Good Friday Meditation

THE BODY OF CHRIST CRUCIFIED AGAIN…
(Meditation for Good Friday 21.03.2008)

As the Christians world wide draw nearer and nearer to the Cross of Jesus Christ during this Lenten Season through fasting and meditations, the Dalit Christians in Erayur village of Villipuram district of Tamil Nadu, who were on an indefinite fast against the discrimination in their Parish by the Vanniyars, a caste group within the Church, were badly attacked and their homes were ransacked on the 9th March 2008. Two Christians died and many more wounded in police firing, as the police intervened to stop the clashes between the two communities within the Church. The violence was a fall out of a longstanding dispute over the rituals in the Church, for the Dalit Christians have been demanding equal rights in conducting the rituals to them. The Dalit Christians in Erayur have been demanding a separate parish in the diocese, and has been a demand for several years now. The Dalit Christians in Erayur are forbidden to take their death or marriage processions to the Church through the main road, and instead the caste people have compelled the Dalit Christians to take a narrow road.
Is this incident not disheartening, disturbing and disgusting? Indian Christianity in general and Indian Church in particular with its deeply rooted caste practices have fallen prey to the gamut of discrimination at the expense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is love and liberation. As we join to celebrate the victory of Christ over death, oppression and injustice on the Cross during this Good Friday, this incident of discrimination to Dalit Christians within the Church challenge us in our faith journeys, for the body of Christ is yet again crucified, this time by the unredeemed caste within the Church. Every incident of discrimination and oppression done to Dalits in Church and society makes Jesus to be crucified again and again. In this background, I would like to draw your attention to the three sayings of Jesus Christ from the last seven sayings he has spoken from the Cross for our meditations for this Good Friday. The ultimate relevance of these meditations is that we need to resolve to be the channels of grace for Dalit liberation, and drive away caste from all quarters of the society and strive to ensure for a community of equality, fraternity, justice, peace, self-respect and self-dignity.

1. “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23: 34) – The Dilemma of Dalits
This is the fist saying of Jesus Christ from the Cross. Over the years, this saying has been preached, that all Christians need to forgive and forgive till the point of their death. Today the dilemma for Dalits is that, for ages they have been oppressed, they are continually hurt, beaten up, raped, ostracized, humiliated, discriminated, injured, insulted and killed. In such a situation what is forgiveness? The God of the Bible, on seeing the cruel oppression for Israelites in Egypt, did not just forgive Pharaoh telling for he did not know what he was doing. On the contrary God, heard the cries of the oppressed people and liberated them from their bondages, probably punishing Pharaoh with several curses and defeats. When Israelites were again in the Babylonian captivity, God just did not forgive the Babylonians rather liberated Israelites from their bondages, for which God has to use Cyrus, a non-Jewish leader to liberate Israelites. Therefore, for Dalits to forgive and forget all the oppression they have been undergoing is not an easy task, Dalits need to wrestle with this concept of forgiveness. The God of the Bible can forgive all the oppressors, only if these oppressors realize their unredeemed activity of caste practices and seek forgiveness from God of justice and from their co-human Dalits for their conscious activities of discrimination and humiliation.

2. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? “ ( Mark 15:34) – The Distress of Dalits.
Jesus as he undergoes the pain and suffering on the Cross, minutes before dying, he utters this fourth word from Cross questioning God, about God’s forsakenness. Jesus was all along God-conscious in his words, in his actions, and in his mission. When Jesus approaches that point of death, when his suffering is out of bounds, even then Jesus’ God consciousness comes to fore front, and he calls on the God and questions God in his deep distress and pain. When Jesus uttered these words, the people around who were listening to him mocked at him that he is calling Elijah for help. Jesus’ suffering and distress have been viewed by the people around as a laughing stock. Besides the injuries on the Cross, the insults of the people around are so sore and would have pained Jesus to the core.
Today, when most of the Dalits are attacked, humiliated, ostracized, discriminated, and cry aloud for life, I think those sounds of pain and distress of Dalits resonates with that of these words of Jesus on the Cross. Dalits feel their forsakenness from God as the caste people attack them, and questions God, “My God, when you have created us in your own image, why these discriminations to us? When you have made as your children, co-heirs with Jesus, why these humiliations to us in the name of caste? Why these attacks on us? Why our women are raped? Why our children are under-nourished? … My God, My God why have you forsaken us?” But the Church and society never hear these cries of Dalits; rather they further humiliate the Dalits for their vain tears. The insults on Dalits are so sore and painful. But the God who did not leave Jesus on the dying Cross, is for sure that God never leaves Dalits in their pain.

3. “ Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46) – The Direction for Dalits
Jesus’ last sermon before his death was these last words, which he has spoken from the Cross. As a criminal he was hanged on the Cross, his body was bruised with several wounds and injuries from head to toe, he was insulted and mocked at by the people and had to reach the final moment of his life where he has to breath his last. As the speaker of the words, “Come unto me all who labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest”, Jesus now with all his suffering, injuries and insults goes to the God, whom he calls Father for rest and commits his spirit unto him. Jesus knew that in the open hands of his Father, there is rest and resurrection. In the open hands of the God, there is victory on all forces of principalities and powers, even on the power of the death. Jesus was rest assured that when he commits his spirit into the hands of his father, there is a new hope, a new dawn, a new beginning and a new life. With these last words before death, Jesus could sense a new direction towards resurrection from death.
Dalits today, with all their pains, wounds, insults, oppressions and discriminations in all spheres of life by the caste people, joins with this prayer of Jesus, for they commit their wounded psyche, mind, body and soul into the open hands of the God of justice and liberation, and could gain a new direction towards resurrection from all their bondages. In the open hands of God, all the chains of bondages for Dalits will be broken, in the open hands of God, there is a new direction with a hope towards liberation. In Jesus’ life, death was for a temporary period of three days, and God conquered that death through resurrection of Jesus Christ and that remains for eternity. Resurrection and Liberation are the ultimate winners over death and oppression.

Mind you, it was a bad Friday to the thief who was on the left side of Jesus Christ, for he could not be convinced of the Liberative work of Jesus Christ, and similarly to all those who are not convinced of Jesus’ Liberative work on the Cross and to those who are not committed to carry forward that Liberative work, it will be a bad Friday for them too. Pray that this day will be a Good Friday for all of us and may we all carry on the salvific work of Jesus Christ through setting at liberty all that are oppressed.

Rev. Raj Bharath Patta,
Executive Secretary, Commission on Dalits and Adivasis,
National Council of Churches in India.