What might our praise sound like as Jesus makes his final
entry into Jerusalem?
On Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, we are called to
recognize many of the facets of Jesus' identity: he is at once suffering servant and king,
obedient son and Lord, human and divine.
Jesus, as human, fulfills the description of the suffering servant
offered by the prophet Isaiah; God has made it possible for him to stand in the
face of controversy, steady, his face set
like flint, so hard it gives off
sparks, ready to suffer at the hands of those who believe they are doing God's
will. On the cross, Jesus will pray
Psalm 22, which we should not be too quick to judge as pure lament. In fact, although the psalm records the
poet's distress -- My God, my God, why
have you abandoned me? -- in fact, it moves from there to a place of praise
for the help God has offered him. It is
as if Jesus is saying, human, I may be
completely vulnerable, but so long as God is with me, I will praise my Father
and give glory to him!
The Gospel passage from Luke, read as we conclude the procession with our
palms, echoes such praise as Jesus makes his way into Jerusalem on a colt: Blessed
is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, the people cry. They express obeissance, honoring Jesus by
spreading their cloaks -- an essential and intimate possession -- on the road
he passes over. Even the stones will cry out, Jesus tells the
indignant Pharisees, should they attempt to silence the crowds. The inevitability of praise shines through
our reading from Philippians as well, an early Christian hymn in which Jesus, humble and obedient, is exulted by God, who bestows upon Jesus the name that is above every name: Jesus
Christ is Lord, divine.
Holy Week gives us the opportunity to contemplate all of
these images of Jesus Christ: servant and king, son and Lord, human and divine. As we move into the sacred space of Triduum,
may we each and every one embrace these deep paradoxes of our faith, that we
might advance in our knowledge of the salvation that only a Lord who was at
once human and divine could operate on our behalf, and join in our confession
that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord!
This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
Image source: Wordle
