Homily for Passion Sunday 2008

We spend a whole week, Holy Week, commemorating the key events in Jesus life for us. From a Christian perspective those events mark a turning point in human history. From a non believers point of view the events we remember remain in the past as a mere blip in the human story.

When we do look at the events we celebrate most could be seen as very unremarkable. Even Jesus entry into Jerusalem, perhaps even glamorised by the evangelist after the event, was a common enough event. We have plenty of processions and public displays ourselves. The death of another Jewish troublemaker would hardly be newsworthy.

But for us the story is good news. For us it is not just recalling the past of a great hero and martyr. No, as a turning point in history, the events we celebrate in Holy Week are also about us today. There is more to Jesus' passion and death than appears on the surface. Matthew emphasises this with his constant reference to events fulfilling Scripture. Jesus' death, first of all, is not simply the result of hostility, fear and violence. Through it all, somehow, God's purpose is the salvation of all human history.

The people we meet as we listen to the Passion account are not simply people from the past, nor some strange beings from another world. They are us. We hear our own denials in those of Peter. We hear of our own betrayals as Judas sells Jesus for thirty silver pieces. We recognise our own cowardice in the portrait of Pilate. We are humbled as we hear our own cynicism in that of the Jewish leaders. No, they are no different from us. We like them are intimately involved in the story.

The story is good news for us because Jesus loved them and us nevertheless, "Forgive them for the do not know what they are doing" and "today you will be with me in paradise."

The palms we bless today carry an ironic message. The people used them to hail a hoped for Messiah. But his destiny was a cruel defeat on the cross. Again not is all as it seems on the surface. The palms truly do foreshadow a victory no one expected. God's purpose is life not death.

Fr Graham