- This event has passed.
Monday of Holy Week
March 25
WHEN ALL WAS TO BE PUT TO THE TEST
By Henri Daniel-Rops2
◊◊◊
The day which followed the astonishing Sunday of the triumphal entry
was not so striking, but was nonetheless full of significance. Jesus entered
Jerusalem every day, went up to the Temple, and spoke to audiences which
listened to him with enthusiasm, while the chief priests and scribes sought
means to destroying him. To Jesus, the slightest incident was an occasion for a
lesson, which often took the form of a warning.
So it was all through the Monday. What precisely was the meaning of the
curious episode, uncharacteristic of Christ’s normally merciful manner, in
which he condemned a fig tree on which he found no figs to wither? And who
is the bad son who pretends to be submissive to his father’s will, but in reality
disobeys him? Or the rebellious wine dressers who kill their master’s servants
in order to seize the harvest? What is the name of the stone rejected by the
builders which will be the cornerstone of the new building? And do we not know
these guests invited to the royal feast who refuse to attend? One is almost afraid
to understand at whom these gestures, these parables are aimed. At this
moment, Israel’s refusal seems to haunt Jesus’ mind and to fill it with anguish.
We are hardly surprised to find that the leaders of the community sent
emissaries to ask Jesus with what right he was behaving as he was. He avoided
the question by himself asking them an embarrassing one concerning what kind
of a man was John, and they could not give him any answer. But we can hardly
be surprised that their anger grew, and that they were on the point of laying
hands on him. Jesus cast a real challenge at his adversaries at this moment
when he knew that all was to be put to the test.
2 The Life of Our Lord. Daniel-Rops. Hawthorn Books Inc. NY, 1965, p. 140.