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What will be read on Palm Sunday?
One advantage we have today is the standard numbering of the Bible texts, which probably coincides with the invention of printing and mass distributions of the sacred scriptures. In arranging the 1970 Lectionary for the Mass, the Church appoints Chapters 14 and 15 as Mark’s “Passion Narrative,” though one could argue that 16: 1-8 flows neatly into the narrative, too. The Conspiracy [14: 1-2] The narrative begins with the Jewish scribes and chief priests caught between a rock and a hard place. Jerusalem is filling up for the solemn Passover, and there is temple fear of “a riot among the people.” Anthony Saldarini’s Jesus and Passover [1984] is a fascinating source for this setting. The population of Jerusalem hosted as many as 100,000 pilgrims for Passover, or ten times its normal number. So many meals were cooked/grilled outdoors during Passover that smoky fog was a considerable problem. If you have watched “The Chosen” you already know that the Romans were skittish about any local public gatherings. Jesus has already been the center of one such event, Mark 11, the passage read with the blessing of the palms. Interestingly, this is the second conspiracy gathering to plan Jesus’ death. In Mark 3:6, “The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death.” Planning for his death was beginning as early as chapter three! His enemies want him dead, but they are cautious not to create mayhem. The Meal at Bethany [14:3-9] This gathering at the home of Simon the Leper is recorded in three of the four Gospels. Mark does not name the woman who bursts on the scene and anoints Jesus with rich ointment. Other Gospels suggest this is the “Mary” of the Mary-Martha-Lazarus family. Presumably the Twelve were in attendance but Mark is not clear on this point. The woman is not weeping or washing his feet with her hair. Rather, she breaks open a precious vessel of body oil and pours it on Jesus’ head. This is a gesture of royal respect and love. If the apostles were present, their collective howl of protest puts them in a poor light, for Mark describes their comments as “indignant,” that the cost of the oil poured upon Jesus was wasteful and better spent on charities. Jesus, for his part, accepts the gesture and defends the woman. He also puts her ritual into its historical setting, noting she has prepared him for his burial. “Amen, I say to you, wherever the Gospel [good news] is proclaimed to the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of me.” The negative reaction of the other diners—particularly the Apostles’ chiming in—is a sign that after all their time with Jesus, nobody really understands the nature of Jesus’ Messianic mission. Look at how St. John, writing decades later, edits Mark’s account in John’s Gospel. “But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” St. John edits the story such that Judas is the sole villain and the apostles, by then revered in the memory of the Christian people, are forgiven of their moment of weakness. [John 12: 4-6] The Betrayal by Judas [14: 10-11] This brief account shows, among other things, that Judas was not a total stranger to the chief priests and their concerns, particularly in avoiding creation of a public disturbance. They are paying him to learn “the right moment” for arrest. Preparation for the Passover [14: 12-16] A Passover meal, properly prepared, was a “big deal.” That all the pieces of Jesus’ Passover plans fell together so smoothly in so short a time is a subtle way of saying that the divine plan is unfolding as planned. Some scholars take note of the man carrying the jug of water, a task normally reserved for women. All the Gospels are fairly clear that only the chosen Twelve were present, the best proof being St. John’s lengthy Last Supper discourse preparing the Apostles for the future. The Betrayer [14: 17-21] One thing we can say for certain is that the Passover led by Jesus, the “Last Supper,” did not look like da Vinci’s rendering, grand as it is. The practice of the time was to eat reclining. When Jesus reveals that his betrayer was at the table, there is true amazement among the eleven disciples who each exclaim, “one by one” in Mark’s words, “Surely it is not I?” There is something that may catch the reader unawares. How is it that only Jesus and Judas knew the ugly secret in this tight circle? See my essay, “Dropping like Flies.” The scripture scholar Francis Moloney contends that the people around Jesus, including the Apostles, were drifting further and further away from his message. Perhaps the twelve were drifting apart from each other, too. Why did Judas betray Jesus? Many years ago, the musical Jesus Christ Superstar includes a song from Judas, where he laments [blames?] Jesus for predestining him to be the historical villain in Jesus’ own plans. As the evangelists were neither father confessors nor psychoanalysts, alas we shall never know for certain. The Last Supper [14: 22-26] Often overlooked in this sacred moment of history is Jesus’ statement, “Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.” Is Jesus speaking of an imminent arrival of the kingdom or a distant one? Will he drink the future wine soon? Mark says no more about the point. Matthew and Luke both report that the crowds beneath the cross offered him wine, which he refused. But in the last Gospel, St. John [John 19:30] reports: “When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.” John completes the earlier understanding of Mark as he describes Jesus’ drinking the wine of the new kingdom and conferring the Holy Spirit upon the earth. Peter’s Denial on the way to the Garden [14: 27-31] The