This week I went and I saw the movie “The Hunger Games.” In short, it’s a futuristic story about an unjust society that has a government that every year demands two tributes, or sacrifices, from each of its districts to fight to death in an attempt to remind the people who is really in control. Very reminiscent of the Gladiatorial fights of ancient Rome – where slaves and criminals were forced to fight to the death for the amusement and entertainment of the elite and powerful - and a reminder to everyone else... the Capitol was in charge.
There’s a scene in this movie where the heroine and the other boy from her district are brought into the Capitol city in a chariot, with people waving, cheering and applauding their arrival. Excited about the upcoming games that will be played. The main character, Katniss, has this sense of both awe, and revulsion, at the fact that all these people are cheering for her at this moment, knowing that in just a few short days, they will be cheering not for her amazing entrance or for who she is as a person – but will be cheering and rooting for her death.
As I watched that scene on the movie screen, I couldn’t help seeing the similarity in what happened to Jesus on Palm Sunday – the people were cheering and shouting and praising Jesus as he enters through the city. For the people of Judah, finally – the messiah had come. Finally, here is the savior of Israel that will get their nation back on track.
