April 10, 2022, Palm Sunday (Year C)
On this Palm Sunday of Lent, we hear about the triumphant entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. While riding on a colt the people and disciples who are present applaud Jesus as he rides, laying their cloaks on the road and shouting words of praise. They proclaim him as king and offer glory to him in the name of the Lord.
However, this Palm Sunday is also known as Passion Sunday. After hearing of Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem we hear about the night of his Last Supper and his subsequent trial and crucifixion. The First Reading for this Sunday from Isaiah (Is 50:4-7) contains details which seem to describe some of the tortuous treatment that Jesus receives during his Passion. It is a reading from the Old Testament which is one example of the passages from Isaiah known as the Servant Songs of Isaiah (Isa. 42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:1-11; 52:13-53:12),
These passages are named for an unidentified servant of God, who works on behalf of the nation of Israel. There is much debate among biblical scholars with regard to the identity of the person or persons to whom Isaiah is referring in these passages. The possibilities include Isaiah himself, Cyrus the Persian, who released the Israelites from captivity in Babylon, or the upright people of Israel as a whole.
Because the individual described in these passages endures much suffering, they are referenced particularly in light of the suffering Jesus endures during his trial and crucifixion. The first occurs on the night of the Last Supper, where Jesus informs the disciples of the upcoming crisis: “For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, namely, ‘He was counted among the wicked’” (Isa. 53:12), a reference to indicate that the Jewish leaders will persecute Jesus as an outlaw. Jesus, in fact, identifies himself as this servant saying, “I am among you as the one who serves.” (Lk. 22:27).
Later, when Jesus is in the garden praying, he is approached by the soldiers and mob of people who have come to arrest him. The disciples want to protect Jesus. One of them even uses a sword to cut off the ear of one of the high priest’s servants. But Jesus will have no part of this violence. He heals the servant’s ear, and he goes peacefully with his adversaries. Just as the image of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, Jesus depicts a gentle, noncombative manner: “He does not cry out, nor shout, nor make his voice heard. A bruised reed he does not break, and a dimly burning wick he does not quench.” (Isa. 42:2-4).
After his arrest Jesus is taken to the house of the high priest. Peter follows at a distance, but when confronted about his identity, he denies Jesus three times. The men who hold Jesus in custody ridicule and beat him. But he holds fast to his identity as the servant of Isaiah: “I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who tore out my beard; my face I did not hide from insults and spitting.” (Isa. 50:6)
When the day comes, Jesus is taken by the chief priests and scribes to their governing body, the Sanhedrin, for questioning. They ask Jesus to identify himself as the Christ, the Messiah for whom they have been waiting. Jesus does not fearfully evade their inquiry. Rather, he boldly gives them the answer they have been looking for. This is because, as the servant of Isaiah, the Lord God had given him a “well-trained tongue that he might know how to answer the weary a word that will waken them.” (Isa. 50:4).
For acknowledging that he is the Son of Man, who will be seated at the right hand of God, an admission of his divinity, the Sanhedrin cringe at his blasphemy and send him to Pilate for the sentence of crucifixion, something which is not within their power as Roman underlings. Pilate finds no crime in Jesus; as a Roman governor, he is not concerned about the petty squabbles over their Jewish religion. Finding out that Jesus is a Galilean, Pilate sends Jesus to Herod for further questioning. But Herod finds nothing to accuse Jesus of either, so he sends him back to Pilate.
Pilate tells the crowd that he has found Jesus not guilty, that he intends to have him flogged and then released. But the crowd shouts for Pilate to release the prisoner known as Barabbas and to have Jesus crucified. So, Jesus is led away to be crucified with no objection or complaint. He fulfills the scripture’s portrait: “Though harshly treated, he submitted and did not open his mouth; Like a lamb led to slaughter or a sheep silent before shearers, he did not open his mouth.” (Isa. 53:7).
Jesus goes to his crucifixion, so weakened and exhausted from his mistreatment that Simon of Cyrene must help him carry his cross. When he meets the women who are crying over his conviction, he takes no consolation from them, rather he pities them for their anguish. And as he is nailed to the cross, Jesus even forgives those who have condemned him, as well as the thief who is hung beside him. As revealed in Isaiah: “Though he had done no wrong, nor was deceit found in his mouth” (Isa. 53:9a), he died the death of a criminal, “struck for the sins of his people.” (Isa. 53:8),
After his death, Jesus’ body is taken for burial by a devout follower, Joseph of Arimathea. While the women prepare spices and perfumed oils to anoint his body. “He was given a grave among the wicked, a burial place with evildoers.” (Isa. 53:9b).
Although the identity of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah is still debated to this day, for the early Church, and for Christians, Jesus is indeed the savior and Suffering Servant. It is he who, in hindsight, was “pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity, and bore the punishment that makes us whole and heals our wounds” (Isa: 53:4a, 5). This is the salvation that we celebrate every Easter.
