Palm Sunday--Crucify Him!

Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!  I don't know about you, but those words have always creeped me out.  It's been a few years since I've sat in the pew on Palm Sunday, but I still remember the strange feeling I had as I said those words.  But why?  It's just a reading in church.  We're not really  asking that anyone be killed.  Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!  We're like actors in a play. Or are we?

When you think about it, what we're doing on Palm Sunday is verbalizing what we do every time we commit a sin.  He died for our sins, so when we sin aren't we really saying "Crucify Him!"?  Of course the difference is that when we sin we're usually saying it in private as opposed to saying it in public, along with our friends and neighbors, as we reenact the Passion on Palm Sunday.

But make no mistake, when we fall, when we sin against God, either in what we do, or in what we don't do, we're adding our voices to the chorus calling for Jesus to die for those sins.  We may excuse ourselves for any number of reasons but in the end only  God can forgive us, and that's only possible because Jesus paid the price for us.

When Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" came out a few years ago there was some controversy.  Was the movie blaming the Jews for Jesus death.  Was it blaming the Romans?  Who's fault was it anyway?  In the end, it was our fault.  Us.  Sinful you and sinful me.  That's why He died.  The Jews and the Romans were just facilitators. 

As we continue on with mass, and as we live out the last few days of Jesus' life on earth, as we recall the Last Supper on Holy Thursday and His death on Good Friday and His glorious resurrection on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, let's keep His passion in our minds, especially our part in it.  Even though we only read the Passion twice a year, our weakness and our sinfulness cry out "Crucify Him!" every single day.
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