Commentary
Sunday, 4/14/2019, Palm Sunday
Grant Our Salvation to God in the Highest
Gospel Commentary: Luke 19:28-40
Gospel at the Blessing of the Palms
When Jesus and His disciples came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples to find a tethered colt which had never been mounted. Jesus needed the colt to fulfill the prophecies made of the coming of the Lord in Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9 which says that our king, who is a just savior, would come meek and riding an ass.
Jesus came into the world meek and in humble surroundings born in a stable and placed in a manger. As He began to prepare Himself for His Passion, Jesus continued to portray great humility. The humility of Jesus teaches us that there is no place for pride with God. If the Son can be so humble, then surely, we, who are His creation and much less than He, must also, be humble if we are to call ourselves His followers.
When Jesus made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, some Pharisees in the crowd told Jesus to rebuke His disciples. They said this because they did not want to see Jesus receiving praise but a multitude of His disciples and people who were waiting shouted praise for all of the mighty deeds that they had seen done by Jesus.
According to Luke, the crowds cried out, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” Matthew tells us that the people cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David…hosanna in the highest.” Mark tells us that the people cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest.” And, John tells us that the people cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Whatever the exact words were that the people cried out, three of the gospels tell us that the words “Hosanna” and “in the highest” were used. True, the people who were disciples of Jesus were giving praise and glory to their king. But, the word “hosanna” means: grant your salvation. Therefore, when we say, “Hosanna to God in the Highest,” or any other phrase like it, we are actually admitting to the fact that we owe our salvation to the same God who created us and we are asking God for salvation. This is what the people were crying out.
The entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on this day that we call Palm Sunday is a forerunner to what is written in Revelation 7:9-10. There, the people of every nation, race and tongue hold palm branches and cry out, “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.” Here, we remember that on this day, Jesus made His entry into Jerusalem to begin His Passion offering Himself up as the Sacrificial Lamb to reconcile the sins of the world.
The palms which we take home are a sacramental which should remind us all through the year of this day which is the beginning of Passion Week. They should not simply become a decorative ornament. Every time we look at our palms, we should be reminded of the events which take place this week. Our palms should be daily reminders for us that Our God will stop at nothing to have us join Him in His Kingdom of Heaven.
In response to the Pharisees complaining, Jesus said, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!” In His remark to the Pharisees, Jesus did not simply tell them that He was not going to tell the people to shut up. Jesus was telling the Pharisees that there was absolutely nothing they could do to stop God from receiving His praise from those who believed in Him. Jesus was telling the wicked and everyone who seeks to persecute God and His Church, past, present and future, that there is nothing they can do to stop God from receiving His praise or performing His mighty deeds and Jesus was giving fair warning that there was nothing that could stop Him from carrying out His Father’s wishes.
The question that we must ask ourselves is, can anything stop us from accepting the grace of salvation by following Jesus all of the way to His Kingdom?
There Is No Shame
First Reading Commentary: Isaiah 50:4-7
Isaiah proclaims that God has given him a well-trained tongue so that he can speak to the weary and rouse them. Isaiah also proclaims that he will not be stopped and he proclaims that he shall not be put to shame because God is his help.
Anytime we believe in something, we want everyone to know. It can be anything. It does not have to be religious. Whatever it is, we want to share the reasons why we are so excited about our belief. We want others to get on board with it. But when it comes to religion, some of us get skittish and understandably so. In today’s divisive society, it is not socially acceptable to bring up religion in a conversation especially with someone we don’t know.
Well today, we learn from Isaiah that we should not be ashamed. This is one thing that we can be proud of and that pride becomes a blessing and not a sin. In fact, if we can’t be a witness and testify to our religion, we must not really believe in it or we are not totally committed to it. There are other things that we are proud of and there is no harm in letting people know. An example is a parent’s pride for their children’s accomplishments. So why can't we be proud of our religion?
Now I am not saying that we should be over bearing or that we should all be standing out on street corners. The best and strongest method that anyone can use to show their faith is to live by what their faith teaches. One can say that they are a believer a million times but if they do not act like it, the words mean nothing and they are like the Pharisees.
There are too many “Pharisees” in the world today. Take into account how many people there are who boast about being anti-abortion citing morality and God’s law. But some of these very same people some of whom are at the highest level of our government have zero compassion for the poor, the sick and the immigrants. That is hypocritical just like the Pharisees.
If one is to claim being pro-life, one must respect, care for and defend the sanctity of all human life—the unborn and the living without exception. Jesus never said to do it any other way and He never practiced it any other way. We are all God’s children and God treats us all the same.
