Passion (Palm) Sunday
Cycle
C
March
24, 2013 10:30amd and 12:30pm
St. Margaret Parish, Bel Air
Injustice
I
imagine most of us can think of a time when we were treated unfairly.
I
remember way back, when I was in the sixth grade, some tattle-tale accused a
whole group of us boys of saying “bad” words on the playground. I wasn’t an angel, but I didn’t say “bad”
words and I still got punished.
More
serious than that, some of the former employees of Bethlehem Steel must have
felt unfairly treated when they lost their pensions. Some employees of the Federal Government must
feel unfairly treated by the furloughs that are now taking place.
Maybe
we have felt unfairly treated by a friend who has turned us off and rejected
us. My guess is that most of us have had
experiences like these.
Jesus
himself experienced great injustice. And
this is the background for Saint Luke’s account of Jesus’ suffering and death
that we just heard.
Jesus’ Innocence
Luke carefully emphasizes
Jesus’ innocence.
Only in his telling of Jesus’
Passion – not in Matthew, Mark or John – only in Luke does Pilate three times
declare Jesus innocent. Only in Luke
does Herod also pronounce Jesus innocent.
Only Luke carefully
recalls the words of the one man being crucified with Jesus: “We have been condemned justly, but this man
has done nothing wrong.” Only Luke recalls the Roman centurion saying right
after Jesus dies: “This man was
innocent.”
So Luke, in his account
of Jesus’ suffering and dying, very intentionally reminds us of Jesus’
innocence. He is showing us how unfair,
how unjust all of this is.
Jesus’ Care, Healing, and Forgiveness
And
yet, Jesus responds positively.
Luke
tells us that at the Last Supper, Jesus prays for Peter – that his faith will in
the long run not fail. Only Luke’s
gospel tells us that in the garden, Jesus heals the ear of the high priest’s servant.
Only
Luke shows Jesus’ concern for the women who are weeping, advising them not to
be concerned for him, but for themselves and their children. Only Luke recalls Jesus, on the cross, asking
the Father to “forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
And,
of course, only Luke shows Jesus assuring the one man being crucified with him:
“Today
you will be with me in Paradise.” So, Luke very carefully
shows that nothing – injustice, suffering, and even impending death – nothing
gets in the way of Jesus’ caring, healing, and forgiving.
Communion with God
Luke,
of course, wants us to realize that we are called to be the same way and he
shows us how this is possible.
Jesus
remains in communion with the Father. And
he maintains this from start to finish.
Luke’s
depiction of Jesus on the Mount of Olives stresses his being prayerful. This communion with the Father continues to
the very end when Jesus prays, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
Luke
is making the point that this inner, steady communion with the Father – this is
what strengthens Jesus. This is what
enables him who is innocent to deal with such injustice and suffering.
This
is what enables him not to become vengeful and violent, but to remain caring,
forgiving, and peaceful. Luke calls us
to the same inner communion with God, the same prayerfulness.
This
will help us to deal with injustice and suffering in our lives. It will help us to heal rather than to hurt,
to forgive rather than to take vengeance, and to remain at peace rather than
become violent.
