Is
50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 22:14-23:56
My
dear friends,
Today,
we celebrate the triumphant entry of Christ into Jerusalem. Today’s liturgy
carries some mix feeling. At the beginning, the whole scenario is agog with
pomp and pageantry. As we move in procession to the church, with shouts of
Hosanna, the palm fronds wave gloriously in the air thereby presenting the majestic
euphoria with which Jesus entered Jerusalem. But as soon as we enter the
church, with proclamation of the passion of our Lord, the whole place turns
gloomy and apprehensive.
Why
did Jesus have to enter Jerusalem? In the whole of scripture, Jerusalem is
pictured as a paradoxical center stage of Jewish life. The city is paradoxical
because in Jewish tradition it is the city of God (literally, city of
righteousness). On the contrary, though it is the Jewish center for worship and
religious rituals, it was not a place of favor for the prophets of Israel
because majority of them met their martyrdom in Jerusalem. Jesus knew that
Jerusalem is a point of no return, yet he was determined to go there in order
to fulfill what the scripture has foretold.
Jesus’
determination to enter Jerusalem and face death without resistance was foretold
in the first reading in the prophecy of Isaiah which reads, “I gave my back to
those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not
hide my face from insult and spitting” (Is 50:6). The passage also described
the Messiah as one who did not turn back. It reads, “Therefore I have set my face
like flint” (Is 50:7). St. Luke in the passion narrative refers Jesus as
setting his face towards Jerusalem to complete his primary assignment—the salvation
of man—in spite of distractions from the crowd, the authorities, and his own
close friends—the apostles.
My
dear friends, we all have one Jerusalem as our target, and that is heaven. However,
there are so many distractions, trials and tribulations, painful roads, true
enemies and false friends that we have to overcome before we could reach our
final destination. The bad wife, drunken husband and wayward children in the
house are all distractions on the road to Jerusalem. More so, the society that
offers no hope for the future generation, the media that is saturated with explicit
sexual contents, the flesh that lures you to sin, the economy that is wobbling;
poverty and disease that threaten the poor of the world, the legal system that
promotes “the culture of death” (abortion, euthanasia, same sex union, stem
cell research, etc) are all obstacles for Christians on the road to Jerusalem. Be
on your guard against temptations that will deprive you of God’s grace in this
Holy Week.
Friends,
without being strong and determined like Christ, we may fall on the road. But
even though we fall, we must rise like Christ who fell thrice and rose thrice. St. Paul in the second reading urges us, “Let
the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the
form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but
emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And
being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point
of death – even death on a cross” (Philp 2:6-8). We are invited today to empty
ourselves like Christ. Self-emptying (kenosis
in Greek) is humility, obedience, suffering that others may enjoy, letting go
all that take you far from Christ.
Christ did not die to remain in the grave forever. He died to rise
again in glory. He who has learnt to win victory through suffering will not
abandon us in our times of suffering, as the prophet declares in the first
reading, “The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced…and I know
that I shall not be put to shame” (Is 50:7). May God help us to overcome the
distractions on our way so that we one day we shall meet him in the heavenly
Jerusalem. Amen.
