Thank you to all who have taken the time to follow along over the past 6 weeks with my Lenten series on immigration. I’ve enjoyed writing it, and I sincerely appreciate your kindness and support.

A few final thoughts as we approach Easter Sunday. May you all have a happy and blessed Easter!

Mark 15:9-15

“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.

“Crucify him!” they shouted.

“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.”

When I was a young teenager, the TV series Jesus of Nazareth aired for the first time. I was deeply moved by it then, and love any opportunity to watch it even to this day. I remember the scene leading up to the crucifixion, where Pilate presents both Jesus and Barabbas to the people and asks who should be set free. As the angry crowd turns against Jesus and calls for his death, you see the anguish and shock on the faces of his followers among the group.

My heart was always bothered by the fact that people were so quick to turn on Jesus; how a mob mentality made it easy for them to condemn him. As our priest pointed out, many in the same crowd that welcomed Jesus on Palm Sunday turned on him by Friday.

I realized how awful it must have been for those who shouted for his death and later came to understand the grave error of their choice. It’s so easy to get swept up in a movement and lose sense of right and wrong, and to do things that we might later regret. We do things in a group that often we would never do on our own.

That same mob mentality of condemnation is seen today in the political rhetoric on migrants, homeless or poor people, or so many other marginalized groups. How easy it is for our politicians in places like Texas or Florida to encourage the crowd to turn on the innocent. Perhaps they don’t understand the choices people make in their lives; perhaps they don’t agree with those choices. Certainly, it is ok to disagree or lack understanding. But it is not ok to condemn others to a cruel legal system, unjust incarceration or plain, simple bullying, just for being different.

Picture yourself in a crowd at the steps of the Capitol. The Governor is ranting about immigrants and how they are ruining our state. We have a choice to make: we can choose the path of least resistance and go along with the angry mob. Or we can choose to walk in the shoes of our brothers and sisters and show compassion for their troubles. Persecution is not justice.

Where do you see yourself in this crowd? How will you view your choices in the context of time? I often think of how awful it must be to go to your grave being the people who were screaming at the little girl as she was integrated into the Alabama schools, or those who stood silently while Jewish people were rounded up in Germany. Life is full of challenges and hard choices. But being on the side of kindness, compassion and forgiveness are always the right path. Following Jesus is not meant to be an easy road; it’s the narrow way we are called to walk that means putting aside our human prejudices to care for our neighbor.

May we all strive to be the voices in the crowd calling for justice and compassion. And may we learn to see Jesus in those we do not understand.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Proverbs 31:8-9