Scripture Study for
Palm Sunday of The Passion of The Lord
Isaiah 50:4–7 / Psalm 22:2a / Philippians 2:6–11 / Mark 14:1—15:47 [15:1–39]
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Understanding the Word
By Br. John R. Barker, OFM
The Servant of God in this passage from Isaiah has been equipped for the specific task of “speaking a word to the weary,” a work directed toward the well-being of God’s people, especially those who suffer. This word is not the Servant’s own, but the word of God, which the Servant seeks to hear “morning after morning.” Although in the hearing of the word the Servant knows speaking it will bring pain and rejection, he remains steadfast, not shirking his painful role, rebelling by refusing to speak. The strength required to carry out this thankless role comes from God alone, not from any inner strength or self-assurance possessed by the Servant himself.
In his Letter to the Philippians, Paul exhorts the contentious community to have in their relations with one another the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. The focus here is on the very fact of his existence in the human realm and the way he acted while on earth. This earthly presence was marked by profound, even unimaginable humility, in the very act of “emptying” himself, voluntarily depriving himself not only of his divine prerogative (not to suffer at all), but also of human dignity and security. This he did not have to do, but he did it out of willing obedience to a divine plan, which called for this sacrifice (for the good of God’s people).
The Markan account of Christ’s passion carries forward the theme of the first two readings, which is the willingness to forego human power to take on suffering. The repeated reference to Jesus as “the king of the Jews” or “the king of Israel” alludes to earthly power. Yet these expressions are uttered when he is completely powerless. It is at this moment that we hear the centurion proclaim Jesus Son of God. Mark tells us that the centurion came to this realization when he “saw how [Jesus] breathed his last,” yet what he has seen is Jesus crying out in pain and an apparent sense of being abandoned by God. Mysteriously, what the centurion sees in this dereliction, humiliation, and pain leads him to conclude that Jesus was in fact the Son of God.