The Day Jesus was Cancelled
And how we still do it to this day
In every nook and cranny of the social media sphere, the term “cancel culture” is nothing new. More than an exception, it’s now become a norm, completely denying its victim of any form of redemption or corrective action across all aspects of his or her life.
Yet come to think of it, we’re not really the original instigators of cancel culture. It’s been around for millennia, existing in different forms and engaged through different means.
In fact, there was one man who experienced it to the death around two thousand years ago. It was a form of cancelling that had him experienced being betrayed by his friend, denied thrice by another, and left alone by nine others just to go into hiding out of fear, save for the one whom “he loved” who stood by him and his mother to the end. He was cancelled even by the very authorities who should have been the ones to extend impartiality towards him who did nothing wrong but to preach love and mercy. He was cancelled by a crowd who more than willingly chose a thief and a revolutionary over him who chose to go around curing the sick, embracing those who choose to change despite their imperfections, and not cancelling anyone who wishes to make the effort to restart anew.
He was cancelled simply for speaking the truth, for being the Truth.
About two thousand years ago, the Jews went all out to cancel Jesus. Flogged, beaten, spat and hurled expletives at, mocked, jeered, ridiculed, made to walk kilometers up a barren hill carrying a cross that was probably more than twice his weight, crowned with thorns, left to bleed, treated like a man’s behind when they placed a sponge on a spear to have him suck on wine, cast lots for his tunic as if it was mere betting game, and made a spectacle of him till he made his last breath.
Yes, we remember that day, that very day when they tried to cancel Jesus off of existence despite his innocence.
How did it end that day?
They realized their mistake, but it was too late. Luke shared how the people responded.
The centurion who witnessed what had happened glorified God and said, “This man was innocent beyond doubt.” When all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their breasts; but all his acquaintances stood at a distance, including the women who had followed him from Galilee and saw these events.
Almost two millennia after, here we are, still cancelling Jesus. We continue to cancel him in our day-to-day, in our sins and failures, in our inability to love, in our inclinations towards that things and ideas that lead us away and shut us off from God.
But Christ will not be cancelled. He was not cancelled that day, he will not be cancelled today, and will never be cancelled.
He died that day on the cross, but his death was not the end of him. It was a prelude to a victory against evil and death that was won from love. It was a victory that serves as a concrete proof and reminder that no amount of cancelling him will ever succeed, and neither are we meant to be cancelled.
On his death on the cross, Christ was the one who cancelled sin for us, paving the way for redemption and salvation, a sure path towards the glory of the Father.
Now, it’s our turn. It’s our turn to transform that cancel culture to one that’s directed towards our daily sins, failures, and shortcomings. It’s our turn to place ourselves prostrate daily at the foot of Christ’s cross, asking him to always teach us, and lead us, towards that path he has paved for us. We only need to respond with a humble yet resounding yes, dying to ourselves daily and falling in love with him more and more in each passing hour.
After all, in Christ’s death and cancelling of our sins, we are meant for the eternal glory that is the Kingdom of Heaven. We simply need to do our part in the Divine plan of God for us.
Ave Maria!
