Nov 11 Mon
Why did they place on Jesus a crimson cloak?
It was a cloak of humiliation. That humiliation implied public shame, disgrace, and ridicule. Jesus was condemned as a sinner and liar. He was charged with deceiving the people and attempting to undermine the civil authorities. He was the object of extreme hate and ultimate persecution by the religious leaders of His day.
It was a brutal blow. If Jesus had the sin of pride, He would not have been able to endure their scorn and mistreatment. He would have brought forth an army of angels to destroy His persecutors. But He didn’t. Instead, He endured every humiliation with confidence and integrity.
Why did our Lord choose those humiliations and die on the Cross? Could he not have redeemed us in a less painful way, without shedding his Blood? Why did he wish to deliver himself up so totally for us? Truly, “it was not necessary for him to undergo so much torment He could have avoided those trials, those humiliations, that ill-usage, that wicked judgment, and the shame of the gallows, and the nails and the lance... But he wanted to suffer all this for you and for me. And we, are we not going to respond?"
The sufferings Jesus endured never evoked in Him any feeling of hatred or revenge. In fact, from the Cross itself, He cried out, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” This powerful witness must influence you and strengthen you to pay no attention whatsoever to the false judgment of others. God has no concern about false judgments and the public humiliation that these judgments impose. Embracing your “cloak of shame” means allowing every worldly humiliation to dissipate before the Mercy and truth of God.
Reflect upon this struggle within you. It requires great humility to ignore false opinions. Seek to embrace that humility and allow the truth to make you free. Jesus’ “cloak” must cover you since it is ultimately the cloak of His grace and Mercy.
The humiliation and effacement of the Incarnate Word also serve to check our pride, which is the first sin and the root of all other sins.
Precisely for this reason, his choice of obscurity is even more praiseworthy. He made a holocaust of himself to accomplish his mission as the one Messiah.
God is asking us for something similar.
Are you truly humble? Can you mortify your self-love, for the sake of charity? Can you accept those humiliations that God asks of you, in unimportant things that don't obscure the truth?
In the intimacy of your heart, hear Jesus' words: ‘Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ Hear also the gentle reproach that St. Josemaría passed on to us: “Love means deeds, not sweet words."
Nov 11 Mon
Why did they place on Jesus a crimson cloak?
It was a cloak of humiliation. That humiliation implied public shame, disgrace, and ridicule. Jesus was condemned as a sinner and liar. He was charged with deceiving the people and attempting to undermine the civil authorities. He was the object of extreme hate and ultimate persecution by the religious leaders of His day.
It was a brutal blow. If Jesus had the sin of pride, He would not have been able to endure their scorn and mistreatment. He would have brought forth an army of angels to destroy His persecutors. But He didn’t. Instead, He endured every humiliation with confidence and integrity.
Why did our Lord choose those humiliations and die on the Cross? Could he not have redeemed us in a less painful way, without shedding his Blood? Why did he wish to deliver himself up so totally for us? Truly, “it was not necessary for him to undergo so much torment He could have avoided those trials, those humiliations, that ill-usage, that wicked judgment, and the shame of the gallows, and the nails and the lance... But he wanted to suffer all this for you and for me. And we, are we not going to respond?"
The sufferings Jesus endured never evoked in Him any feeling of hatred or revenge. In fact, from the Cross itself, He cried out, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” This powerful witness must influence you and strengthen you to pay no attention whatsoever to the false judgment of others. God has no concern about false judgments and the public humiliation that these judgments impose. Embracing your “cloak of shame” means allowing every worldly humiliation to dissipate before the Mercy and truth of God.
Reflect upon this struggle within you. It requires great humility to ignore false opinions. Seek to embrace that humility and allow the truth to make you free. Jesus’ “cloak” must cover you since it is ultimately the cloak of His grace and Mercy.
The humiliation and effacement of the Incarnate Word also serve to check our pride, which is the first sin and the root of all other sins.
Precisely for this reason, his choice of obscurity is even more praiseworthy. He made a holocaust of himself to accomplish his mission as the one Messiah.
God is asking us for something similar.
Are you truly humble? Can you mortify your self-love, for the sake of charity? Can you accept those humiliations that God asks of you, in unimportant things that don't obscure the truth?
In the intimacy of your heart, hear Jesus' words: ‘Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ Hear also the gentle reproach that St. Josemaría passed on to us: “Love means deeds, not sweet words."
Video: