Mark 11:1-10 When they were
approaching Jerusalem, in sight of Bethphage and Bethany, close by the Mount of
Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, ‘Go off to the village
facing you, and as soon as you enter it you will find a tethered colt that no
one has yet ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, “What
are you doing?” say, “The Master needs it and will send it back here
directly”.’ They went off and found a colt tethered near a door in the open
street. As they untied it, some men standing there said, ‘What are you doing,
untying that colt?’ They gave the answer Jesus had told them, and the men let
them go. Then they took the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on its back,
and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, others greenery
which they had cut in the fields. And those who went in front and those who
followed were all shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessings on him who comes in the name of
the Lord! Blessings on the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the
highest heavens!’ Isaiah 50:4-7 The Lord has given me a disciple’s tongue. So that I may
know how to reply to the wearied he provides me with speech. Each morning he
wakes me to hear, to listen like a disciple. The Lord has opened my ear. For my
part, I made no resistance, neither did I turn away. I offered my back to those
who struck me, my cheeks to those who tore at my beard; I did not cover my face
against insult and spittle. The Lord comes to my help, so that I am untouched
by the insults. So, too, I set my face like flint; I know I shall not be
shamed. Psalm 21:8-9,17-20,23-24 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? All who see me deride me. They curl their lips,
they toss their heads. ‘He trusted in the Lord, let him save him; let him
release him if this is his friend.’ My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? Many dogs have surrounded me, a band of the wicked beset me. They
tear holes in my hands and my feet I can count every one of my bones. My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? They divide my clothing among them. They
cast lots for my robe. O Lord, do not leave me alone, my strength, make
haste to help me! My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? I will tell
of your name to my brethren and praise you where they are assembled. ‘You
who fear the Lord give him praise; all sons of Jacob, give him glory. Revere
him, Israel’s sons. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Philippians 2:6-11 Jesus Christ’s state was divine, yet he did not cling to his
equality with God but emptied himself to
assume the condition of a slave and became as men are; and being as all men
are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. But God
raised him high and gave him the name which
is above all other names so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the
underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue
should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Mark 14:1-15:47 It was two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened
Bread, and the chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest
Jesus by some trick and have him put to death. For they said, ‘It must not be
during the festivities, or there will be a disturbance among the people.’ Jesus
was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper; he was at dinner when a woman
came in with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, pure nard. She broke the
jar and poured the ointment on his head. Some who were there said to one
another indignantly, ‘Why this waste of ointment? Ointment like this could have
been sold for over three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor’; and
they were angry with her. But Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. Why are you
upsetting her? What she has done for me is one of the good works. You have the
poor with you always, and you can be kind to them whenever you wish, but you
will not always have me. She has done what was in her power to do: she has
anointed my body beforehand for its burial. I tell you solemnly, wherever
throughout all the world the Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be
told also, in remembrance of her.’ Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve,
approached the chief priests with an offer to hand Jesus over to them. They
were delighted to hear it, and promised to give him money; and he looked for a
way of betraying him when the opportunity should occur. On the first day of
Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, his disciples said to
him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the
passover?’ So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the city
and you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him, and say to the
owner of the house which he enters, “The Master says: Where is my dining room
in which I can eat the passover with my disciples?” He will show you a large
upper room furnished with couches, all prepared. Make the preparations for us
there,’ The disciples set out and went to the city and found everything as he
had told them, and prepared the Passover. When evening came he arrived
with the Twelve. And while they were at table eating, Jesus said, ‘I tell you
solemnly, one of you is about to betray me, one of you eating with me.’ They
were distressed and asked him, one after another, ‘Not I, surely?’ He said to
them, ‘It is one of the Twelve, one who is dipping into the same dish with me.
Yes, the Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but
alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he
had never been born!’ And as they were eating he took some bread, and when
he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to them. ‘Take it,’ he said
‘this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it
to them, and all drank from it, and he said to them, ‘This is my blood, the
blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many. I tell you solemnly,
I shall not drink any more wine until the day I drink the new wine in the
kingdom of God.’ After psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of
Olives. And Jesus said to them, ‘You will all lose faith, for the scripture
says: I shall strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered, however
after my resurrection I shall go before you to Galilee.’ Peter said, ‘Even if
all lose faith, I will not.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you solemnly, this
day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will have disowned me
three times.’ But he repeated still more earnestly, ‘If I have to die with you,
I will never disown you.’ And they all said the same. They came to a small
estate called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Stay here while I
pray.’ Then he took Peter and James and John with him. And a sudden fear came
over him, and great distress. And he said to them, ‘My soul is sorrowful to the
point of death. Wait here, and keep awake.’ And going on a little further he
threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, this hour
might pass him by. ‘Abba (Father)!’ he said ‘Everything is possible for you.
