Scripture Study for

Palm Sunday of The Passion of The Lord

Understanding the Word

By Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.

The prophet’s ability to speak and the words that are spoken all come from  God, but they are given for the sake of the weary. The speaker suffers both physical attack and personal insult. Despite this, he does not recoil from his call. He  willingly accepts what appears to be the consequence of his prophetic ministry  to the weary. In the face of his affliction, he maintains that God is his strength. For  this reason, he declares that he is not disgraced and he will not be put to shame.  There are no grounds to make these claims other than utter confidence in God. 

The Philippians hymn states that though in the form of God, Christ chose the  form of a slave. Without losing his Godlike being, he took on the likeness of  human beings. He did not merely resemble a human being, he really was one.  In a sense, Christ’s crucifixion, a common punishment for slaves, was inevitable  given his controversial teaching. However, his subsequent exaltation is as glorious as his humiliation was debasing. It is important to note that while Christ  was the subject of his self-emptying, his superexaltation is attributed directly to  God. Now every knee shall do him homage and every tongue shall proclaim his  sovereignty.

The entire Passion narrative lays bare the contradiction of Jesus’ life and the  paradox of God’s reign. The initial fear of the religious leaders shows that Jesus  had a following among the people, but it was the people who cried for the release  of Barabbas and Jesus’ own death. Among his intimate followers, only the women  remained faithful; one anointed him, others kept watch at his crucifixion and took  note of where he was buried. Of the men who knew him well, one betrayed him,  another denied him, and the rest fled for safety. It was a foreigner, a centurion,  who publicly acclaimed his divinity. At the moment of his greatest agony, he was  recognized as the Son of God. 

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