Gospel: Luke 22:14-23:56
Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it,
and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do
this in memory of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This
cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.
“And yet behold, the hand of the one who is to betray
me is with me on the table; for the Son of Man indeed goes as it has been
determined; but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed.” And they began to
debate among themselves who among them would do such a deed.
Then an argument broke out among them about which of
them should be regarded as the greatest. He said to them, “The kings of the
Gentiles lord it over them and those in authority over them are addressed as
‘Benefactors’; but among you it shall not be so. Rather, let the greatest among
you be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant. For who is greater: the
one seated at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one seated at table? I
am among you as the one who serves. It is you who have stood by me in my
trials; and I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father has conferred one
on me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and you will sit
on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
“Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all
of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once
you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” He said to him,
“Lord, I am prepared to go to prison and to die with you.” But he replied, “I
tell you, Peter, before the cock crows this day, you will deny three times that
you know me.”
He said to them, “When I sent you forth without a
money bag or a sack or sandals, were you in need of anything?” “No, nothing, “
they replied. He said to them, “But now one who has a money bag should take it,
and likewise a sack, and one who does not have a sword should sell his cloak
and buy one. For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me,
namely, He was counted among the wicked; and indeed what is written about me is
coming to fulfillment.” Then they said, “Lord, look, there are two swords here.
”But he replied, “It is enough!”
Then going out, he went, as was his custom, to the
Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. When he arrived at the place
he said to them,“Pray that you may not undergo the test.”After withdrawing
about a stone’s throw from them and kneeling, he prayed, saying, “Father, if
you are willing, take this cup away from me;still, not my will but yours be
done.”
And to strengthen him an angel from heaven appeared to
him. He was in such agony and he prayed so fervently that his sweat became like
drops of blood falling on the ground. When he rose from prayer and returned to
his disciples, he found them sleeping from grief.He said to them, “Why are you
sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not undergo the test.”
While he was still speaking, a crowd approached and in
front was one of the Twelve, a man named Judas. He went up to Jesus to kiss
him. Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
His disciples realized what was about to happen, and they asked, “Lord, shall
we strike with a sword?”
And one of them struck the high priest’s servant and
cut off his right ear. But Jesus said in reply, “Stop, no more of this!”Then he
touched the servant’s ear and healed him. And Jesus said to the chief priests
and temple guards and elders who had come for him, “Have you come out as
against a robber, with swords and clubs? Day after day I was with you in the
temple area, and you did not seize me; but this is your hour, the time for the
power of darkness.”
After arresting him they led him away and took him
into the house of the high priest; Peter was following at a distance. They lit
a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter sat down
with them. When a maid saw him seated in the light, she looked intently at him
and said, “This man too was with him.” But he denied it saying, “Woman, I do
not know him.”
A short while later someone else saw him and said,
“You too are one of them”; but Peter answered, “My friend, I am not.” About an
hour later, still another insisted, “Assuredly, this man too was with him, for
he also is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “My friend, I do not know what you are
talking about.” Just as he was saying this, the cock crowed, and the Lord
turned and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he
had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.”
He went out and began to weep bitterly. The men who held Jesus in custody were
ridiculing and beating him. They blindfolded him and questioned him, saying,
“Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” And they reviled him in
saying many other things against him.
When day came the council of elders of the people met,
both chief priests and scribes, and they brought him before their Sanhedrin.
They said, “If you are the Christ, tell us, “but he replied to them, “If I tell
you, you will not believe, and if I question, you will not respond. But from
this time on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of
God.” They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” He replied to them, “You
say that I am.” Then they said, “What further need have we for testimony? We
have heard it from his own mouth.”
Then the whole assembly of them arose and brought him
before Pilate. They brought charges against him, saying, “We found this man
misleading our people; he opposes the payment of taxes to Caesar and maintains
that he is the Christ, a king.” Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the
Jews?” He said to him in reply, “You say so.” Pilate then addressed the chief
priests and the crowds, “I find this man not guilty.” But they were adamant and
said, “He is inciting the people with his teaching throughout all Judea, from
Galilee where he began even to here.”
On hearing this Pilate asked if the man was a
Galilean; and upon learning that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him
to Herod who was in Jerusalem at that time. Herod was very glad to see Jesus;
he had been wanting to see him for a long time, for he had heard about him and
had been hoping to see him perform some sign. He questioned him at length, but
he gave him no answer. The chief priests and scribes, meanwhile, stood by
accusing him harshly. Herod and his soldiers treated him contemptuously and
mocked him, and after clothing him in resplendent garb, he sent him back to
Pilate.
