Prostrate to the Mighty Humble King
Is 50:4-7; Phi
2:6-11; Mt 26:14—27:66 (Psalm Sunday, A)
Lord God, how
great you are, clothed in majesty and glory, wrapped in light as in a robe.
Today we begin Holy Week, the days during which we
journey with Jesus on his way of the cross and anticipate his Resurrection. We
begin our liturgy today with the procession of palms to remember Jesus’
triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. The series of events of Jesus’ Passion is
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—the Lord’s
Supper on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. In the Gospel of
Matthew (Cycle A), we read the Passion of Jesus on Palm Sunday. On Good Friday,
we will read the Passion of Jesus from the Gospel of John. The story of Jesus’
Passion and death in Matthew’s Gospel focuses particularly on Jesus’ obedience
to the will of his Father and the fulfillment of Scripture.
While the Gospels of Matthew and Mark have many
parallels in their narrative of the Passion, there are a few details worth
noting in Matthew. Only Matthew indicates the price paid to Judas for betraying
Jesus and his death, as is the detail that Pilate’s wife received a warning in
a dream and that Pilate washed his hands of Jesus’ death. Finally, Matthew’s
Gospel alone mentions the earthquakes and other phenomena that happened after
Jesus’ death. The scholars observe that Matthew’s Gospel reflects the tension that
probably existed between the early Christian community and their Jewish
contemporaries. At the Second Vatican Council, the Council Fathers made 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 (Nostra Aetate No. 4 - In Our Time
1965).
There are many reflections from which to engage in
Jesus’ Passion in the characters of Matthew’s Gospel. They reflect us and not
others. Sometimes we are like Judas, who betrayed Jesus and came to regret it.
We are sometimes like Peter, who denied him, or like the disciples, who fell
asleep during Jesus’ darkest hour, but then acted rashly and violently at his
arrest. Sometimes we are like Simon, 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 instead of standing for the truth. Jesus
dies so that our sins will be forgiven.
Jesus is King. This King does not impose himself. He
offers Himself. His kingship is infused with a spirit of service. “He will not
dispute or raise his voice to make it heard in the streets. He will be meek and
humble. Let us run to accompany him as he hastens toward his passion, not by
covering his path with garments, olive branches or palms, but by doing all we
can to prostrate ourselves before him” (Saint Andrew of Crete, bishop).
“Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord; blessed is the King of Israel” (Divine Office)
🙏
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