The Passion of Our Lord
Mt. 27: 11 -54
Palm Sunday of the Passion
of the Lord
Introduction
Today we hear the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew. In this narrative we hear of the events that lead up to the crucifixion and death of Jesus. It, however, also narrates to us the immediate aftermath of Jesus' death which vindicates him.
The Gospel
11 Now
Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King
of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” 12 But when he was
accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. 13 Then
Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against
you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single
charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
15 Now
at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the
crowd, anyone whom they wanted. 16 At that time they had a
notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. 17 So after they had
gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus
Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 For he
realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. 19 While
he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing
to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of
a dream about him.” 20 Now the chief priests and the elders
persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. 21 The
governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for
you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then
what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let
him be crucified!” 23 Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he
done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”
24 So
when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning,
he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am
innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” 25 Then
the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26 So
he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to
be crucified.
27 Then
the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around
him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and
after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a
reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King
of the Jews!” 30 They spat on him, and took the reed and struck
him on the head. 31 After mocking him, they stripped him of the
robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
32 As
they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled
this man to carry his cross. 33 And when they came to a place
called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered
him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink
it. 35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes
among themselves by casting lots; 36 then they sat down there
and kept watch over him. 37 Over his head they put the charge
against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
38 Then
two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those
who passed by derided him, shaking their heads 40 and
saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save
yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 In
the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were
mocking him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save
himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross
now, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God
deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’” 44 The
bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.
45 From
noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the
afternoon. 46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud
voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?” 47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they
said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 At once one of them
ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it
to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see
whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 Then
Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51 At
that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The
earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were
opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 After
his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and
appeared to many. 54 Now when the centurion and those with him,
who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they
were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”
Reflection
Today is Palm Sunday. Today we commemorate the entry
of Jesus into Jerusalem where, with palm branches, people welcomed him with
jubilant shouts of joy as they cried out: “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
Though it is Palm Sunday, our reading is not about
the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem. It is about the Passion and death of the Lord.
Palm Sunday, however, signals the start of Holy Week. In the next few days, we shall
commemorate three important events of our faith. These three events are often
called the Easter Triduum which includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Black
Saturday. On the evening of Black Saturday, however, we will celebrate the
resurrection of the Lord during the Easter Vigil Mass which officially starts
the season of Easter.
Our reading today is an account of the Passion and
Death of Jesus according to Matthew. It begins with Jesus brought before
Pontius Pilate and ends with the Lord’s death on the cross and its immediate
aftermath. For our reflection, let us break this passion episode into the
following:
1. Jesus
before Pilate. Our reading does not
include the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin. When Jesus was arrested at the
Garden of Gethsemane, he was immediately taken to the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin
was a council consisting of prominent religious leaders usually made up of
priests, scribes and elders. The head of this council was the high priest who at
that time was Caiaphas. Matthew tells us that at the trial before the
Sanhedrin, Jesus was accused of blasphemy because he claimed to be the Messiah,
the Son of God. Since blasphemy was for the Jews punishable by death, they had
to bring the matter to the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, since under the law,
the Sanhedrin had no authority to execute anyone. Only Pilate as roman governor
had the power to condemn anyone to death.
When Jesus was brought
before Pilate he hardly said a word. He had a single line as a response to
Pilate’s question. Other than that, we do not hear Jesus speaking again until
just before he dies on the cross. We do not hear him defend himself before
Pilate or before the crowd. His silence was simply mysterious and enigmatic.
But his silence also conveyed to us the weight of the rejection he experienced
from the crowd who chose a notorious criminal instead of him. Eventually, when
he was given over to the Roman guards, he once more kept his silence as he
suffered the extreme humiliation of being stripped of his clothes and mocked by
the Roman soldiers as he was flogged, spat upon, crowned with thorns, beaten
and ridiculed. There, at the hands of gentiles who ruled over Israel, he chose
to be helpless and silent as he went through this cruel and violent ordeal.
2. The
Crucifixion. After being tortured by
the roman guards, Jesus was given a cross to carry. He must have been totally
drained of his strength, physically and emotionally. He would have spent the
night in prison at the Sanhedrin’s dungeon with no food. The flogging would
have wounded him by now and his wounds would have been bleeding profusely. And
as they made him to carry his cross, his captors must have noticed how tired he
was, so they forced a man named Simon of Cyrene to help him carry the cross.