If we truly believe, we should never shy away from an opportunity of sharing our faith because we are called to evangelize and our God is an awesome God. When we find ourselves feeling skittish, we should say what Isaiah said, “The Lord God is my help…I shall not be put to shame.” We can’t be put to shame because there is no shame in sharing God’s Word and there is no stopping God from receiving His praise and glory. That is why in Luke 19:40, Jesus said to the Pharisees about the people crying out, “Hosanna,” “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out.”
Jesus Christ Is Lord
Second Reading Commentary: Philippians 2:6-11
The words are simple but St. Paul tells us that Jesus did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. That is because the Trinity is a mystery that the human mind is not capable of understanding. Instead, The Father sent the Son to us so that He could become one of us and Jesus emptied Himself and came to us with complete humility. Throughout His life, Jesus taught us by example to be humble also.
The humility of Jesus was one of the things which made it so difficult for some people of His time to accept Him for who He was. They expected a king who would be mighty in a worldly way possessing extreme wealth and ruling a great nation that would overtake its enemies, the enemies of the Jews. They were trying to see God in the way that they wanted to see Him.
But Jesus came as a Godly king teaching that true wealth was not of this world but in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus taught us that the true enemies were those who followed the evil one and that they would be the ones who would be defeated by being denied entry into the Kingdom.
St. Paul reminds us that because of the Son’s total obedience to the Father, the Son was greatly exalted and that to the name of Jesus, “every knee should bend and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
This is why Catholics bow their heads when they hear or speak the name of Jesus. This is one reason why, believing that it contains the living body of Christ, Catholics bow to the tabernacle in church. This is why Catholicism accepts Christ for everything He said and everything He did which is sometimes referred to as the fullness of the Catholic Faith.
Everything that Catholics believe in and everything that Catholics do in church; has its roots in Scripture. Catholics exercise all seven sacraments because Christ instituted them and/or exercised them Himself. Devout Catholics and devout Christians believe what they believe and do what they do because Jesus Christ is Lord--no one else.
What Would I Have Done?
Gospel Commentary: Luke 22:14-23:56
The Gospel of the Passion of Christ is accounted for by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. However, each writer has a slightly different account and one must read all four gospels to get the whole story. Today’s gospel is according to Luke. In my commentary for Good Friday, I will take an in depth look at all four gospels. Today I wish to focus on the idea of making choices.
Jesus made a very deliberate choice to take our sins to the cross for the sake of our salvation. He did not have to make Himself a sacrifice and in His humanity, He could have said, “No.” But Jesus chose to make Himself the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
As we read or listen to the Lord’s Passion according to Luke, take note of the many times that we see a choice being made. Jesus made His choice very clear in the things that He said and in the actions that He took. Each time that you encounter such a choice being made in this gospel, stop and ask yourself, “What would I have done?”
Luke’s account of the Passion begins with Jesus announcing two choices. First, Jesus chose to be with the Apostles to eat that Passover and second, Jesus chose to suffer so that there would be fulfillment in the Kingdom of God.
We all have the desire to want to be with those who are closest to us at special occasions. But when someone says that they are going to suffer and it is obvious that they are making a deliberate choice to suffer, we question that person’s sanity and call them a masochist. Well, Jesus Christ was no masochist. He is our Lord and Savior and He chose to suffer for our salvation.
Then Jesus chose to Institute the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Stop and meditate on this. Remember John 6:51 where Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” The Eucharist is the living Body and Blood of Christ and this is the reason why we relive that moment from the Last Supper in the second part of every Mass—the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is: what Mass is all about.
But let’s go back to the choice that Jesus made to institute the Eucharist. Why did He do it? You could say that I have already answered that question but there is another reason. Remember Matthew 28:19-20, the conclusion of Matthew’s gospel, where Jesus said, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, He said, “Do this in memory of me.” This became one of the commandments that Jesus was telling the Apostles to observe at the end of Matthew’s gospel.
The Eucharist is also one of the ways that Jesus keeps His promise of being with us always. When we partake in the Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion, we are placing ourselves in communion with Christ and we are accepting Christ in communion with us and He is with us.
Jesus began to institute the Eucharist by telling the Apostles that He would no longer drink from the fruit of the vine until the coming of the Kingdom of God. Another choice. How many times have we said that we were not going to indulge in a pleasure or surrender to a necessity before accomplishing a task? For example, “I’m not going to spend another dime on my credit cards until I pay them off.” But then, something comes up and we spend the money. That keeps happening to me. Some people say, “Then life happens.”
