Good Friday, April 3

Today, we commemorate Good Friday. There are volumes and volumes of meditations that have been, or could be made on this day.  We have chosen to focus on the mystery of Christ’s Kingship, as exposed by Dom Gueranger’s meditation on the encounter between Jesus Christ and Pontius Pilate.  We do so with the realization that our society and many in the Church follow the same path of neglect – if not outright denial of the Kingship of Jesus Christ over all of society. We do so with the objective of reparation to the Kingly and Sacred Heart of Jesus, His Immaculate Mother and our Queen and with the firm desire to counter the forces of secularism, adoring Jesus Christ, King and proclaiming Him King of our hearts, King of our Church, and King of all civil society. A blessed Good Friday to you. May Jesus Christ, Who died for our sins this day, bless you today.  Long live Christ the King! 

“Art thou a King, then?” says Pilate. — “Thou sayest”, answers Jesus, “that I am a King. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should, give testimony to the Truth. Every one that is of the Truth, heareth my voice.” (John 18:37)

19. When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony. Our Lord's regal office invests the human authority of princes and rulers with a religious significance; it ennobles the citizen's duty of obedience. … If princes and magistrates duly elected are filled with the persuasion that they rule, not by their own right, but by the mandate and in the place of the Divine King, they will exercise their authority piously and wisely, and they will make laws and administer them, having in view the common good and also the human dignity of their subjects. The result will be a stable peace and tranquility, for there will be no longer any cause of discontent. Men will see in their king or in their rulers men like themselves, perhaps unworthy or open to criticism, but they will not on that account refuse obedience if they see reflected in them the authority of Christ God and Man. Peace and harmony, too, will result; for with the spread and the universal extent of the kingdom of Christ men will become more and more conscious of the link that binds them together …. (Pius XI, Quas Primas)

“We have no king but Caesar.”  (Chief Priests to Pontius Pilate, John 19:15)

“The peoples of the earth turn to the United Nations as the last hope of concord and peace. We presume to present here, together with Our own, their tribute to honour and of hope.” (Pope Paul VI, Address to the United Nations, October 4, 1965)

The day-dawn breaks upon the City, and the chief Priests make arrangements for taking Jesus before the Roman Governor. They themselves have found him guilty; they have condemned him as a Blasphemer, and, according to the law of Moses, a Blasphemer must be stoned to death : but they cannot apply the law : Jerusalem is no longer free, or governed by her own laws. The power over life and death may only be exercised by her conquerors, and that in the name of Caesar. How is it, that these Priests and Scribes can go through all this, and never once remember the prophecy of Jacob, — that the Messias would come, when the sceptre should be taken away from Juda? They know off by heart, they are the appointed guardians of those Prophecies, which describe the death to which this Messias is to be put, — and yet, they are the very ones who bring it about! How is all this? They are blind, and it is Jealousy that blinds them.

The Chief Priests, taking Jesus with them, present themselves at the Governor's Palace, demanding audience for a case of importance. Pilate comes forward, and peevishly asks them: What accusation bring you against this man? — They answered : “If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee.” It is very evident from these first words, that Pilate has a contempt for these Jewish Priests; it is not less evident that they are determined to gain their cause. Take him you, says Pilate, and judge him according to your Law. The Chief Priests answered: It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.

Pilate leaves the Hall, in order to speak with these men. He returns, and commands Jesus to be brought in. The son of God and the representative of the pagan world are face to face. Pilate begins by asking him: Art thou the King of the Jews? — To this Jesus thus replies: My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But, now, my Kingdom is not from hence. “Art thou a King, then?” says Pilate. — Thou sayest, answers Jesus, that I am a King. Having, by these last words, confessed his august dignity, our Lord offers a grace to this Roman; he tells him, that there is something worthier of Man's ambition than earthly honors. For this, says Jesus, was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should, give testimony to the Truth. Every one that is of the Truth, heareth my voice. — “What is Truth?” asks Pilate; but without waiting for the answer, he leaves Jesus, for he is anxious to have done with this case.

