Palm/Passion Sunday: 2020
Readings: Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24; Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14 – 27:66
Abbot Lawrence – St. Gregory’s Abbey
Here we are: celebrating Palm Sunday without palms; remembering the triumphal procession of Jesus into Jerusalem without forming a procession; recalling the exuberant crowds who lined the roads to acclaim the Jesus as Son of David in a church with locked doors to avoid crowds and prevent the spread of a deadly virus. Undoubtedly, this begins a Holy Week that will be like none in modern history. From Jerusalem, to Rome, to nations around the entire globe, to our own monastic community, the Church is experiencing Palm Sunday in a new way. It is uncomfortable. It is disappointing. Even so, it invites us to enter more deeply into the mystery of the salvation that comes only through, to use Pilate’s phrase, “Jesus called Christ.”
After all, Palm Sunday is not primarily about the blessing and waving of palm fronds while solemnly entering a church. Palm Sunday – which we also call Passion Sunday – is about Jesus, Son of David and Son of the Living God, through whose passion, death and resurrection is our salvation. If we forget this most important meaning of this day, our faith in Jesus might easily confused by what is not essential and is as passing as discarded palms that lie dying at the side of the road. Like the crowds who shouted “Hosanna” at the approach of Jesus without really understanding the meaning of their own actions, we also might confuse well-done rituals for a true encounter with the “one who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Who is this Jesus that we encounter today? The gospel passage that is used with a solemn entrance on Palm Sunday notes that the entire city of Jerusalem asked this question: “Who is this?” The gospel that we have just heard similarly describes how those who encountered him in his final hours were struggling with the same question. And as they did so, they understood that how they answered the question would have very serious consequences for them personally and for the world as they knew it. Judas asked himself if Jesus was one whom he needed to betray. The guards who came to Gethsemane with clubs and swords thought him to be a criminal who needed to be apprehended. Peter, despite his intentions to be faithful, three times denied knowing Jesus when others accused him of being a disciple. The Sanhedrin wanted to find witnesses to give false testimony as to the identity of Jesus.
Then there were those who correctly identified Jesus, but who did not really encounter him – did not really know him. Caiaphas demanded Jesus to say if he were the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and in doing so unwittingly revealed the full identity of Jesus. Pontius Pilate did the same thing when he asked the bloodthirsty crowd what they wanted him to do with “Jesus called Christ.” The soldiers in their cruel efforts to ridicule him shouted out: “Hail, king of the Jews” and in mockery made his identity a crime with a placard over his head as he suffered on the cross: “This is Jesus, King of the Jews.” Even those who passed by him at the foot of the cross mocked him with words they thought were ridiculous, laughing as they referred to him as “King of Israel” and “Son of God.”
Throughout all this, one person knew and understood who Jesus was: Jesus himself knew. In the face the betraying kiss of Judas, the denials of Peter, the false accusations of the Sanhedrin, the arrogance of Caiaphas, the power of Pilate, the mockery of the soldiers, the ridicule of the crowds, and the taunts of those condemned alongside him, Jesus knew who he was: the beloved Son of God and obedient Servant of the Most High. Knowing the Lord God as his help, Jesus knew that he would not be disgraced, would not be put to shame. He trusted that the Father was near him, and did not cease to offer praise even in midst of the most violent assembly. Because of this, “God greatly exalted him and bestowed upon him a name which is above ever other name” so that every tongue will confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
The very soldiers who had tortured and executed Jesus became the proof that God has exalted Jesus as Lord. They were the first to acknowledge the true identity of Jesus. Having witnessed the steadfast, meek and obedient love of Jesus even unto death, they no longer mocked him but understood his divine dignity. We read: The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” We do not know what eventually happened to these men who had been loyal to Cesar and the gods of Rome. But it seems to me that they would never be the same after this their encounter with the Suffering Servant and Son of God.
My brothers and sisters, this unusual celebration of Palm and Passion Sunday invites us to do the same. Even if we were not able to process with palms, even if we were not able to gather as a worshipping community, even if we are alone in our homes, we still receive today the invitation to encounter Jesus in a new and profound way. At the beginning of this Holy Week in the year of Our Lord 2020, we are called to ask ourselves who Jesus is for us. How do we acclaim him? How do we deny knowing him? How do we honor him? How do we allow him to change us in a permanent way? Indeed, as much as we treasure the beautiful customs that we normally observe on Palm Sunday, what remains most important about this day is our encounter with Jesus who still comes to us in meekness and humility, and who in his meekness and humility is triumphant over the most powerful forces in the world and in our personal lives: the forces of sin and death. Like the fickle crowds and frightened Peter, do we acclaim Jesus with praise one moment and only to deny knowing him in the next? Or do we see in him the true and living Son of God and our Messiah, whose name we always desire to exalt to the glory of God the Father? With God’s grace, may we always proclaim with the centurion and soldiers: truly Jesus is the Son of God!