In the classic film Gladiator, at one point one of the characters advises the gladiator —the man used to win his bloody fights with speed and ease— and tells him, «It is not enough to win: the public wants an spectacle. Win the crowd and you will win your freedom.»
This is what we largely remember, in a tragic and dramatic way, during Palm Sunday. Those who control the masses (in this case the religious hierarchies) hold the real power.
There is a sharp contrast between the multitudes that sing «Hosanna, hosanna!» and the masses that shout «Crucify him! Crucify him!»
Last Sunday we read the story of the adulterous woman, and it reflects what Jesus’ will really is: not to get lost in a crowd, but rather to assume our responsibility, to be able to think as individuals and discern our actions with humility, compassion, and tolerance. The worst abuses and sins are often committed in the name of parties or factions: inequality, poverty, injustice, racism, exclusion, intolerance, corruption, are most often carried out by masses immersed in sinful structures. How easy it is to fall into dynamics of abuse and intimidation, almost without realizing it, when we are part of an unthinking and often unjust crowd.
How beneficial would it be to remember Jesus’ words to the group of men who wanted to stone the adulterous woman: «Whoever is without sin may cast the first stone.» I wish that in the crowds of Jerusalem each person would have assumed his or her own responsibility and realized that what was taking place before their eyes was not so much a trial or a legal action against Jesus, but the lynching of a person who became a nuisance because, although he was a leader, he could not be controlled by the political or religious powers.
Let us not become crowds that abuse the vulnerable (be they immigrants, poor, refugees, minorities), blaming them for our misfortunes to ease our consciences. In his passion at the hands of an embittered mob Jesus became the scapegoat, especially for those who wanted to win the crows. Ironically, he also became the innocent victim who atoned for the sin of the world.
(Picture: The author, celebrating Palm Sunday in Sabana Yegua, the Dominican Republic).