When Jesus arrives at
Golgotha, the small stone hill on an abandoned quarry where he was to be
crucified, they gave him wine mixed with gall to drink. Wine and gall was usually
given to those who were about to be crucified. This was to relieve and ease the
pain of being crucified. But Jesus refused this anesthetic and went through the
entire excruciating process of crucifixion without any pain killer. When
finally, they crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots among
themselves. Then they placed a conspicuous placard above Jesus’ head where it
was written: “ This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” After this, according to Matthew,
all the insults began to be hurled at Jesus in full force, first, by the two
revolutionaries who were crucified with him, then by those who passed by and
finally by the chief priests, scribes and elders. They all reviled and mocked
him. Then, as Jesus hanged on the cross, the people present there began to
challenge him, telling him to prove himself and show that he was really who he
claims to be. They challenged him to get down from the cross and save himself.
But the language of this challenge was similar to the language employed by the
devil when he tempted Jesus in the desert. There, the devil tempted him, telling him to show
his power as the son of God before the whole world. Now, at the cross, these
people who reviled him wanted him to show and prove his power before all to
see. Jesus, however, does not yield to their challenge even if he knows it
would have been possible for him to do so.
Then by three in the afternoon, he
cried out to God, asking him why he has been forsaken. Then, he cried out again
in a loud voice and gave up his spirit.
3. Immediate Aftermath of the Crucifixion and
Death of Jesus. Immediately after Jesus’ death on the cross, Matthew narrates
some astonishing events that take place in Jerusalem.
First, the veil of the
sanctuary in the temple was torn in two. This veil divided the Holy of Holies
from the rest of the temple. The revered and venerated Ark of the Covenant was
enthroned in the Holy of Holies. No one enters this place except for the high
priest who enters it just once a year. The Holy of Holies was the place of God.
The veil was symbolic because it divided God from man. But now, with Jesus’
death, this division between God and man has now been removed. God has now
reconciled himself with mankind through the death of his Son Jesus who has
atoned for the sins of mankind.
Second, Matthew tells
us that there was an earthquake after Jesus died on the cross. Rocks were
split, tombs were opened and bodies of the dead were raised and entered the
holy city and appeared to many. This was Matthew’s way of saying that at the
death of Jesus, there was new life. Our common destiny in death has now been transformed
into a new life in the resurrection of the dead made possible through the death
of Jesus.
Lastly, those who were
keeping watch over the crucifixion, namely the centurion and the men with him who
witnessed what happened at the death of Jesus, vindicate Jesus by proclaiming
him as the Son of God.
The immediate aftermath
of Jesus’ death was Matthew’s account of the Lord’s vindication from all the
accusations hurled against him from the start. In splitting the veil of the
temple in two, Jesus practically “destroyed” the temple, an accusation they
hurled against Jesus during his trial. In making the dead rise and walk through
Jerusalem, Jesus proves himself the Messiah, which was again another one of the
accusations they leveled against him. Lastly, when the Roman centurion and his
companions declare that Jesus was the Son of God, Jesus is again vindicated for
his claims that he was indeed the Son of God.
Finally, this long
passion narrative makes us reflect on the following:
1. The Silence
of Jesus. The silence of Jesus is
incredible to say the least. The patience, the endurance, the humility and
courage of a man endowed with so much power, yet still and silent during an
ordeal, astounds us. He allowed the will of God to be fulfilled and did not
stand in the way of God’s plans. There was no complaint, no angry response on
those who insulted and abused him. He allowed them to inflict pain on him
without ever saying a word to them.
2. Humility. Rejection is traumatic. People rejected Jesus and
chose Barabbas instead. The soldiers inflicted pain and mocked him for his
kingly delusions. As he hanged on the cross, the insults simply didn’t stop. He
was cursed, derided and reviled to the bitter end. A placard was placed above
him as a label of insult. A man with so much power would have responded
differently. Jesus instead chose to take it all in.
3. Trust in
God. At the end of the crucifixion,
the Father vindicates his Son by testifying to everything Jesus has claimed
himself to be. God is not deaf. God hears the cry of the just. Those who trust
in the Lord will never be disappointed.
As we continue to remain in quarantine in our homes,
let us reflect on the passion and death of our Lord during this week. Let us
consider at what price God paid for our salvation and freedom to be his
children. God has gone to so much length as to sacrifice his own son for our
sake. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is a testimony of God’s love for each of us.
It is time that we re- assess our own self- worth and believe that we are
indeed precious in God’s eyes because God allowed his son to go through all
these for our sake. The life we now
live, we live because of him who gave his life for us.
Prayer
Lord, thank you. You have redeemed us by the blood of
your Son Jesus that was poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. Holy God,
Holy Immortal One, Have Mercy on Us. Amen.
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