March 24 — Mk 14:1-15:47
St. Paul’s famous canticle in the letter to the Philippians offers the phrase “he emptied himself” to proclaim the beauty, meaning and mystery of Jesus’ mission on this earth. The notion surely applies to Jesus’ most humble entrance into this world. But it applies in a focused way to our Savior’s Passion and death.
So, let’s explore the notion of “emptying” as we celebrate Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord.
Jesus emptied himself by submitting to the worst elements of our human nature throughout his Passion. We see fear, pride, hatred and spiritual blindness reigning in the hearts and minds of so many in Jerusalem this week. At the Mount of Olives, there is Judas, who betrays our precious Lord with a kiss. There are the Twelve Apostles, who abandon Jesus in the face of the soldiers: “And they all left him and fled.” We see numerous Jewish leaders galvanize their decision to put Jesus to death: “The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they found none.” We see other Jews get swept up in this madness: “Many gave false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.” The Roman soldiers get caught up in the momentum and resort to mocking, beating and spitting upon our Savior. We cannot forget Pilate, who caves in and condemns Jesus to death even though he found nothing that deserved a death sentence.
Secondly, our precious Lord emptied himself by embracing an enormous amount of physical suffering. The scourging at the pillar sits near the top of this mountain of suffering. Thirty-nine lashes do major damage to a person’s back. The crowning with thorns added to his agony by making it hard to concentrate with so many needles piercing his head. Furthermore, Jesus was subject to constant beatings throughout his last couple of days by both the Jewish and Roman soldiers. At the end, Jesus was forced to carry the cross which drained him of any remaining human strength. The grand finale is the crucifixion which ended with a death by asphyxiation. The self-emptying of our Savior led to a staggering amount of physical suffering which he accepted in freedom because of his love for the Father and for you and me.
Finally, Jesus emptied himself by carrying the weight of mankind’s sin on his shoulders all the way to the cross. Perhaps we might call this a kind of moral suffering. While perfectly and completely innocent himself, Jesus took on our sins, every single one of them, from the very start of humanity. St. Paul goes so far as to say that Jesus “became” sin for us, to save us and to repair our broken relationship with the Father. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5: 21) Christ’s moral suffering included knowledge of the greatest horror of all: the painful, irreparable separation from God that results from unrepented mortal sin. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Mark Cannon, the brother of a dear friend from college, fashioned a pencil drawing of the head of Jesus in the midst of his Passion, with blood trickling down his cheeks from the crown of thorns and with a most powerful gaze up into the heavens. The drawing is spectacular because it depicts both a sense of the suffering Jesus was enduring as well as the strength that he was receiving from his heavenly Father. In our first reading today, the prophet Isaiah notes the source of all strength: “The Lord God is my help; therefore I am not disgraced.”
Our Heavenly Father asked his only-begotten Son to empty himself and drink the cup of suffering. The Father proceeded to remain very present to him and provide the strength needed to endure the terrible darkness of his Passion.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s commit to spending plenty of time with Jesus this week, both in personal prayer with the Gospels and with the church at her solemn liturgies starting on Thursday. Let’s beg for the grace to get a taste of the suffering he endured and of the love with which he offered his suffering to the Father for our salvation.
Fr. Peterson is director of mission and development for the Youth Apostles.
He emptied himself
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March 24 — Mk 14:1-15:47
St. Paul’s famous canticle in the letter to the Philippians offers the phrase “he emptied himself” to proclaim the beauty, meaning and mystery of Jesus’ mission on this earth. The notion surely applies to Jesus’ most humble entrance into this world. But it applies in a focused way to our Savior’s Passion and death.
So, let’s explore the notion of “emptying” as we celebrate Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord.
Jesus emptied himself by submitting to the worst elements of our human nature throughout his Passion. We see fear, pride, hatred and spiritual blindness reigning in the hearts and minds of so many in Jerusalem this week. At the Mount of Olives, there is Judas, who betrays our precious Lord with a kiss. There are the Twelve Apostles, who abandon Jesus in the face of the soldiers: “And they all left him and fled.” We see numerous Jewish leaders galvanize their decision to put Jesus to death: “The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they found none.” We see other Jews get swept up in this madness: “Many gave false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.” The Roman soldiers get caught up in the momentum and resort to mocking, beating and spitting upon our Savior. We cannot forget Pilate, who caves in and condemns Jesus to death even though he found nothing that deserved a death sentence.
Secondly, our precious Lord emptied himself by embracing an enormous amount of physical suffering. The scourging at the pillar sits near the top of this mountain of suffering. Thirty-nine lashes do major damage to a person’s back. The crowning with thorns added to his agony by making it hard to concentrate with so many needles piercing his head. Furthermore, Jesus was subject to constant beatings throughout his last couple of days by both the Jewish and Roman soldiers. At the end, Jesus was forced to carry the cross which drained him of any remaining human strength. The grand finale is the crucifixion which ended with a death by asphyxiation. The self-emptying of our Savior led to a staggering amount of physical suffering which he accepted in freedom because of his love for the Father and for you and me.
Finally, Jesus emptied himself by carrying the weight of mankind’s sin on his shoulders all the way to the cross. Perhaps we might call this a kind of moral suffering. While perfectly and completely innocent himself, Jesus took on our sins, every single one of them, from the very start of humanity. St. Paul goes so far as to say that Jesus “became” sin for us, to save us and to repair our broken relationship with the Father. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5: 21) Christ’s moral suffering included knowledge of the greatest horror of all: the painful, irreparable separation from God that results from unrepented mortal sin. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Mark Cannon, the brother of a dear friend from college, fashioned a pencil drawing of the head of Jesus in the midst of his Passion, with blood trickling down his cheeks from the crown of thorns and with a most powerful gaze up into the heavens. The drawing is spectacular because it depicts both a sense of the suffering Jesus was enduring as well as the strength that he was receiving from his heavenly Father. In our first reading today, the prophet Isaiah notes the source of all strength: “The Lord God is my help; therefore I am not disgraced.”
Our Heavenly Father asked his only-begotten Son to empty himself and drink the cup of suffering. The Father proceeded to remain very present to him and provide the strength needed to endure the terrible darkness of his Passion.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s commit to spending plenty of time with Jesus this week, both in personal prayer with the Gospels and with the church at her solemn liturgies starting on Thursday. Let’s beg for the grace to get a taste of the suffering he endured and of the love with which he offered his suffering to the Father for our salvation.
Fr. Peterson is director of mission and development for the Youth Apostles.
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