Jesus is Deserving of our Awe

by David Lins  |  04/02/2023  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

I was walking across the inner courtyard of my high school when I heard an eruption of sound from the other end. A crowd was quickly forming, and the energy was unmistakable. It was a fight. Naturally, I headed that way.

By the time I got there, the crowd had multiplied, but I swam the butterfly for the varsity swim team and I was more than able to muscle my way to the front.

When I got there, one young man was screaming down another bigger student, who wasn’t moving. He wasn’t yelling back. His face like flint, he kept calmly explaining that the rumors were not true.

Finally, not eliciting the confession he wanted, the first student unfurled a lightning-fast punch to the calm student’s jaw. It spun his head slightly and the crowd responded with a collective “ooooohhhhhh.” The one who’d been punched reached up and touched his jaw, before fronting up to the other man who was now quiet, reveling in the crowd’s admiration, readying himself for the response, and preparing for the desired fight. We were all sure the bigger student was about to unleash a whirlwind of retaliation.

Instead, the accused student firmly responded, not backing down, “You can punch me again, but the rumors are untrue, and there is nothing you can do that will make me say otherwise.”

The crowd was quiet now. None of us had ever seen something so… masculine. So… strong.

The angry student looked more enraged than ever, and roared as he… turned and stomped back through the crowd.

It was amazing. A man willingly walking into violence he could’ve dominated. A man who knew what was true and no provocation could force him to retaliate.

The awe the crowd felt that day – it was but a taste of what Jesus did for all of us on Palm Sunday.

He willingly walked into violence. Violence he could’ve dominated. A man who new he was Truth and no provocation could force him to retaliate.

This Palm Sunday, Jesus is deserving of our awe.