions and lives by – he rules hanging on a cross! Leadership, in imitation of Christ, is conducted in the constant jeers of people and the demand for the example of power and not the power of example – the power of example is hanging on the tree for the guilt of others instead of one’s own sins. Leadership in the community of God is the willing martyrdom of the leader for the good of the community, it is the vulnerability of the leader while protecting the led. God’s leader on earth leads in the hope of a reward hereafter, not for an immediate gratification: it is a thankless earthly job! Indeed, Christ-the-King Sunday is a cleaning and dusting up time, an embrace of a new style of leadership because Christ is our King! By our jubilant celebration, we declare our willingness to become leaders like Christ, especially when surrounded by mockery, scoffing and insults, to bear all silently in the spirit of forgiveness, love and the kingdom of God.
The two criminals crucified on either side of Jesus provide an opportunity for Jesus to teach us the exercise of power – the deployment of power to save souls from the jaws of hell and leading them to paradise – the new kingdom. The first thief exercised his right – “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us?” This is often the argument of most of us: “God loves sinners, whatever sin I commit, God will forgive me!” The presumption of forgiveness of sins makes us pile sin upon sin, and the fear of sin becomes inconsequential. Anyway, the first thief never received a response from Jesus other than a deafening silence! However, the second thief teaches us the right attitude towards Christ-the-King – it is dead wrong to sin; as far as sin is concerned, the sinner loses his right by sinning, hence, the plea – “we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” The second thief concludes, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus’ answer, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise” shows the salvific power of God to save those willing to be saved, those who have accepted that some actions of theirs are sinful, that we lose our rights to claim rights by sinning. Consequently, the first step towards becoming princes and princesses, since Christ is our king, is the ability to joyfully count those we have saved from starvation, joblessness, sadness, sin, name it. The power of our exemplary lives should speak so eloquently that friends and foes alike can say “he/she saved others”; those touched by the example of our lives should willingly testify to our righteousness, and not to our sinfulness: he raped/abused me, he took my wife/she took my husband, he/she killed my child, I lost my job because of him/her, he stole from me, he/she exploited me, etc.
If we are singing and dancing today, despite the mess in our society, it is because we know that it is never too late to start all over again; it is because the “good thief” shows us that when the world condemns us, God still stands by us, as he stands by his Son on the cross, to fortify us to make the right choices. Our singing and dancing today are comparable to the audacity of the “good thief” who stands up for Jesus – “do you not fear God?” and defends the innocence of Jesus-Christ from a cruel society. The “good thief” refuses to be a silent bystander, like the spectator-crowd of the gospel, when evil is being perpetrated; instead of mockery and scoffing, the “good thief” rises above his sin to challenge the status quo, seeing the complacency of the leadership of the day as well as the zombie-military. Paradise is yours and mine, just with a little audacity to grab it through an active hope – speaking out for Jesus, despite our sins and crimes!
Assignment for the Week:
Do not be angry about anything this week, bear it all silently like Jesus Christ on the cross.