Palm Sunday Year A
Entrance Procession: Matthew 21: 1-11
First Reading: Isaiah 50: 4-7
Second Reading: Philippians 2: 6-11
Gospel: Matthew 26: 14 – 27:66
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the Holy Week. It commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. This is one of the few events recorded in all four Gospels. Each account comes with its own distinctiveness, yet when we piece them together, we find the picture of Jesus who is the Messiah, his mission and the hope of those put their faith in him.
Matthew begins his account of the passion of Jesus with the betrayal of Judas Iscariot and then proceeds to the Last Supper. Matthew more than anyone else emphasizes that the Last Supper was a Passover meal. The disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” And Jesus asked them to go into the city to a man you will find and say to him, ‘the Teacher says, my time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’ The disciples did as Jesus directed them and prepared the Passover. The importance of this lies in the meaning of the Passover. Passover was the annal memorial of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. It commemorates that night of the Passover when lambs were sacrificed and eaten with unleavened bread and Israel was set free.
By instituting the Holy Eucharist in the context of the Passover meal, Jesus is clearly inaugurating a new Passover. This Passover is similar to the old one but differs in a very significant way. Jesus replaces the Passover lamb with himself. He says, ‘this is my body,’ and ‘this is my blood.’ Then he commands them to do this in memory of him. Like the old, it commemorates our deliverance. While the old Passover recalls the deliverance from Egypt, the new Passover is a celebration of our deliverance from the power of sin, death and Satan who is the author of all these.
Matthew also presents Jesus throughout the narrative as the one in control of events. His arrest, torture and crucifixion do not happen to him; he permits them and even orchestrates them. He tells his disciples to enter the city and find a certain man, and say to him, “The Teacher says, my time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciple.” They went and found it as he had said. When Judas asked, “Is it I, Lord?” Jesus does not answer directly but cryptically: “You have said so.” He will not let the other disciples know because it is his will to go to the cross in obedience to the Father. When the thugs came to arrest him, Jesus does not flee but rises to meet them; he said, “Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” He could ask the Father and he will send twelve legions of angels to save him but he chooses to go the way of the cross. He offers himself willingly as the sacrifice that satisfies the Father and effects our salvation. He is the new and decisive sacrifice; his blood is poured out as the blood of the new covenant.
Best wishes for a fruitful Holy Week
Fr. Chidi Onwuka m.ss.cc.