“Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.”
In today’s Gospel, distraught people come to Jesus and relate to Our Lord the tragedies of their lives. They tell Jesus about the difficult complexities that they presently face. They report that Pilate has mingled the blood of the Galileans with the blood of their sacrifices. The blood of their own sacrifices is no longer pure. It bears the traces of Pilate’s violence. The blood of their sacrifices and the blood of the Galileans are no longer distinct. There has been a terrible co-mingling.
In a word, the people explain to Jesus that things are terribly complicated.
This dynamic is very common in our own experience. We too suffer painful complexities in our own lives. Many of us sincerely attempt to follow the Lord and, tragically, experience our efforts compromised by unforeseen forces, figures, and events. Other people (the “Pilates” of today) can, seemingly, vitiate our plans and offerings. The things that we aspire to do can appear to be diluted by other people, by events, and by unforeseen circumstances that lie outside of our control.
Unsurprisingly, the first inclination that we have in the face of these complexities is to dwell upon the complexities themselves. We focus upon the unfortunate circumstances that attend our lives. We can fixate upon disappointments. Those things which have compromised our plans or frustrated our desires become an object of our constant preoccupation. We can despair before these complexities and render judgment against those who have infringed upon our best-laid and our well-intended initiatives. In brief, we frequently find ourselves gazing upon the complications that characterize our lives—even when we bring these complications to Our Lord.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus reacts rather strongly against such preoccupations. Our Lord does not exhort his followers to adjudicate the complexities of human existence. He does not turn their attention to past disappointments—to the things that they wanted to do and to the goals that they were prevented from achieving. Jesus does not encourage an ever-greater scrutiny of those things that render human life so complicated.
Rather, what does Jesus enjoin his listeners to do? He tells them to repent. The movement of repentance terminates in an exclusive focus upon Our Lord. In other words, Jesus invites his disciples to focus on Jesus himself rather than upon the unfortunate events that befall us. Repentance and conversion go together—and the purpose of Lent is to turn towards Jesus with ever-greater intensity. A more profound union with Jesus: this is the focus of the holy season of Lent.
Therefore, today, Jesus reminds us that the Christian life is not about contemplating the complexities of life in their very complexity. Rather, the essence of the Christian life is the giving of our lives—entirely!—to Jesus. Wise Christian reflection upon life does not terminate in the complications of human existence. The object of Christian contemplation is God himself—whom we contemplate even through the complexity that attends human existence. We can find Jesus in complexity, pain, confusion, and frustration. In other words, we can always undergo deeper conversion to Our Lord—no matter what is happening to and around us.
Certainly many unfortunate things—even things of the most unfortunate sort—can punctuate human existence. But those seeking salvation don’t look for intelligibility and coherence amidst human disappointments and tragedies. The Christian looks for and to Jesus in any and all complexities. In all circumstances, Christ’s true disciples turn to Our Lord and view him as the answer to all of the riddles, paradoxes, and frustrations of life.
Jesus is not the answer to the problems of our lives. Rather, the problems of our lives point us to Jesus. Our Lord transforms the frustrations of human existence into instruments that draw us closer to him.
In conclusion, is life complicated? Absolutely. Does tragedy strike? Yes. Do the best-laid plans of mice and men often fail to achieve fulfillment? Certainly. But none of these things are an obstacle to human salvation—to finding the beatific happiness that only God can bestow. All of these things point to the human need for Our Lord Jesus himself. Although we cannot make sense of all of the complications, disappointments, and frustrations that are inescapable parts of human experience, all such complications, frustrations, and disappointments fall within God’s plan for our lives. They all point us to Our Savior.
Those who cling to Our Lord find their identity, their meaning, and their happiness in him. These are the saints. The happy human persons. The blessed human persons. These are those who truly find the salvation that only he can give—and that only he truly is!
