The Holy Priest-Martyr Therapontus (254-59)
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Acts 17:1-15; John 11:47-57
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
In today’s Gospel, the Pharisees plot to kill Jesus because he raised Lazarus. We see here a particular form of opposition—namely, scapegoating. Scapegoating has been identified as a basic mechanism to the maintenance of order in most human communities. When tensions arise among people due to competitive desire, scapegoats—usually outsiders—are automatically singled out, and upon them is cast the collective anxiety of the group.
The leaders of the nation are seeking to isolate and eliminate Jesus because they are anxious to soothe tensions among the people. The Gospel stresses this dimension when it puts in the mouth of Caiaphas the words: “You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.”
But, in Jesus, the true God will undermine this officially sanctioned scapegoating by becoming the scapegoat himself. Jesus willingly takes on the role of scapegoat, but for a different reason. He chooses to die on the cross and conquers death by his death so that all who believe in Him might have eternal life.
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