Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
The strife is o'er, the battle
done;
The victory of life is won;
The song of triumph has begun:
Alleluia!
This is one of the many
songs we have in the Catholic Hymnal which I like listening to during the
Easter season, and the hymn in all its solemnity hymn puts me into a deeper thinking. Once certain kindergarten teacher was telling her students the
story of Jesus. In her class was a little boy who came from a non-Christian
family. He was paying very close attention to the story because it was all new
to him. As the teacher told how Jesus was condemned and nailed to the cross to
die the boy's countenance fell and he murmured, "No! That's too bad!"
The teacher then went on to tell how on the third day Jesus rose from the dead
and came back to life. The boy's eyes lit up with delight and he exclaimed,
"Totally awesome!" On Good Friday we heard the story of the suffering
and death of Jesus. Like the little boy many of us felt like "No! That's
too bad!" Today we hear the rest of the story and again with the little
boy we can now exclaim "Yes! Totally awesome!" Today we can again
sing "Halleluiah" that we have not sung all through Lent. This
is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad (Psalm 118:24).
Why do we rejoice today? We
rejoice because our faith in Christ has been vindicated, truth has triumphed
over falsity, justice over injustice and tragedy has turned into comedy. It is
like watching one of the episodes of Batman. First you see an innocent and
helpless victim being attacked, robbed, kidnapped, assaulted and tortured by a
wicked assailant. And we feel so bad seeing the triumph of the bad guy. Then,
almost at the point where the victim has given up hope and is at the point of
death, down from the skies comes Batman to the rescue. He battles and defeats
the bad guy and rescues the innocent victim. And we feel happy inside at the
triumph of justice.
The story of the suffering
and death of Jesus on Good Friday is the story of the triumph of falsity over
truth, of injustice over justice, of evil over goodness. Jesus was falsely
charged of crimes he did not commit, and unjustly sentenced to a death he did
not deserve. His good friend betrayed him, his trusted companions deserted him
and his number one man denied him. The people he loved demanded his crucifixion
and chose to have the bandit Barabbas released in his place. It is a story of
betrayal and lies, dishonesty and meanness, unfaithfulness and wicked violence
directed against an innocent and apparently helpless victim. All this comes to
a head on Good Friday when we see Jesus scourged, mocked, led on the death
march, nailed to the cross where he dies after a few hours and hastily buried
in a tomb. If that were the end of the story that would be a bad story, a
tragedy. But glory be to God it is not.
Death is not the end of the
story. There is one more chapter. This is the most important chapter because,
as the saying goes, they who laugh last laugh best. And in the last chapter of
the story of Jesus we see him rise from the dead in all glory and majesty. He
is vindicated. His enemies are shamed and confused. Jesus regains his eternal
glory with the Father. He is the Lord who will prevail over all humankind, his
enemies included. For us his embattled followers this is good news.
It is
good news to know that truth is immortal. We can suppress Truth, accuse it of
being a lie, condemn it, torture it, kill it, bury it in the grave but on the
third day Truth will rise again. Remember this and do not give up on Truth even
when everybody seems to give up on it. Do not give up on Truth; do not give up
on Justice. Do not give up on doing what is right. True will always be true.
Just will always be just. Right will always be right even when the world around
us would have it otherwise. We must learn to believe in the sun even when it is
not shining, knowing that by and by it will shine again. It is the end of the
story that counts. That is why the church asks us today to rejoice and be glad.
Even when we are going through very difficult times: through betrayal, unjust
discrimination, lies, misrepresentations; even when the enemy seems to be
winning the battle in our lives. Today Christ has won. And we know that in
Christ we shall overcome. Halleluiah, Praise the Lord!
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