Take this cup away from me. But let it be as you, not I, would have it.’ He
came back and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you
asleep? Had you not the strength to keep awake one hour? You should be awake,
and praying not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is
weak.’ Again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he
came back and found them sleeping, their eyes were so heavy; and they could
find no answer for him. He came back a third time and said to them, ‘You can
sleep on now and take your rest. It is all over. The hour has come. Now the Son
of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up! Let us go! My
betrayer is close at hand already.’ Even while he was still speaking,
Judas, one of the Twelve, came up with a number of men armed with swords and
clubs, sent by the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the
traitor had arranged a signal with them. ‘The one I kiss,’ he had said ‘he is
the man. Take him in charge, and see he is well guarded when you lead him
away.’ So when the traitor came, he went straight up to Jesus and said,
‘Rabbi!’ and kissed him. The others seized him and took him in charge. Then one
of the bystanders drew his sword and struck out at the high priest’s servant,
and cut off his ear. Then Jesus spoke. ‘Am I a brigand’ he said ‘that you
had to set out to capture me with swords and clubs? I was among you teaching in
the Temple day after day and you never laid hands on me. But this is to fulfil
the scriptures.’ And they all deserted him and ran away. A young man who
followed him had nothing on but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he
left the cloth in their hands and ran away naked. They led Jesus off to the
high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes assembled
there. Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the high priest’s
palace, and was sitting with the attendants warming himself at the fire. The
chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus
on which they might pass the death sentence. But they could not find any.
Several, indeed, brought false evidence against him, but their evidence was
conflicting. Some stood up and submitted this false evidence against him, ‘We
heard him say, “I am going to destroy this Temple made by human hands, and in
three days build another, not made by human hands.”’ But even on this point
their evidence was conflicting. The high priest then stood up before the whole
assembly and put this question to Jesus, ‘Have you no answer to that? What is
this evidence these men are bringing against you?’ But he was silent and made
no answer at all. The high priest put a second question to him, ‘Are you the
Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the Blessed One?’ ‘I am,’ said Jesus ‘and you
will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with
the clouds of heaven.’ The high priest tore his robes, ‘What need of witnesses
have we now?’ he said. ‘You heard the blasphemy. What is your finding?’ And
they all gave their verdict: he deserved to die. Some of them started
spitting at him and, blindfolding him, began hitting him with their fists and
shouting, ‘Play the prophet!’ And the attendants rained blows on him. While
Peter was down below in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s servant-girls
came up. She saw Peter warming himself there, stared at him and said, ‘You too
were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.’ But he denied it. ‘I do not know, I do
not understand, what you are talking about’ he said. And he went out into the
forecourt. The servant-girl saw him and again started telling the bystanders,
‘This fellow is one of them.’ But again he denied it. A little later the
bystanders themselves said to Peter, ‘You are one of them for sure! Why, you
are a Galilean.’ But he started calling down curses on himself and swearing, ‘I
do not know the man you speak of.’ At that moment the cock crew for the second
time, and Peter recalled how Jesus had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows
twice, you will have disowned me three times.’ And he burst into tears. First
thing in the morning, the chief priests together with the elders and scribes,
in short the whole Sanhedrin, had their plan ready. They had Jesus bound and
took him away and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate questioned him, ‘Are
you the king of the Jews?’ ‘It is you who say it’ he answered. And the chief
priests brought many accusations against him. Pilate questioned him again,
‘Have you no reply at all? See how many accusations they are bringing against
you!’ But, to Pilate’s amazement, Jesus made no further reply. At festival
time Pilate used to release a prisoner for them, anyone they asked for. Now a
man called Barabbas was then in prison with the rioters who had committed
murder during the uprising. When the crowd went up and began to ask Pilate the
customary favour, Pilate answered them, ‘Do you want me to release for you the
king of the Jews?’ For he realised it was out of jealousy that the chief priests
had handed Jesus over. The chief priests, however, had incited the crowd to
demand that he should release Barabbas for them instead. Then Pilate spoke
again. ‘But in that case,’ he said to them ‘what am I to do with the man you
call king of the Jews?’ They shouted back, ‘Crucify him!’ ‘Why?’ Pilate asked
them ‘What harm has he done?’ But they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’
So Pilate, anxious to placate the crowd, released Barabbas for them and, having
ordered Jesus to be scourged, handed him over to be crucified. The
soldiers led him away to the inner part of the palace, that is, the Praetorium,
and called the whole cohort together. They dressed him up in purple, twisted
some thorns into a crown and put it on him. And they began saluting him, ‘Hail,
king of the Jews!’ They struck his head with a reed and spat on him; and they
went down on their knees to do him homage. And when they had finished making
fun of him, they took off the purple and dressed him in his own clothes. They
enlisted a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, father of Alexander and Rufus, who was
coming in from the country, to carry his cross. They brought Jesus to the place
called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull. They offered him wine
mixed with myrrh, but he refused it. Then they crucified him, and shared out
his clothing, casting lots to decide what each should get. It was the third
hour when they crucified him. The inscription giving the charge against him
read: ‘The King of the Jews.’ And they crucified two robbers with him, one on
his right and one on his left. The passers-by jeered at him; they shook
their heads and said, ‘Aha! So you would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in
three days! Then save yourself: come down from the cross!’ The chief priests
and the scribes mocked him among themselves in the same way. ‘He saved others,’
they said ‘he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come
down from the cross now, for us to see it and believe.’ Even those who were
crucified with him taunted him. When the sixth hour came there was
darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus
cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My
God, my God, why have you deserted me?’ When some of those who stood by heard
this, they said, ‘Listen, he is calling on Elijah.’ Someone ran and soaked a
sponge in vinegar and, putting it on a reed, gave it him to drink saying; ‘Wait
and see if Elijah will come to take him down.’ But Jesus gave a loud cry and
breathed his last. And the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to
bottom. The centurion, who was standing in front of him, had seen how he had
died, and he said, ‘In truth this man was a son of God.’ There were some
women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary who was
the mother of James the younger and Joset, and Salome. These used to follow him
and look after him when he was in Galilee. And there were many other women
there who had come up to Jerusalem with him. It was now evening, and since
it was Preparation Day (that is, the vigil of the sabbath), there came Joseph
of Arimathaea, a prominent member of the Council, who himself lived in the hope
of seeing the kingdom of God, and he boldly went to Pilate and asked for the
body of Jesus. Pilate, astonished that he should have died so soon, summoned
the centurion and enquired if he was already dead. Having been assured of this
by the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph who bought a shroud, took
Jesus down from the cross, wrapped him in the shroud and laid him in a tomb
which had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the
entrance to the tomb. Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of Joset were
watching and took note of where he was laid.
* Some of the Jews
gathered to triumphantly welcome Jesus of Nazareth through the gates of
Jerusalem. They hailed Him as the Son of
David, as the King of Israel. They have
seen this Man, they have heard His Words, and they have witnessed all the
marvels and miracles He has done. He has
healed the sick, raised the dead, and fed thousands. Some of the Jews wanted Him for king, king as
they understood it: someone who would lead them to freedom from Romans; who
would bring them to prosperity, to the land of milk and honey; who would bring
them fame and success. Days later, the
day before the Passover, Jesus hangs on the cross, dies and is buried.
* We have heard of those
who would identify the people who triumphantly welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem with
the same people who shouted to Pilate that the same Jesus be crucified. This is possible. We see this change of heart even in
ourselves. Our initial conviction about
Jesus and about our Faith can be changed into displeasure, discouragement or
disappointment. We might have been
expecting one thing from Jesus, but we get another. What we knew was not what Jesus would have us
know. And we change our heart about
Him. This change may be caused not only
by something in us, but also by the world itself, or by the temptations of the
devil. Whatever the cause, the effect is
the same. Whereas before we follow
Jesus, now we follow Him no more. We now
follow other persons, or even only ouselves.
* Pope Benedict XVI
advances the idea in his book Jesus of
Nazareth that the Jews who welcomed Jesus were not actually the same Jews
who condemned Him to death. The former
remained convinced of Jesus but, because of varied reasons, they were absent
and silent during His trial before Pilate.
The voices of Hosanna were different from those of the Crucifixion.
* Both readings are
applicable to us today. We might be
convinced of Jesus today and follow Him, but it is possible to deviate from
this conviction the next day. Life
becomes complicated, more likely by our own doing. And as well, we might be convinced of Jesus
in our heart of hearts but when push comes to shove we fall silent, and we
would let Jesus be crucified a second time.
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