Now you might say, “That’s different.” Really? Stop and think about what Christ went through from the moment of the Last Supper to the moment of His last breath on the cross. Think of how much He would have loved to have just a sip of wine, which was the main drink in those days.
In the movie, The Passion of The Christ, Pilot offered Jesus a cup of wine and Jesus refused. Yes, that was a movie and we don’t know if that really happened. Then again, considering the conversation that Pilot and Jesus were having and considering the fact that Pilot was trying his best to get out of a terrible situation, I would not be surprised if he did. And, even if he did not, do you think that Pilot would have refused Jesus if He had asked? I do not and I think that Mel Gibson was making a point in that part of the scene and I say, “Point taken.” Jesus said that He would not drink from the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God had come, and He did not.
When Jesus consecrated the bread and wine, He reaffirmed a choice and then made another one. With the bread, according to Luke, Jesus said, “This is my body, which will be given for you.” With the wine, Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.”
Jesus reaffirmed His choice to suffer by saying that He would give His life and then chose to make His sacrifice the new covenant which is the promise of the Kingdom of Heaven.
When Jesus told the Apostles that He would be betrayed by one of them, they began to argue among themselves about which one of them should be regarded as the greatest. Jesus handled their argument with a lesson in humility teaching them that if one wants to be the greatest, one must be willing to serve. This was not the first time that Jesus taught this lesson and it would not be the last either.
At the end of His lesson, Jesus proclaimed another choice saying, “I confer a kingdom on you…and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Jesus was referring to the prophecy in Isaiah 24:23 and Jesus was making His own prophecy of John’s vision in Revelation 4:1-11. In Revelations 4:4, there are twenty-four thrones for the elders. Twelve of those elders are the Apostles.
Then Jesus turned His attention once again to His betrayal. Jesus said that the Scripture passage from Isaiah 53:12, “He was counted among the wicked,” had to be fulfilled. Jesus was making it clear that He knew that one of them would betray Him and that He was allowing it to happen. Another choice.
Why? Just so that the Scripture; could be fulfilled? Granted, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in order for Jesus to complete His mission of bringing us to salvation. But the point is that Jesus chose to give His life for the salvation of all mankind even if it meant allowing Himself, to be betrayed by one of the original Twelve.
Then Jesus went to the Mount of Olives to pray and He prayed so hard that His sweat became like blood. He said, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.”
The Agony in the Garden, the First Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary, is another reminder that Jesus was one hundred percent divine but He was also one hundred percent human. It is the humanity of Jesus that did not want to undergo the horror that awaited Him. But it was His divinity that prevailed. When we think of this, we should be reminded once again that nothing is too great for God!
In His humanity, it was a difficult choice to go through with His Passion. But in His divinity, choosing to give His life for our salvation was probably one of the easiest choices that He ever made. And, think about it: Jesus made that choice with the Father all the way back in Genesis 3:15 because of His love for us.
Luke tells us that when Jesus arose from prayer, He went to the disciples and found them sleeping from grief. Did you ever have someone give you bad news or tell you of something awful that was about to happen and you are left with not knowing what to say or how to handle it? That was the disciples that night. Jesus had told them that He was giving up His life and that He would be betrayed by one of them and they were in grief.
Jesus said, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not undergo the test.” Jesus did not want them to be in grief. He had just told them that each of them would have a throne in His Father’s Kingdom. They should have been happy but in their grief, they were thinking in terms of this world and that is why Jesus did not want them to undergo the test because they were weak.
What test? The test of being tempted by the devil in the same way that He was tempted by the devil in the desert and again as He experienced His Agony in the Garden. Jesus knew that in their humanity, their thoughts were of this world and they could not stand up to the test—they would fail. Jesus did not want that for them and Jesus does not want that for any of us.
As we face the many temptations that come our way in life, we should remember this because the more we make ourselves aware of the fact that Jesus does not want us to undergo the test, the least likely we are to fail the test. But the fact that we do sometimes fail is exactly why God chooses that His mercy and forgiveness be without limit.
While Jesus was still speaking, Judas approached Him with the crowd and kissed Him on the cheek and Jesus said, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” Ever think about how much your faith is worth to you? Can we really put a price tag on another human life? And yet, Judas betrayed Jesus and we know from other gospels that it was for just thirty pieces of silver.
