The agony of victory and the thrill of defeat

The readings for Palm Sunday dramatically depict the thrill of Christ’s victorious entrance into Jerusalem, His agony in the garden, and His apparent defeat on the Cross, taking us to the cusp of His stunning victory over the grave. Those events weren’t, of course, matters of sport and entertainment, but of life and death, damnation and salvation. And they contain a wealth of paradox, filled with seemingly apparent contradictions that can only make sense because they are supernatural. They are, [in another words], part of the foolishness of God that is wiser than the wisdom of men (cf., 1 Cor 1:25).

If the Incarnation is incomprehensible, the death of the God-man on the Cross is simply incredible, an audacious act of sacrificial love freely accepted by the One who is and who knows perfect Love. The Cross is not the end, but the beginning, the start of a new creation and the birth of the Church. It is not the final destruction of a life, but the only source of everlasting life.

The Easter liturgy of the Eastern Churches continually returns to a simple refrain of paradoxical joy: “By death He conquered death.” G.K. Chesterton, a master of paradox, had a character in the novel The Ball and the Cross put it this way: “The cross cannot be defeated … for it is Defeat.” Here is the true thrill of victory, not snatched from the jaws of defeat, but in and through the jaws of death. It is because of this that God exalted Christ Jesus, so that every tongue will confess that He is Lord.

Here is a final paradox to ponder: those who should recognize the Messiah often do not, while those who have little status or knowledge often do recognize Him. Judas, who lived with Christ for three years, betrayed Him to the chief priests, whose place and power blinds them to identity of the man from Nazareth. The lowly crowds, however, sang “Hosanna!”, and the Roman solders—accustomed to seeing death—exclaimed, at the foot of the Cross, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”

Perhaps this supernatural paradox could be called the agony of victory and the thrill of defeat.



Thanks to Carl Olsen for Ignatius Insight Scoop.