April 9, 2025 at 8:58 a.m.
A stunning reversal of fortune
As we enter into Holy Week, we encounter the richness of Scripture and tradition within the liturgy of Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord. But how can one liturgy communicate the triumph and tragedy of Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion fully and completely? That is precisely what this liturgy accomplishes. The Divine Liturgy makes all this possible by communicating the drama of Christ’s Passion. From Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem to his passion and death on the cross, we come to experience and witness this within the liturgy. The drama of these unfolding events is a stunning reversal of fortune, which brings us from a moment of triumph at the beginning of the liturgy to the tragedy of Christ’s suffering and death.
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” — Luke 22:19
Jesus entered triumphally into Jerusalem with shouts of joy as people proclaimed, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Luke 19:28-40) Those shouts of joy that proclaimed Jesus as king would be turned into shouts of “Crucify him, crucify him” in the Passion of our Lord from the Gospel of Luke 22:14-23:56. The reversals can be seen implicitly in Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
The first reading from Isaiah 50:4-7 is the third of four suffering servant songs that tells us about this servant who will suffer vicariously for the sins of us all. This poetic suffering servant song reveals the reversal theme we hear in the readings. The people of Israel will reject the servant, and he will suffer and be mocked and ridiculed: “The Lord has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will arouse them.” The suffering servant’s words of truth would arouse the wrath of those who opposed him: “I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheek to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.” The suffering of the servant has a purpose, and the reversal is seen through the vicarious suffering of the servant. We will be given the help of God, just as God helps his faithful servant: “The Lord God is my help therefore I am not disgraced.”
The Passion of the Lord from the Gospel of Luke 22:14-23:56 gives us an understanding that Jesus saw himself, above all else, as a servant. The title servant is a Messianic title, which reveals what Jesus will do on the cross. The conversation after dinner reveals an important teaching to the Apostles on what it means to be a servant. To help them understand the Passion and their own ministry, he tells them that they are to be servants. None of them will use authority to benefit themselves but rather they are to serve as Jesus serves on the cross. Jesus offers a benediction prayer for the Apostles, that they will have the Kingdom conferred on them and that they will eat and drink at his table in the Kingdom, and that their faith will not fail. They are to follow the example of the suffering servant who does not falter.
The Psalm 22 response follows the shouts we heard when Jesus entered Jerusalem, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord,” and the shouts we hear in the Passion, “Crucify him, crucify him.” This time, we hear the cry, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Jesus himself says these very same words on the cross. These are words that will bring about a reversal and the verses of the Psalm also reflect that reversal.
The first verse tells us of the suffering of the servant, while the final verse tells us of the glory of God. Psalm 22 reminds the people of Israel that they are to give glory to God for God’s mighty deeds that have been handed down through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The New Covenant is to be proclaimed so that we never forget the mighty deeds of God the Father through his servant and son. The Philippians hymn, which we hear in the second reading on Passion Sunday, is one of the oldest of all creeds, for that is what it is, a creed that tells us of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each time we proclaim this creed, we proclaim how Jesus Christ has brought about the reversal of fortune for all humanity through his blood to be shed on the cross.
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