This betrayal was one of the worst choices made by anyone in Scripture. To betray someone is bad enough but Judas betrayed Christ who is God the Son. If anyone who believes in God were asked if they would ever do such a thing, they would vehemently deny it but anytime we commit a sin and we all do, we go against the will of God and commit an act of betrayal against Him.
But Judas was blind as a result of having been taken over by the devil and he was completely consumed with the deadly sins of pride and greed. He had failed the test terribly and thirty pieces of silver were more important to him at the time.
The disciples realized what was happening and one of them cut off the ear of one of the high priest’s servants with a sword. The disciples had made a choice to defend Jesus but remember, Jesus had already chosen to allow this betrayal and to give up His life. So, Jesus said, “Stop, no more of this!” Then Jesus healed the servant’s ear and said to those who came for Him, “…this is your hour, the time for the power of darkness.”
So, the crowd took Jesus to the house of the high priest. While Jesus was inside, Peter was approached three times by people accusing him of knowing Jesus and Peter denied the accusations all three times. Then the cock crowed and Peter remembered what Jesus had told him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.”
This was a terrible choice on Peter’s part. In the weakness of his humanity at that moment, he failed the test. But for Peter, this failure made him stronger as he went out and wept bitterly because of his remorse and love for Jesus.
What about us? Is our remorse for our mistakes and sins in life and our love of God all strong enough to make us stronger or do we remain in sin?
They blindfolded Jesus, questioned Him and said many things against Him. When morning came, the council of elders, the chief priests and scribes brought Jesus before the Sanhedrin. They said, “If you are the Christ, tell us.”
Jesus knew that these people had been out to get Him for some time and had already chosen not to listen to a word that He had to say. But Jesus did say, “But from this time on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” So, they asked Jesus if He was the Son of Man and Jesus said, “You say that I am.”
Take note, Jesus did not say, “Yes.” But their minds were made up long before this event took place and what Jesus did say by not saying, "No," was enough for them to have Him condemned. So, they took Jesus to Pilot.
Pilot listened to the charges and asked Jesus if He was king of the Jews. Jesus did not say, “Yes” or “No.” Jesus said, “You say so.” So, Pilot did not find Jesus guilty and since Jesus was a Galilean, Pilot sent Jesus to Herod.
Interesting choice: on Pilot’s part. There is more behind his choice than what Luke tells us, specifically a dream that Pilot’s wife had, and the fact that he knew that the charges brought against Jesus were fabricated. All of that came into play in his decision. However, Pilot was a Roman governor. He had no love for Jesus or any other Jew and yet, his choice was to not condemn Jesus falsely. The whole issue of those who are closest to us being the last to listen to us or support us comes to mind. Think about it. We have all been on the receiving end of such injustice at the hands of those who are close to us at some point in life.
Here again, Luke does not go into detail of what happened when Jesus was in front of Herod. Luke does tell us that Herod wanted to see Jesus because he was looking for a sign and that Herod’s soldiers ridiculed Jesus and clothed Him in resplendent garb. Luke also tells us that Herod and Pilot became friends that day.
Here, I want to focus on the choice that Herod made. Luke’s gospel can be misleading if it is the only gospel on the Passion that you read without knowing the whole story. Herod did not want to see Jesus nor was Herod looking for a sign from Jesus because he was a believer. To the contrary, Herod wanted to test Jesus with malicious intent just like the Pharisees.
But Herod chose not to find Jesus guilty. This was not the choice that he wanted to make but he had no alternative since there was not strong enough evidence against Jesus. If he wanted to, Herod could have released Jesus. He did not. Instead, he chose to send Jesus back to Pilot because he knew that Pilot had the authority to have Jesus condemned.
Again, Pilot did not want to condemn Jesus and said that because he could not find Jesus guilty and because Herod could not find Jesus guilty, Jesus had not committed a capital crime. So, Pilot chose to have Jesus flogged and then released.
There was a custom that once a year, the governor would release a prisoner—a prisoner of the people’s choosing. Pilot chose to exercise this custom with Jesus no doubt hoping that they would choose Jesus because He was not guilty of a capital crime. But instead, the crowds chose Barabbas, a man who was guilty of rebellion and murder.
There is Pilot’s choice and there is the choice of the crowds. We know that ultimately, Jesus would be crucified at the hands of Pilot who finally gave into the demands of the crowds. But not before he had done everything that he possibly could to have the crowds agree to his first choice which was, to have Jesus released.
Have you ever been pressed into doing something that you knew was the wrong thing to do? Eventually you gave in because the pressure was too much to bear? This is the position that Pilot was in so basically, you could say that his final decision was, “Do whatever you want to do. I have had enough. Just leave me alone.”
