Thursday, April 11, 2019

Sunday Gospel Reflection, April 14, 2019: Because of this God greatly exalted him...


How do we embrace the paradox of salvation history?

  Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion is a study in contrasts.  We first hear the story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem:  spreading their cloaks on the road, Luke tells us, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy.  When the Pharisees want Jesus to rebuke the disciples, Jesus refuses:  I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!  Jesus enters Jerusalem to fulfill the prophecies made over the centuries; it is time to accomplish all he set out to accomplish, time to reveal the truth God sent him to reveal.  And there is no rebuking the truth of salvation:  Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is the culmination of the people’s appreciation of his activity in the world, of his teaching, preaching, and healing.

  Or is it?  Those very same people who cry glory in the highest will be those who cry Crucify him! in Luke’s account of Jesus’ Passion, and Jesus’ crucifixion will rip the carpet out from under all the recipients of his miracles.  Jesus’ well-trained tongue has spoken to the weary a word that roused them; now, like the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, Jesus will not rebel, not turn back.  He will be beaten, buffeted and spat upon, but he will set his face like flint, knowing he will not be put to shame.  Paul tells the Philippians that Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of the slave, obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  That death will fulfill the prophecies of Psalm 22:  Jesus will be mocked by men who say, He relied on the Lord, let him deliver him, if he loves him; his hands and feet will be pierced, his garments divided.  But even as he asks, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?, Jesus knows that Psalm 22 is ultimately a psalm of praise, for only God can deliver him; only in God can we find salvation.  And so, we, embracing God’s truth, must, like Jesus, work to fulfill the psalm’s final invocation:  The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought. 

  Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion is a study in contrasts, from joy and glory to suffering and death.  It is a paradox of our faith that we must embrace all of these at the same time, rejoicing in the suffering, exalting our Lord in death, that we too might on bended knee confess his truth and proclaim his name to our brethren.  For Jesus Christ, in joy and in suffering, is Lord, lifting us up through his death and resurrection, taking humanity to the cross with him, that we might be saved.  Let us meditate this Holy Week on that paradox, Jesus’ triumph and his Passion, his death and his rising, to the glory of God the Father.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source:  www.wordclouds.com

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