He returns to the Jews, and says to them: “I find no cause in him.” Scarcely has Pilate expressed his opinion in favor of Jesus, than a long list of accusations is brought up against him by the Chief Priests. Pilate is astonished at Jesus' making no reply, and says to him: “Dost thou not hear how great testimonies they allege against thee?” These words are kindly meant, but Jesus still remains silent: they, however, excite his enemies to fresh fury, and they cry out: “He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, even to this place. This word Galilee suggests a new idea to Pilate. Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee, happens to be in Jerusalem at this very time. Jesus is his subject; he must be sent to him. Thus Pilate will get rid of a troublesome case, and this act of courteous deference will re-establish a good understanding between himself and Herod

Another plan for ridding himself of this troublesome case, now strikes the Roman Governor. At the feast of the Pasch, he had the power of granting pardon to any one criminal the people may select. They are assembled together at the court-gates. He feels sure, that their choice will fall upon Jesus, for it is but a few days ago that they led him in triumph through the City: besides, he intends to make the alternative one who is an object of execration to the whole people; he is a murderer, and his name Barabbas. “Whom will you that I release to you?” says Pilate: Barabbas, or Jesus, that is called the Christ? — He has not long to wait for the answer: the crowd exclaim: “Not this man, but Barabbas!” — “What then”, replies Pilate, “shall I do with Jesus that is called the Christ? — Crucify him? — Why, what evil hath he done?”

Pilate's cowardly subterfuge has failed, and left him in a more difficult position than he was before. His putting the innocent on a level with a murderer was, in itself, a gross injustice; and yet, he has not gone far enough for a people that is blind with passion. Neither does his promise to chastise Jesus satisfy them: they want more than his Blood: they insist on his Death! Here let us pause, and offer our Saviour a reparation for the insult he here receives. He is put in competition with a murderer, and the murderer is preferred! Pilate makes an attempt to save Jesus -. But, on what terms! — He must be put on a footing with a vile wretch, and, even so, be worsted ! Those very lips that, a few days back, sang “Hosannah to the Son of David," now clamor for his Crucifixion! The City Magistrate and Governor pronounces him innocent; and yet, he condemns him to be scourged, because he fears a disturbance!

Jesus is made over to the soldiers, to be scourged. They rudely strip him of his garments, and tie him to the pillar, which is kept for this kind of torture. Fiercely do they strike him; the blood flows down his sacred Body. Let us adore this the second Bloodshedding of our Jesus, whereby he expiates for the sins we and the whole world have committed by the flesh. This Scourging is by the hands of Gentiles: the Jews delivered him up to be punished, and the Romans were the executioners: — thus have we all had our share in the awful Deicide! At last, the soldiers are tired; they loosen their Victim; — but it is not out of anything like pity. Their cruelty is going to rest, and their rest is derision. Jesus has been called "King of the Jews:" a King, say they, must have a Crown! Accordingly they make one for the Son of David! It is of Thorns. They press it violently upon his head, and this is the third Bloodshedding of our Redeemer. Then, that they may make their scoffing perfect, the soldiers throw a scarlet cloak over his shoulders, and put a reed, for a sceptre, into his hand; and bending their knee before him, they thus salute him: Hail, King of the Jews! — This insulting homage is accompanied with blows upon his face; they spit upon him; and, from time to time, take the reed from his hand, wherewith to strike the Thorns deeper into his head. Here, the Christian prostrates himself before his Saviour, and says to him with a heart full of compassion and veneration: “Yes! My Jesus! Thou art King of the Jews! Thou art the Son of David, and therefore our Messias and our Redeemer! Israel, that has so lately proclaimed thee King, now unkings thee; the Gentiles scoff at thy Royalty, making it a subject for keener insult: — but reign thou must and over both Jews and Gentiles: over the Jews, by thy justice, for they are soon to feel the sceptre of thy revenge; over the Gentiles, by thy mercy, for thine Apostles are soon to lead them to thy feet. Receive, dearest King! Our homage and submission! Reign now and forever over our hearts, yea, over our whole being!"

