The Reading of the Lord’s Passion
Holy Week – Season of Passion
On Palm Sunday we read from one of the three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark or Luke. John is reserved for Good Friday. Each of these is similar in so many ways, different in others. Taken as a whole they can give us different glimpses into those last hours of Jesus.
In Matthew and Mark, Jesus cries out “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani,” My God, my God why have you forsaken me? It shows Jesus in his most human moment, crying out to God in his pain and anguish, amidst darkness. If even Jesus can experience despair and feel distant from God, it’s no sign of sin on our part when we feel this way as well.
It’s only human to feel that God has abandoned us or is far away at times. The sin lies in choosing to remain in this darkness, wallow in it, abandoning God because of it. As if responding to Jesus cries, the temple veil is split at Jesus’ death in both Mark’s and Matthew’s gospel, and in Matthew the earth quakes and tombs are open, signs that this was no ordinary man.
Luke, in contrast, has no cry of desperation, but one of resignation. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,” Jesus says, then breathes his last. Never failing to trust his God, he places his life into his hands as we, too, will be called to resign our spirits to our God one day. There is no recounting of earthquakes, still the people who attended went away affected.
All who were present were deeply affected by his death. All would say, here died a great man. And in this all four gospels agreed. On the details they may differ but on this they agree.
When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” Mark 15:39
This post is part of a series of reflections on the Church year. click here to follow blog
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