One Man Should Die
Considering how much potential exists within every single human person to be good and holy, it can be quite interesting to consider what prevents so many of us from reaching that potential. Even more significant is trying to determine how someone can go from being good and holy to losing their direction and giving into sin. The journey of a life oriented towards God is dynamic; just because we may be working towards being good does not mean that we are guaranteed to maintain that direction all of our lives. We need to actively work towards it at all times, and to be very careful about the little pitfalls we might encounter that could lay the foundation for a life in the wrong direction.
If we consider ourselves to be beloved children of God, we must look at the history of Israel to know what to do right and what we must avoid. Israel was set apart as God’s chosen people, and the occasional great figure within Israel maintained this promise for the entire nation. Still, Israel constantly struggled to remain faithful to God, not out of evil intent, but because they slowly gave in to the philosophies and beliefs of the world around them that led them away from God. Like all nations, Israel can be best represented by their authorities, and there was hardly any group during Jesus’ time that had more authority within Israel than the chief priests and Pharisees. These were the men who ruled for the nation on matters of faith, which bled into the personal lives of many citizens. In Jesus, they encountered a good and holy man who preached goodness and holiness and challenged others to rise to their potential. But by doing so in an inviting and attractive manner, Jesus provoked those who felt that their authority on faith was being challenged. Individually, these men were beginning to separate their personal moral behavior from the moral teachings of their religion, and Jesus had no qualms pointing this out. While their hatred for Jesus was motivated by his challenge to them, their legal excuse was simple: it is better for one man to die than for a nation to die (i.e. lose their leadership).
This is actually a common philosophy that might seem acceptable even for us at times: the chief priests are claiming in this case that the ends justify the means. Even within Catholic circles, we always see humans put forth this philosophy as something that can be acceptable at times. This is a perfect example of taking a small, seemingly insignificant step away from God. By making exceptions to the rules just once, we open the possibility for occasional exceptions, which in turn could lead to a total disregard to the Law and to Truth. This is how our choices could build up to abandoning the path towards God completely, as we see in the chief priests and Pharisees. While Caiaphas may have inadvertently prophesied the death of Christ, his own soul was damaged by being one of the many who chose to kill Jesus and actively carried it out. It is not our decision to commit evil for “the greater good” - that decision belongs solely to God. If we want to remain faithful to God, we cannot follow our hearts or our desires at all times. We certainly cannot make exceptions to what we know is the Truth. Following God is just that - trusting Him and following His lead and His directions, not our own.
Today's Readings:
