| “What wondrous love is
this”
Each year on Palm Sunday we read one of the Passion accounts from the
synoptic Gospels. Scholars tell us that these narratives are the oldest
parts of the Gospel tradition, as the story of Jesus’s Passion, death,
and resurrection is central to the Christian kerygma. A careful examination
of each text reveals material characteristic of each evangelist and his
own particular theological outlook. In Mark we encounter a suffering Jesus
whose disciples abandon him in his final hour. In Matthew we see how Jesus’s
suffering and death fulfill the ancient prophecies of Israel.
This year, in Luke’s text, we continue to see themes found elsewhere
in his Gospel: Jesus as a man of prayer and compassion, empowered by the
Spirit and sent to fulfill the Scriptures. It is ironic that as Jesus is
being mocked and beaten by his captors, they are fulfilling what he predicted
when he said that he was going to be “handed over to the Gentiles; … mocked
and insulted … flogged” and killed (18:32–33). His tormentors prove that
he is indeed a prophet. They help confirm that Jesus is innocent of the
charges brought against him.
Found deserving of death by the Sanhedrin (the “council” of 22:66),
Jesus is brought to Pilate to be sentenced to death. Pilate did not normally
live in Jerusalem but would be in the city for the feast of Passover. His
presence would serve to encourage an orderly celebration, and the soldiers
he brought with him would help enforce the law should any trouble arise.
As Passover was a pilgrimage feast, there were many visitors to the city.
Scholars estimate that the population of Jerusalem swelled to about 250,000
people at Passover time.
The charges brought against Jesus are false: in Luke, Jesus permits
paying taxes and he rejects the title of Messiah. But for Luke, Jesus is
the innocent one who dies in place of the guilty; Barabbas is set free
and Jesus is sentenced to death; while one criminal executed alongside
Jesus derides Jesus, the other declares that Jesus “has done nothing wrong”
(23:41) and wins a place in heaven.
.
Pilate’s first response to Jesus is to declare him innocent. However,
this does not sit well with the people, so he cannot just release Jesus.
When he learns that Jesus was a Galilean he sends him to Herod.
The scene of Jesus before Herod is unique to Luke’s text. As tetrarch
of Galilee, the region where much of Jesus’s public ministry took place,
Herod would have jurisdiction over Jesus. In sending him to Herod, Pilate
avoids condemning Jesus. Herod too finds no reason to condemn Jesus and,
after mocking him, sends him back to Pilate. Luke’s note of a reconciliation
between Pilate and Herod that resulted from this episode shows that even
as he is being led to death, Jesus is an instrument of healing broken relationships.
On Jesus’s return, Pilate reiterates his belief in Jesus’s innocence,
saying “he has done nothing to deserve death” (23:15). But the crowd continues
to demand Jesus’s condemnation, so Pilate gives in to their demands and
Jesus is led off to execution.
On the way to be crucified, Jesus encounters Simon of Cyrene, who carries
his cross, and the women of Jerusalem, who weep for him. It is typical
of Luke to pair a male and female, and these people serve as reminders
of what discipleship should be. Simon carries the cross “behind Jesus”
(v 26), and the women weep for Jesus, setting them apart from the crowds
who had just called for his death.
At the place of execution, which is not Golgotha in Luke but the place
called The Skull (23:33), Jesus is crucified alongside two criminals. Even
from the cross, he prays for forgiveness for his persecutors and promises
Paradise to one of the criminals, continuing his mission of reconciliation
until his last moments.
Finally, Jesus’s death comes as the fulfillment of his mission as he
commends his spirit into the hands of the Father (v 46). The just one has
died for the unjust.
The Christian spiritual sings of God’s wondrous love “that caused the
Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul.” In the closing days
of Lent, as we listen to the story of Jesus’s passion and death, may we
have the grace to know God’s wondrous love for us and to live lives of
joyful service in gratitude for the gift of salvation purchased by his
blood. ML
Bruce Janiga, a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., teaches
Scripture studies at Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, N.J. He is the Sunday
assistant at St. Cassian's Church in Upper Montclair, N.J.
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