Palm Sunday – 5th April 2020 – Matthew 26,14-27,66
Chose to be Humble and Obedient Son
The act of Jesus entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey is a deliberate and direct lesson in humility. Right from His very humble birth in a stable to His death on the cross, Jesus, the Saviour of the world and the King of the universe has shown us that humility is the way for the humanity to follow Him.
He was born of the woman, worked with human hands, thought with a human mind, acted by human choice, and loved with a human heart. He began his public ministry through baptism and lived every moment of his life – through teachings and miracles – facing opposition and conflicts from the religious authorities. As human person, Jesus tasted the depths of human on the cross in every level – physical, psychological and spiritual. He underwent the most painful and shameful death devised by the Roman authorities. The brutality of his mockery typifies the violence of the empire and is in direct contrast to Jesus’ non-violent teachings. Added to this shame, he was crucified between two known criminals. In fact, He was alone and was rejected by everyone: religious authorities and fellow citizens, disciples and friends.
The various characters in this passion narrative vividly portray of human sinfulness and its consequences in the process of crucifying Him. Judas motivated by greed betrays Jesus but then bitterly regrets his action. The disciples, with Peter at the head, long to demonstrate their faithfulness and love but fail miserably; Peter denies him thrice and all others abandoned him. Jesus’ opponents – the religious leaders, Pilate, the Roman soldiers, and the crowds – all in their own ways reject, torment, and ridicule Jesus as they seek their own benefit and their own ends. Only his mother and the two Mary’s were at the cross.
Perhaps most painful of all, Jesus was a failure. Jesus failed to accomplish the mission given him by his Father – preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Until now, even his apostles did not understand his message. On the cross, Jesus felt abandoned by his Father. However, Jesus was not left alone; His father was with him, transforming Jesus as Christ through human suffering. So Jesus through humility remained fully obedient to God’s will. In the most positive spiritual sense, He taught us that humility is a form of surrender in the midst of rejection and mockery. As his tormentors kneel before him and hail him as king, the readers of the gospel will know that he is a king in a manner totally different from expectations. He is the king who is “humble and mounted on a donkey” (21,3), the king who “will sit on the throne of his glory” and “all the nations will be gathered before him” (25,31-32). Jesus, in perfect humility and obedience, opened the way for God to defeat humanity’s death-dealing choices through the paradoxical power of the cross.