Thus mangled and bleeding, holding the reed in his hand, and with the scarlet tatters on his shoulders, Jesus is led back to Pilate. It is just the sight that will soften the hearts of the people –  at least, Pilate thinks so; and taking him with him to a balcony of the palace, he shows him to the crowd below, saying: “Behold the Man!” little did Pilate know all that these few words conveyed! He says not: “Behold Jesus!" — Nor, “Behold the King of the Jews!" he says: “Behold the Man!” Adam, the first Man, rebelled against God, and, by his sin, deranged the whole work of the Creator: as a punishment for his pride and intemperance, the flesh tyrannized over the spirit; the very earth was cursed, and thorns were to be its growth. Jesus, the New Man, comes into this world, bearing upon him, not the reality, but the appearance, the likeness, of sin: in him, the work of the Creator regains its primeval order; but the change was not wrought without violence. To teach us, that the flesh must be brought into subjection to the spirit, Jesus' Flesh was torn by the scourges: to teach us that pride must give way to humility the only Crown that Jesus wears is made of Thorns. Yes, — Behold the Man! — the triumph of the spirit over the flesh, the triumph of humility over pride.

Like the tiger that grows fiercer as he sees blood, so is Israel at the sight of Jesus after his scourging. “Crucify him! Crucify him!”— the cry is still the same. Take him you, says Pilate, and crucify him; for I find no cause in him. And yet, he has ordered him to be scourged enough to cause his death! Here is another device of the base coward; but it, too, fails. The Jews have their answer ready: they put forward the right granted by the Romans to the nations that are tributary to the Empire. We have, say they, a law, and according to the law he ought to die; because he made himself the Son of God. Disconcerted by the reply, Pilate takes Jesus aside into the hall, and says to him: “Whence art thou?” Jesus is silent; Pilate was not worthy to hear the answer to his question. This silence irritates him. “Speakest thou not to me?” says he. Knowest thou not, that I have power to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee? Here Jesus deigns to speak ; and he speaks, in order to teach us that every power of government, even where pagans are in question, comes from God, and not from a pretended social compact : Thou shouldst not have any power against me, unless it were given thee from above. Therefore, he that hath delivered me to thee, hath the greater sin.

This dignified reply produces an impression upon Pilate: he resolves to make another attempt to save Jesus. But the people vociferate a threat which alarms him: If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend; for whosoever maketh himself a King, speaketh against Caesar. Still, he is determined to try and pacify the crowd. He leaves the hall, sits upon the judgment-seat, orders Jesus to be placed near him, and thus pleads for him: Behold your King! As though he would say, “What have you or Caesar to fear from such a pitiable object as this?” The argument was unavailing, and only provokes the cry : Away with him ! Away with him! Crucify him! As though he did not believe them to be in earnest, Pilate says to them: Shall I crucify your King? This time the Chief Priests give the answer: We have no king but Caesar. When the very Ministers of God can talk thus, religion is at an end. No king but Caesar! — Then, the sceptre is taken from Juda, and Jerusalem is cast off, and the Messias is come!

Pilate, seeing that nothing can quell the tumult, and that his honour as Governor is at stake, decides on making Jesus over to his enemies. Though against his own inclination, he passes the Sentence, which is to cause him such remorse of conscience that he will afterwards seek relief in suicide. He takes a tablet, and with a style, writes the Inscription which is to be fastened to the Cross. The people demand that two thieves should be crucified at the same time, — it would be an additional insult to Jesus: this, too, he grants, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaias: And with the wicked was he reputed.

Having thus defiled his soul with the most heinous of crimes, Pilate washes his hands before the people, and says to them: "I am innocent of the blood of this just man; look ye to it! They answer him with this terrible self-imprecation: “His blood be upon us and upon our children!” The mark of Parricide here fastens on this ungrateful and sacrilegious people; Cain-like, they shall wander fugitives on the earth. Eighteen hundred years have passed since then; slavery, misery, and contempt, have been their portion; but the mark is still upon them. Let us Gentiles, — upon whom this Blood of Jesus has fallen as the dew of heaven's mercy, — let us return fervent thanks to the goodness of our heavenly Father, who hath so loved the world, as to give it his Only Begotten Son. Let us give thanks to the Son, who, seeing that our iniquities could not be blotted out save by his Blood, shed it, on this day, even to the very last drop.