Herod and Pilate became friends that very day, even
though they had been enemies formerly. Pilate then summoned the chief priests,
the rulers, and the people and said to them, “You brought this man to me and
accused him of inciting the people to revolt. I have conducted my investigation
in your presence and have not found this man guilty of the charges you have
brought against him, nor did Herod, for he sent him back to us. So no capital
crime has been committed by him. Therefore I shall have him flogged and then
release him.”
But all together they shouted out, “Away with this
man! Release Barabbas to us.” — Now Barabbas had been imprisoned for a
rebellion that had taken place in the city and for murder. — Again Pilate
addressed them, still wishing to release Jesus, but they continued their
shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate addressed them a third time,
“What evil has this man done? I found him guilty of no capital crime. Therefore
I shall have him flogged and then release him.” With loud shouts, however, they
persisted in calling for his crucifixion, and their voices prevailed. The
verdict of Pilate was that their demand should be granted. So he released the
man who had been imprisoned for rebellion and murder, for whom they asked, and
he handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they wished.
As they led him away they took hold of a certain
Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country; and after laying the
cross on him, they made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd of people
followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him.Jesus turned
to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for
yourselves and for your children for indeed, the days are coming when people
will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts
that never nursed.’ At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon
us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ for if these things are done when the wood
is green what will happen when it is dry?” Now two others, both criminals, were
led away with him to be executed.
When they came to the place called the Skull, they
crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left.
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” They
divided his garments by casting lots. The people stood by and watched; the
rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, “He saved others, let him save
himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.” Even the soldiers jeered
at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, “If you are King
of the Jews, save yourself.” Above him there was an inscription that read,
“This is the King of the Jews.”
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus,
saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” The other, however,
rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to
the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the
sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing
criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in
Paradise.”
It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole
land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the
veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he
breathed his last.
Here all kneel and pause for a short time.
The centurion who witnessed what had happened
glorified God and said, “This man was innocent beyond doubt.” When all the
people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned
home beating their breasts; but all his acquaintances stood at a distance,
including the women who had followed him from Galilee and saw these events. Now
there was a virtuous and righteous man named Joseph who, though he was a member
of the council, had not consented to their plan of action.
He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea and was
awaiting the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
After he had taken the body down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him
in a rock-hewn tomb in which no one had yet been buried. It was the day of
preparation, and the sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come from
Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way
in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and
perfumed oils. Then they rested on the sabbath according to the
commandment.
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Reflection:
Denials and betrayals—perhaps these two words best describe the fate that sealed the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus would not have been crucified if He had not been denied and betrayed by the very people who followed Him—people who benefited from His miracles and people who were praising Him to high heavens as He entered Jerusalem astride a donkey.
Why was Jesus betrayed? Jesus was betrayed because there were no more earth-shaking miracles coming from Him. There were no more displays of powerful healings and eloquence of speech. What they saw was a defeated and powerless man—a man who couldn’t defend Himself. So unlike the powerful image of Jesus before He entered Jerusalem, they left Him to fend for Himself.
Such is our human behavior—we side with the powerful, and when the powerful are no longer powerful, we hastily abandon ship to cling to the new power. This is what happened to Jesus: He was abandoned by the very people who were supposed to defend Him.
Perhaps in His humanity, Jesus was expecting to be defended by those who had benefited from Him. But His expectation did not become a reality. In His humanity, Jesus saw for Himself the pain and agony of betrayal.
This was the reality of life during the time of Jesus, and it remains the reality of life today—at this very hour. We love to side with the powerful, even if they are already manipulating and using us to advance their own selfish agenda. They use fake news, lies, and historical revisionism to place and eventually perpetuate themselves in power.
If we continue to side with the powerful—those who are simply using and manipulating us with their endless dispensing of fake news, lies, and historical revisionism to perpetuate their deceitful ambitions—we will not find Jesus, because Jesus is not with them.
Jesus is with the powerless, those who are being oppressed, and those who have nothing in life except the tattered clothes they wear. Jesus is with those who fight and advance the welfare of the poor, the marginalized, and those whose integrity is beyond question.
As we begin
our journey this Palm Sunday, perhaps it’s good to ask ourselves these
questions: Have I already encountered this Jesus who is with the poor? This
Jesus who fights for the welfare of the poor and marginalized? This Jesus in
the person of a politician whose character and intentions are beyond question?
— Marino J. Dasmarinas
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