The Procession with Palms

Mark 11:1-10 or John 12:12-16

Isaiah 50:4-7  Ps: 22:   Phil 2:6-11 Mark 14:1-15:47

The narration of the Passion and death of Jesus existed in oral tradition. They were narratives told at different Christian Communities/Churches as they gathered each year for the Christian Passover Celebrations. They remembered the Death and Resurrection. They celebrated, they believed. Each community had its own emphasis and its own local flavour.

The story of 9\11 for example would be told in detail in New York City, but would hardly make a small paragraph on page four for the Innuit Community in the North West Territories of Canada. There the sighting of a bear, or the melting of a glacier would have a greater impact.

Mark’s Gospel which we read today is a “cut and paste” version of two different oral traditions. The first one shows Jesus as an innocent suffering servant who dies because of obedience. He is cast among criminals and his possession distributed among the executioners. So we read

Jesus is crucified.

They cast lots for his garments.

Two thieves are crucified with him.

This is based on the prophecy in Isaiah 53 and psalm 22 which we read today.

The second story is more sophisticated. It is a philosophy of the battle between light and darkness, between good and evil. So we are told that

At 9:00 o’clock he was crucified. The sun shines, it is hot. Jesus thirsts.

At 12:00 a great darkness covers the earth. There is thunder. The curtain is torn from top to bottom

At 3:00 Jesus dies in isolation and in desolation of being abandoned.

In that darkness, there is a ray of light. It does not come from a Jew, it comes from a Gentile. He confesses, “Truly this was God’s Son.”  Mark does not put an emphasis on either oral narration. He just weaves them into one. We will read it without cultural background and own personal experience. We will read it as Irish or Latino, Filipino or Tamil, Portuguese or Caribbean or whatever our ethnic background. People living in the metropolis of Toronto will read it differently from rural Alberta.

All of us have our own passion of more than six hours on the cross. We have

A stepfather or mother that does not pay attention to me or my siblings

A husband or wife that suffers from depression, anxiety, lethargy etc

A marriage that is made more in hell than heaven.

Our choices are there. We can ask “Why me?” We can whine and complain. We can suffer and brood. We can say, there must be a reason. Whatever the choice, my prayer is that people looking at you will say, “Truly this must be the daughter or the son of God.”