March 2, 2003

The brief penitential period of Lent begins with a declaration of mortality: “Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.” It concludes with the Holy Week which redefines mortality and all history. Nothing has been the same since Jesus entered the “Gate Beautiful” in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

Muslims revere Jesus as one of the Twenty-five Prophets. Mohammed learned about him through Christian heretics: mostly Nestorians, Ebionites, and Arians who were confused about the divine and human natures of the Messiah. He met some orthodox Catholic Christians months before he died, but the Qu’ran had already been dictated. The Qu’ran’s notion of Jesus is much like that of the “Gnostic Christians” for whom suffering contradicted righteousness. This view finds incomprehensible the good news that Christ died for us, taking our sins upon himself as the Saviour. Islam denies that Jesus was crucified, believing that the disciples and Mary herself were deceived by an imposter on the cross. Muslims commonly accept the false “Gospel of Barnabas” which asserts that Judas was the one crucified. The Qur’an condemns those who speak of the death of “the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God” and says, …”they did not slay him, neither crucified him, only a likeness of that was shown to them.” (Qur’an 4:156-157)

This fantastic oriental confusion about the way Christ opened to us the gates of everlasting life reached a climax in the 16th century when the Sultan Suleiman, fearful that the Messiah of the Jews would return in glory through the “Gate Beautiful” as He had on Palm Sunday, bricked up that portal in the east wall of the Holy City. It remains so today.

The crowd at the foot of the Cross mocked Jesus for not being able to save himself, though He saved others. So did the cynical thief hanging next to him. Even Peter at first said he would not allow Jesus to go to Jerusalem to die, but our Lord said the voice speaking through him was that of Satan. The Prince of Lies fears the cross because it conquers him.

It is possible to deny the cross through the pessimistic notion that there is no solution for a sinful world, or through the optimistic notion that there is no sin to resolve. It has been said that a pessimist is an unhappy idiot and an optimist is a happy idiot. Lent defies idiocy by showing a third way: There is sin and it can be conquered by the cross. Instead of pessimism and optimism, the Christian has repentance and hope. Jesus was crucified and by his resurrection He made the wood of the cross medicina mundi — the medicine of the world. We would be as foolish as the Sultan Suleiman if we bricked up our hearts to the Saviour of the World.

Fr. George W. Rutler