We have all made such decisions but not to the extent of telling the crowds to go ahead and crucify Jesus. Be careful. Don’t tell that lie unless you have never, ever committed a sin. Every time that we commit a sin, we play a part in the crucifixion. Whether we sin as a result of giving into the pressure of others like Pilot or whether we sin on our own which; makes us like the people in the crowds; when we sin, we play a part in sending Jesus to the cross. The good news is that each of those sins are nailed to the cross.
One of the mysteries of the Trinity which is impossible for the human mind to comprehend is the fact that the Son understands us in our humanity more completely than the Father or the Spirit. But Jesus does understand us as much as He does because it is the Son who lived as a man and gave His life for mankind. That is why Jesus is our intercessor with the Father and Jesus demonstrated that from the cross when He said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”
We do not know what we do when we sin—not really. Oh, we know that we are doing something wrong. But we really do not understand the full magnitude of what we are doing to God with our sins. If we did, we would not commit them! And so, Jesus chooses to intercede for us. Somebody shout out, “Thank You!”
There were two other men crucified with Jesus. One of them did not believe in Jesus and said, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” But the other man was a believer and said, “Have you no fear of God…we have been condemned justly…but this man has done nothing criminal.”
Each of these two men made a choice. One chose not to believe in Jesus. Well, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt which might sound crazy, but maybe he was unaware of the great works of Jesus. On the other hand, he did not seem to believe in God either. He surely did not act like it. The worst of criminals will ultimately turn to God but not this man. He did not even seem to care.
Then there is the man who did believe who is St. Dismas. He said to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Not only did Dismas choose to believe, he also chose to repent and ask for forgiveness.
That forgiveness was granted as Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” All Christians believe that God is forgiving but I ask this question to Non-Catholics and anyone else who does not believe in the Sacrament of Reconciliation: How can you believe in the cross and not accept the Sacrament of Confession? That sacrament took place on the cross! No offense, but I say that you cannot deny that sacrament and call yourself a believer in everything that Jesus said and did.
According to Luke, the very last thing that Jesus said was, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” What we see from Luke’s account of the Passion as he goes straight from St. Dismas to the death of Jesus and the last words of Jesus is that forgiveness and mercy are there for us all throughout our lives up to the very end.
It was like a message was being sent from the Father in heaven that He was not pleased with what the people had done to the Son when darkness come over the land because of an eclipse of the sun and the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. The Father’s wrath did not go unnoticed by the Roman centurion and the people who saw what had happened.
The centurion said, “This man was innocent beyond doubt.” He chose to become a believer. His conversion is a great thing and not to be underestimated. On the other hand, the centurion is like so many others who instead of taking a leap of faith; require tangible proof. For me, I am reminded of what Jesus said to Thomas in John 20:29, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
The people returned home beating their breasts. In those days, a person beat their breast as an outward sign of admitting to having done wrong. It was an admission to guilt but it was also a sign of remorse. They had just put the Christ to death and they knew it. Imagine the guilt and remorse that was in their hearts.
Luke tells us that all of Jesus’ acquaintances, including the women, stood at a distance. Put yourself on Calvary at that very moment. Remember that the only one there who was without sin was Mary, the mother of Jesus. Put yourself in the shoes of one of Jesus’ other followers. What goes through your mind? What is in your heart? Can you choose to forgive as Jesus forgave?
I will admit to struggling with that in part because, I believe that you had to be on Calvary that day to be filled with the full impact of what those people felt. The love, faith, anger, frustration and on and on; talk about emotions gone wild and being off the hook. They went through it knowing who Jesus was and being there to witness that event. We should take time every once in a while, to try and put ourselves in that place, at that moment and in their shoes.
The last choice that I am going to comment on today is that of Joseph from Arimathea who was a member of the council but was against what had been done. His choice was to pay enough attention to the Scriptures and to what Jesus was saying and doing to be a follower of Jesus instead.
In order to go against the council, Joseph must have accepted the Scriptures and Jesus totally and completely. What about us? Do we accept Jesus totally and completely or do we accept what sounds good to us because that is what we want to hear and forget the rest?
Joseph put his faith into action by going to Pilot and requesting the body of Jesus which he took and together with the women; buried Jesus.
Consider this: We have two options and there are no other choices. 1- We can be like Judas and all those who persecute Jesus by allowing the devil to lead us into self-destruction or 2- We can empty ourselves to God’s unending mercy and forgiveness and be with Him in heaven.
