C Cycle – Palm Sunday 25

Lk. 22:14-23, 56

What a day this must have been for the disciples and the people.  Passover was on the horizon.  A day when all the Jewish people celebrated their freedom from slavery. A day when God directed them to gather the family, slaughter a lamb and place the blood on the lintels of their door.  A night when God would send an angel of death to kill the first born of all the Egyptians and how the shed blood of the lamb would protect the Israelites gathered inside. 

A special day, marked by sharing a sacrificial meal remembering how God freed them by the shed blood of a sacrificial lamb.  Jesus tells His disciples they were going to Jerusalem but instead of walking into the city, He would be riding in a colt as prophesized by Zachariah (Zac.9:9).  Imagine their joy as they entered the city. Shouts of jubilation filled the streets as the crowds grew and pressed in upon them. This is it, the acknowledgement of the people confirming Jesus is the promised Messiah.   This had to be the best Passover they would ever experience. From this day forward, what they prayed for would be fulfilled – freedom from the oppression of the Romans.

Little did they know what was to come as they gathered to celebrate the Passover meal. The room was ready, the meal was ready, but that night would not be like any other night.  Can it be that we are as clueless as the disciples were that evening?  We have welcomed in the Lord as we began singing “The King of Glory Comes, the Nations rejoicing.”  We have heard the story, and we know the ending but let us reflect for a moment on what unfolded that evening.  In every parish we typically focus on two events which happened that evening.  The institution of the Eucharist and on the establishment of the priesthood. 

But the reality of that evening is there are great lessons for us as we strive to draw closer to God.  For one our joy in a more powerful celebration at the beginning of the mass we must also enter the journey of the disciples that evening.  It was not a Passover celebration they were accustomed to experiencing.  This Passover meal was for them to remember and celebrate.  But Passover is also for us to remember what Jesus did and continues to do for us to be free from sin.   It should have reminded them and us of the Law of Atonement given to Moses by God.  One lamb, sacrificed for the sins of all the sons of Israel. One sacrifice on which all the sinful faults and all the transgressions were placed on the head of the lamb (Lev.16:21). 

Jesus knew the disciples would struggle with what was going to happen later that evening and the next day.  He knew they had listened to His teaching and knew they did not fully comprehend what was being revealed to them.  He understood their humanity and how much we like them will struggle with sin and the penalty of sin.   We have much more knowledge and teaching to help us understand.  We have the scriptures with all the prophecies that reveal God’s plan involves the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. But the Passover meal was structured, and Jesus was doing something new that evening.

Is our knowledge of Jesus greater than theirs was at that time Of course, it is but is our unbelief any different?   Unbelief is unbelief and the things we struggle do not understand how sin paralyzes us and destroys our ability to embrace Christ.  We see that in Peter as he is shocked when Jesus wants to wash his feet.  This feeling of being unworthy is penalty enough because it keeps us from embracing the one thing we need and that is to understand forgiveness to grasp the fullness of this passive meal I invite you to read the reading in John’s gospel beginning with chapter 13 and through chapter 17.  

You will discover how much we fail to grasp the critical nature of the Holy Spirit in opening our minds to understand, our ears to hear, our eyes to see and our hearts to respond.  Jesus tells us the Spirit will come to us and reveal the truth to us about sin, condemnation, and righteousness.  The Spirit will remind us of all He did and said and will change us into holy men and women.    Instead of the passion of Jesus being the pinnacle of our belief in Jesus we will discover another part of His mission was to send us the Spirit promised by God to transform us and to help us experience the love of God poured into our hearts. 

We will discover by that evening everything changes for the disciples, and they flee and distance themselves from Jesus.  But that is only the beginning because they begin to remember His teaching them about His rising from the dead. They will discover the final piece of understanding happens at Pentecost.  A day as critical in God’s plan for our salvation as what will come after this Passover meal: His betrayal, His arrest, His passion, death, and resurrection. But to prepare for our own encounter with Jesus we should do what the disciple’s did and that is to go into an upper room, join others in prayer and stir into flames that Spirit we received at our baptism and begin to live the faith we profess to believe.