Gospel: Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

Today marks the start of the Holy Week, called Palm Sunday, and the Gospel reading will be proclaimed according to St Matthew (tap here to read today's Mass readings from USCCB).

Today, we accompany Jesus in his journey to the cross and anticipate his Resurrection on Easter. The liturgy begins with the procession with palms to remind us of Jesus' triumphant entrance into Jerusalem.

The events of Jesus' Passion are proclaimed in their entirety in today's Liturgy of the Word. Those events will be proclaimed again when we celebrate the liturgies of the Triduum--Maundy Thurday's Mass of the Lord's Supper, the Good Friday of the Lord's Passion, and the Easter Vigil. In communities that celebrate the Sacraments of Initiation with catechumens, these liturgies take on special importance because they invite the catechumens and the community to enter together with the central mysteries of our faith. These days are indeed profound and holy.

In Cycle A, we read the Passion of Jesus as found in the Gosoel of St Matthew on Palm (or Passion) Sunday. On Good Friday, we will read the Lord's Passion according to St John. The story of Jesus' Passion and death in St Matthew's Gospel focuses particularly on the obedience of Jesus to the will of his Father. As Jesus sends his disciples to prepare for Passover, he indicates that the events to come are the will of the Father (Matthew 26:18). In Jesus' prayer in the garden, he prays three times to the Father to take away the cup of suffering but each time, Jesus concludes that by affirming his obedience to the Father's will (Matthew 26:39-44). Even St Matthew's description of Jesus death shows this very obedience to the Almighty Father.

Another theme of St Matthew's Gospel is to show Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture. Throughout the Passion narrative, St Matthew cites and alludes to Scipture to show that the events of Jesus' Passion and death are in accordance with all that was foretold. And if the events were foretold, then God is in control. In addition, St Matthew is particularly concerned that the reader does not miss the fact that Jesus is the suffering Servant of the Old Testament.

Jesus acts in obedience to the Father even in death, so that sins may be forgiven. St Matthew makes this clear in the story of the Lord's Supper. As Jesus blesses the chalice, he says ". . . for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28)

While the Gospels of St Matthew and St Mark have many parallels in their narrative of the Passion, there are a few details worth noting that are unique to St Matthew. Only St Matthew indicates the price paid to Judas for betraying Jesus. The story of Judas' death is also found only in the Gospel account of St Matthew, as is the detail that Pilate's wife received a warning in a dream, and that Pilate washed his hands of Jesus' death. Finally, St Matthew's Gospel alone mentions the earthquakes and other phenomena that hapoened after Jesus took his last breath.

St Matthew places the responsibility of Jesus' death on the Sanhedrin, the chief priests and elders who were responsible for the Temple. However, the animosity that those Jewish leaders and the Jewish people demonstrate toward Jesus is not to be interpreted in ways that blame the Jewish people for Jesus' death. Throughout St Matthew's Gospel, the narrative reflects the tension that probably existed between the early Christian community and their Jeweish contemporaries. At the Second Vatican Council, the Council Fathers make clear that all sinners share responsibility for the suffering and death of Jesus and that it is wrong to place blame for Jesus' Passion on the Jewish contemporaries of Jesus or on Jewish people today.

There are many vantage points from which to engage in Jesus' Passion. In the characters of St Matthew's Gospel, we find reflections of ourselves and the many ways in which we sometimes respond to Jesus. Sometimes we are like Judas, who betrays Jesus and comes to regret it. We are sometimes like St Peter who denies him, or like the rest of the disciples who fell asleep in Jesus' darkest hour but then act harshly and violently at his arrest. Sometimes we are like St Simon of Cyrene, who is pressed into service to help Jesus carry his cross. Sometimes we are like the leaders who fear Jesus or like Pontius Pilate, who washed his hands of the whole affair. Jesus dies so that our sins will be forgiven.

The events of Jesus Passion, death, and Resurrection are called the Paschal Mystery. No amount of study will exhaust or explain the depth of love that Jesus showed in offering this sacrifice for us. After we have examined and studied the stories we have received about these events, we are left with one final task--to meditate on these events and on the forgiveness that Jesus' obedience won for us.

x---------x

Picture from Pexels.