Palm Sunday

Seeing Others First

Each Gospel’s Passion text is unique. Though Matthew, Mark, Luke and John may sound similar, each Evangelist’s text is his particular theology — a theology springing from years of reflection on the implications of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We believe that each Gospel has two authors, the human and the Divine in the Person of God the Holy Spirit. Therefore those differences that exist are there with the blessing of God.

This year we are reading Luke’s Passion narrative (22:14–23:56). Before commenting on Luke in particular, there’s something important to note that our four Evangelists have in common namely, there’s almost no mention of Jesus’ physical suffering.

We have traditionally been encouraged, through the Way of the Cross and other devotions, to concentrate on the painful bodily aspects of Jesus’ passion and death. The Evangelists present us with a different picture. Each describes Jesus’ actual crucifixion using the fewest words possible, simply stating, “They crucified him.”

The Evangelists certainly emphasise Jesus’ suffering, but for them it’s much more psychological than physical. They do this for a good reason. Their purpose in writing these narratives is not to lead their readers to proclaim, “Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me!” They’re much more interested in having their readers simply say, “Thank you, Jesus, for showing me how to die!”

Long before the first Gospel was written, Paul of Tarsus frequently defined a Christian as someone committed to dying and rising with Jesus. The key question for those first disciples was, “How do imitate his dying? Are we expected to let ourselves be physically scourged, crowned with thorns, have nails driven into our wrists and feet and then, writhing in pain, die on a cross?” Historically, few Christians did actually imitate Jesus’ death by dying that way. But all Christians could imitate his psychological suffering: the pain and death that accompanies the daily giving of oneself for others. That’s why our Gospel authors constantly point out the mental stress and pain Jesus endures during his passion and death.

His disciples constantly misunderstand him, they desert him, Peter swears he’s never even met Jesus. Yet Jesus continues to unconditionally give himself for them, no matter their reaction to that giving. Nothing can stop him from demonstrating his love for others, even if those others reject his love. That’s the kind of suffering and death all of us can imitate.

Luke is a master at demonstrating Jesus’ concern for others, a concern that comes through even in the midst of his own suffering. It’s one of two main characteristics of Luke’s passion narrative.

Let’s look at just a few examples. For instance, during the Last Supper, at the point where Jesus predicts Peter’s denial of him, Luke has Jesus add a prayer for his friend: “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers” (22:31-32).

Jesus’ pain doesn’t blind him to the pain of others. Something similar happens in Gethsemane. In the other three Gospels, the high priest’s servant walks out of the garden with his severed ear in his hand, but not in Luke. “One of [Jesus’ disciples] … cut off his right ear. But Jesus said in reply, ‘Stop, no more of this!’ Then he touched the servant’s ear and healed him” (22:50-51).

Luke’s Jesus is even concerned with the wellbeing of those who are determined to kill him. Nothing can stop him from giving himself to others. His concern continues even during his painful way of the cross. Only Luke tells us about “the many women who mourned and lamented him.” But notice how the evangelist turns their fears and anxiety about Jesus
into Jesus’ anxiety about them – “Jesus turned to them and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and your children, for indeed, the days are coming … ’ ” (23:27-29).

Changing Mark and Matthew’s statement that “those who were crucified with him (Jesus) also reviled him,” Luke provides us with one of scripture’s most loved passages. “One of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.’ The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, ‘Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation?’ … Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus replied to him, ‘Amen, I say to you,
today you will be with me in Paradise’ ”(23:39-43).

Luke sees no extenuating circumstances, not even our own impending death, that would absolve us from loving God and our neighbour.
This brings us to Luke’s other major theme: Jesus’ innocence. No other evangelist stresses this aspect of Jesus’ passion more than Luke. During the course of his narrative, Luke has four different people declare Jesus innocent:
Pilate (at least three times);
Herod;
The good thief;
and
The centurion who crucified Jesus.

Luke changes St.Mark’s centurion’s proclamation, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” to “This man was innocent beyond doubt!”

Even when Pilate delivers Jesus over to crucifixion, he never says Jesus is guilty. Pilate’s verdict was that the crowd’s demand should be granted. “… Pilate handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they wished” (23:24-25).

Though he believes Jesus is innocent, the Roman governor, to avoid a riot, simply gives in to mob rule. For Luke, Jesus’ crucifixion is nothing but legalized murder. Yet even against this unjust background, Luke’s Jesus constantly cuts through the nonsense and loves both friends and enemies. This can only happen because he has emptied himself and looks at the situation he is in through the eyes of others, noticing their pain, not his.

May you have a reflective and holy week.