Friends, in today’s Gospel the chief priests and Pharisees,
unite in a plot to kill Jesus because he raised Lazarus
from the dead.
The Crucifixion of Jesus is a classic instance
of René Girard’s scapegoating theory. He held
that a society, large or small, that finds itself in
conflict comes together through a common act
of blaming an individual or group purportedly
responsible for the conflict.
It is utterly consistent with the Girardian theory
that Caiaphas, the leading religious figure of the
time, said to his colleagues, "It is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish."
In any other religious context, this sort of
rationalization would be validated. But in the
Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, this stunning
truth is revealed: God is not on the side of the
scapegoaters, but rather on the side of the
scapegoated victim.The true God does not
sanction a community
created through violence; rather, he sanctions
what Jesus called the kingdom of God, a society
grounded in forgiveness, love, and identification
with the victim.
Reflect: How did the Resurrection turn the
scapegoating that Caiaphas supported into the
key to our salvation?
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