Page 56 - laten-08-06-2020

The Rebel’s Resilience

In verse 12, Pilate and Herod become friends. Between
verse 6 and 12, the divided house comes together as the Empire
to undo the lonely rebel. Jesus' silence provoked Herod to treat
him with contempt and mockery. Jesus as a lonely rebel who
was interrogated and torn between the most cruel agencies of
the Roman Empire, not only disturbed the peace but also caused
the divided house within the Empire to come together to witness
the courage of the rebel who denounced the powers of the world
all alone.Pilate and Herod coming together unleashes the fear
psychosis inherent in Empire. Having been threatened by Jesus'
courage to be, the divided house takes effort to come together
in furthering the process of utter humiliation. However, the
humiliated lone rebel, Jesus, stands in insurgence to experience
the brutal violent strength of the Empire, all alone. Jesus is like
those who are lynched and publicly humiliated beyond legal
jurisdiction belonging to Dalit and adivasi communities, these
people who have become symbols of the shallowness of the
Hindutva empire: Akhlaq, Tabrez, Rakhbar and thousands of
others.

Conclusion

Though Herod and Pilate were at their prime power, Jesus
as a lonely rebel ripped the very soul of the power structure and
disclosed the inability of the Empire to end the people's revolt,
what the Jews called as the prophetic messianic apocalypse.Jesus
is the lynched Muslim man, the humiliated Dalit, the hacked
adivasi, the raped and trafficked Dalit and adivasi women who
will break the Hindutva empire and anything alike, apocalypse
indeed!.

Prayer

Almighty God, empower the weak and valnerable to

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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People