Isa 50:4-7; Psa 21(22):8-9,17-20,23-24; Phil 2:6-11; Matt 26:14-27:66
The Passion Sunday launches us into the holiest and most important week of Church’s life. It begins the deepest moment of reflection, commemoration and the celebration of God who suffered for humankind. It gives us the particular opportunity to reflect on what God did for humankind and the
entire creation in Christ.
The time of Jesus’s earthly living was the time the Jews were waiting for a saviour who would liberate them from the Roman empire. When Jesus came, presenting himself as that Saviour (Lk 4:18;Matt 15:24 etc), many, including the disciples started believing in him and following him (Matt 4:20,22;19:27). We must not forget that at this time, liberation from one’s enemy was through sword.
Hence, if Israel must be saved from Rome, it must have to be through military conquest, according to the understanding then. Unfortunately, when the time came for Jesus to initiate the war against the Roman government, to the disappointment of all the disciples, Jesus failed to fight. Even when one of the
disciples (reported by other evangelists to be Peter) showed his readiness to fight, Jesus rebuked him (26:51-54).
You can imagine being a follower of someone you believe will save you from your enemy, and when the time to fight this enemy comes, you stand to fight with him, and he rebukes you and sees you as standing against his destiny. That is exactly how the disciples felt. Peter even swore that even if
all desert Jesus, he will give his life [fighting for] him (26:33,35). But when Jesus failed to fight, and rejected every human defense, but surrendered himself willingly to the enemies of the Jews, out of disappointment and not understanding him anymore, the disciples all abandoned him and ran away
(26:56). Even Peter who followed him to the courtyard of the high priest, was following just to see how everything would end (26:58). That is to say, Peter wanted to see how Jesus planned to win the war without a fight.
Having been disappointed, Peter felt he does not know who Jesus is anymore. When people were saying to him: You also were with Jesus the Galilean (26:69), for two times Peter responded: “I do not know the man” (26:72,74). This Peter’s response has been seen as Peter denying Jesus, but can it also be that Peter was actually affirming what was true concerning his knowledge of
Jesus at that point in time? Peter could also be affirming: This is not the man whom I have been following thinking he would overthrow the Roman government and begin a new reign of Israel?
But when all these were happening, Jesus’s attention remained on the mission the Father has sent him to do. Jesus knew that the war he has come to fight is not that between Jews and Romans, but war against the power of darkness which has engulfed the entire humanity. He will fight it, not with
swords and arrows, but ‘in the name of the Lord’. In his entrance into Jerusalem, the people were singing
“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest’ (Matt 21:9). This expression, “who comes in the name of the Lord”, presents Jesus as David.
In the fight with Goliath, as David entered into the battle ground, and was approaching Goliath, the Philistine mocked him and said: “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” (1 Sam. 17:43 NAS).
But David responded: ‘You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel…’ (1 Sam. 17:45 NRS). And just as David defeated the huge Goliath, allowing the Israelites to enjoy freedom, so shall Jesus defeat sin and its
power on mankind.
When David opted to go and fight against the huge Goliath (1 Sam 17:32), Saul clothed him with his war garments and arms (1 Sam 17:38) because they were the traditional known weapons of war. But David rejected them because they were not his kind of weapons (1 Sam 17:39).
Although David took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he
approached the Philistine. (1 Sam. 17:40 NAS), when Goliath mocked him about his weapons, he did not consider the things he was holding as that which would grant him victory, rather, he relied on the name of God, who fights for his people.
And at the end, God granted him victory, to the surprise of both the Jews and the Philistines. In the same way, Jesus changed our weapon of victory from swords and javelins and spears to humility and trust in God who sends us.
In the second reading, St. Paul demonstrates the height of Christ’s self-emptying for the sake of the mission of the Father. From being God, he came down to being a servant. And from being man, he went down to assuming the position of a cursed. That is to say, in the eyes of God, he made himself
a servant, and in the eyes of men, he made himself a nobody, so that he can bring man to God, and God to man. This is exactly what Christ’s passion achieved. At the point of his death: the veil of the temple tore in two (that which separates God and man; heaven and earth, was removed), and men held captive in the underworld were released and began to return to the city of God, Jerusalem. (Matt 27:51-55).
Hence, to the question Cur Deus Homo? (Why did God become man?), Christ’s actions respond that it is to elevate man to God (1 Pet 3:18) and bring God down to man. And when we are faced with sufferings, degradation, humiliation, we shall always remember that through them, God prepares us for a final glory. And as St. Peter rightly says: Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps’ (1 Pet. 2:21 NAS).
Through Christ, passion obtained a divine connotation. He who suffers is no longer seen as a cursed or abandoned, but undergoing a moment that, if he remains focused on God, listening to him, and abiding in him, will lead to glory.
However, Christ endured his suffering and death, because they were God’s wish for the salvation of man. It therefore becomes important that we always distinguish sufferings that are man-made, which demand man’s use of God’s given wisdom, to liberate himself, from the sufferings that are from God. This can be done through a constant communion with God.
Furthermore, in whatever suffering we face in life, God always sends us encouragement. He never abandons us. We only need to remain in him and listen to him in prayers. When the weight of the passion became too heavy on Jesus, he went up to the mountain and prayed (26:36-45). After his
prayers, immediately he came down to the three apostles, having seen that it is God’s wish that he undergoes the process, he was filled with motivation and strength to go on and embrace his suffering that he said to his disciples: ἐγείρεσθε ἄγωμεν (Arise! Let us Go) (Matt. 26:46 BGT).
In the same way, as we enter into this holiest week, Christ invites us to rise from our sleep and go with him through his passions. May we not desert him and run away either because we consider suffering for God’s work of
salvation, as not our portion, or because we are not ready yet. May we not deny him and always shout:
“I do not know the man” even when we seem not to understand the way God works. May we rather remain faithful to our promise: Lord, even if it means giving my life for your sake, for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of your love, I will not deny you. Amen.
Fr. Chukwuezugo Nnamah, wishing you a wonderful experience with Christ in his Passion.