Passion Sunday - Homily 2

 Homily 2 - 2015

Did Jesus see himself as a Jewish king, a member of the Royal family and ultimately descended from the famous Jewish King David? We shall notice when we come to read of his trial before Pilate that he was condemned to death on the charge precisely of being king. In the Gospel passage we have just heard, as Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, the crowd greeted him as the one who would establish once again what they called “the coming Kingdom of our father David”. Is that how Jesus saw himself? When asked by Pilate precisely that question, his reply was enigmatic, “You say so".

The Church certainly sees Jesus as King. Each year we celebrate the annual feast of “Christ the King”.

The Gospel we have just read gives us a line on Jesus’ answer. Jesus was able to read the scene well enough. The oppressed and desperate Galilean pilgrims filling Jerusalem for the annual festival of Passover were always on the lookout for someone who would mount a challenge to Roman occupation and domination. Jesus had no interest in political power. To divert their enthusiasm, and in the hope of “wising up” the thoughtful ones among them, he tried a piece of “street theatre”. It was the kind of tactic a number of well-known former prophets had tried in their ministries.

Some centuries beforehand, but fresh always in the religious memory, the prophet Zechariah had spoken of the coming Messiah [or Christ, or King – the terms all mean the same thing], who would enter Jerusalem, not mounted triumphantly on a magnificent warhorse, but on the colt of a miserable donkey. He said that this Messiah would be humble, yet would bring peace to the nations, world peace, not through political power but through the moral authority of non-violence. [Matthew, in fact, in his Gospel, actually quotes a couple of the relevant lines from Zechariah’s prophecy.]

The issue still retains its relevance. What does Christ’s kingship mean to you? and me? If not political power, what about the moral authority that should guide all human decision-making? Does Christ’s insistence on rigorous and consistent respect for human dignity have any repercussions in and relevance to the political scene? Does our appreciation of Christ’s priorities affect in any way how we elect the people to govern our country? Or do we base those decisions on quite other criteria?

Jesus’ murder was a coldly political decision, even if partly coloured with a religious veneer. It has much to say about political process – in both the civil and the religious sphere. Let us be careful not to spiritualise it beyond all practical relevance.