Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday
March 20, 2005

"The Lord God is my help... I shall not be put to shame." (Isaiah 50:4-7) "My God... why have you abandoned me" (Psalm 22) "Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather he emptied himself..." (Philippians 2: 6-11)

For the first few centuries of Christian history, the crucifixion of Christ was felt by many believers to be a humiliation, better forgotten. Nevertheless St. Paul, the earliest written witness to the events of Christ's life, writes often about the mystical significance of his suffering, death and resurrection. Here in Philippians, he refers to Jesus "emptying himself" of all appearance of divinity. On the Cross, Jesus expressed his desolation and hopelessness, praying in the words of Psalm 22. Perhaps Jesus, like all of us, did not have the consolation of being sure that things were going to turn out OK, and needed as much trust in his Father as we do. So, we quote the prophet today, "the Lord God is my help..." No dramatic or miraculous rescue, just Jesus in the presence of his Holy Spirit, seeing his life through to the end. He put himself in our situation, so we can call God an intimate friend as he did.

This is a model for all of us dealing with the sorrows, pains and disappointments of life. For those of us who trust that Jesus is uniquely divine and human, his death and raising from the dead was a cosmic event which changed history and transformed creation. For those who do not so believe, the way he faced every challenge of his life with confidence in the Most High is a unique life leading us back to God. Christ belongs to all of us. We all share his destiny. All that happened for him will happen soon for us. All of us are given a spiritual nature which is godlike. Through it we can have the same trust that Jesus did in the presence of his Holy Spirit.

This would be an opportune time for us to reflect on our own "passion". What opportunity do we have at this moment to see it through to completion? I daily think of you, my friends and family, and the pains, fears and quiet heroism we bear together. The spirituality of Christ's passion is corporate. We are all on the Cross together, each in our own way. Christ's passion and death is not primarily an indictment of our guilt. Neither is it only an occasion for compassion for him, apart from compassion for each other. The story of the cross is not separate from the resurrection. It is our story, and our promise of final progress into the fullness of the kingdom of God where there will be no more longing, sadness or suffering. Just us and God without end.