Tuesday 12th May 2020
Fifth week of Easter
Acts 14:19-28, John 14:27-31
On Passion/Palm Sunday, we read
in the gospel reading how Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly and the people
acclaimed him their king. In the same mass, we read the passion narrative when
the people shout that he should be crucified. I usually wonder how some of the
people would turn all of a sudden from acclamation to condemnation.
In the first reading of
yesterday, we saw how the people in Lystra and Derbe acclaimed Paul and
Barnabas as gods and wanted to offer sacrifices to them. It is surprising how
the same people today dragged them outside the town to stone them. This is what
the power of evil thought and comments can do. In the case of Jesus, it was the
chief priests and elders of the people who incited the people against him, but
in the case of Paul and Barnabas, it was Jews who came to Lystra to change the
minds of the people towards them. Two lessons are important here.
1. Do not get carried away when
people are praising you. A day will come when the same people will turn against
you when they have the right motivation from an enemy to do so. People only
praise you when you do what they think is beneficial to them, as soon as they
feel threatened by you, they may incite
others against you to destroy you.
2. Do not lose focus because of
criticism and torment. We see that Jesus never complained when the person who
had acclaimed him God turned against him, Paul and Barnabas also did not complain
of the bad treatment by the people, they simply left Lystra for Derbe. As
Christians, we should be ready to get it hot and cold, we should expect the
worse even from our closest friends because you can turn from a saint to a
demon easily in human eyes. When this happens, we should rejoice and dance
because God has counted us worthy to share in his passion. God help us. Amen
Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie MSP
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