essence of this encounter is well known. What is somewhat confusing is where the disciples would regroup and meet Jesus after the Resurrection. In Mark, Jesus says, “But after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.” [Mark 14: 28] The original text of Mark records no later meeting. On the other hand, Matthew reports that Jesus met his intimates in Galilee, while Luke and John report encounters with Jesus in Jerusalem itself. The variety of reports reflects the overall theological understandings of each evangelist. The Agony in the Garden [14: 32-42] One of the Church’s most important beliefs is the fullness of Jesus’ divinity and humanity. Here we see the full humanity of Jesus. Some find this episode disturbing, that Jesus, in profound mental anguish, would plead three times [!] that “the hour might pass by him.” The struggles of Peter, James, and John to “keep watch” [for the armed guards of the temple?] are well known, though a Passover feast of multiple toasts of wine had probably rendered them into a stuporous state. Interestingly, the later Gospel of John has no mention of a garden agony, given John’s tendency to emphasize the divinity of Christ. The Arrest [14: 43-52] The crowd that came to arrest Jesus can only be described as motley. Judas appears to be the organizer. There does not appear to be much interest in helping the poor servant who lost his ear. In Luke’s account, Jesus heals the man. But here Jesus questions—why all the hardware? “Day after day I was with you teaching in the temple area, yet you did not arrest me.” Mark has identified this crowd as lackeys of the chief priests, scribes, and temple elders, and he is laying this mayhem at the feet of the temple personnel. Hated as they were, the Roman authorities get a pass from Jesus [via Mark] for this violent scene. Just about all of Jesus’ followers fled the scene or, like Peter, dropped out of sight. The theme of abandonment is clearly emphasized. Mark, in fact, is the only evangelist to tell us that a young man, about twenty years old, was seized by the mob, and that he escaped by slipping out of his linen cloth and fleeing naked. A lot of ink has been spilled over the centuries explaining the bare elements of this escape. My guess: the escape is a metaphor for the fear and panic to escape association with Jesus and the rigorous courage necessary for discipleship. It is also true that when Mark writes of the discovery of Jesus’ tomb on Easter Sunday morning, the women meet a young man dressed “in a white robe.” And of course, sometimes you can just overthink something to death. The Trial before the Sanhedrin [14:53-65] Mark’s Gospel has the shortest account of Jesus’ “trial,” perhaps Mark’s subtle way of expressing his contempt for the whole proceeding. The “witnesses” were outright liars who contradicted each other. It is Jesus himself who brings this pitiful parade to an end by making the Sanhedrin itself a collective body of perjurers. Jesus announces that he is indeed the son of the Blessed One: “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Interestingly, Jesus is not calling himself God or Yahweh, but for the Sanhedrin his claims are extreme enough to make him “deserving to die.” Peter’s Denial [14: 66-72] Mark records that Jesus is not present when Peter swears violently—thrice—that he does not even know Jesus. Luke, on the other hand, records that Jesus looked at Peter during the denial. Witnesses to Peter’s denial note his strong Galilean accent. Galilee was 80 miles from Jerusalem, far enough away to have its distinct accent easily recognizable to citizens of Jerusalem in those days. Pilate [15:1-15] Jesus’ “trial” by the Sanhedrin occurred during the night, and the elders and scribes brought Jesus to Pilate early in the morning. It is not clear from the Gospel text what grounds the Jewish leaders were using to ask for an execution other than the charge that Jesus was claiming to be either God or the king of the Jews, which in fact he was not claiming. Verse 15:10 is a giveaway that Pilate saw through the plot: “For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over.” In fact, when Pilate asks the crowd why he should execute Jesus, they cry out louder “Crucify him!” Ultimately, Pilate’s reason for killing Jesus was “to satisfy the crowd,” as Mark records in 15:15. It should be noted here that the behavior of Jewish crowds and leaders recorded in all four Passion narratives has been used by Christians as an excuse to kill, harass, segregate, and denigrate the entire Jewish race. Sadly, it continues today. In researching the Council Vatican II [1962-1965] for another post, I was surprised at the opposition of many high-ranging churchmen and bishops to the Council’s work of reconciliation with our Jewish brethren. The Catholic Church today holds that antisemitism is sinful, and that the excesses of behavior at Jesus’ trial are not representative of the Jewish faith. The Crucifixion [15:16-15:32] The actual execution of Jesus as recorded by Mark is remarkably brief compared to the other Gospels. The torture by the soldiers described by Mark was probably standard fare for political pretenders of any sort. “Hail, King of the Jews!” Several Gospels, including Mark’s, make mention of Simon, a Cyrenian, in assisting Jesus with his cross. The New American Bible translation of Mark has Simon carrying the cross, suggesting that Jesus was already seriously weakened and close to death as he approached Golgotha. When Jesus arrived at Golgotha, he was offered “wine drugged with myrrh,” probably a narcotic of some sort, “but he did not take it.” [15:23] The terrifying act of crucifying a human being is described in just four words: “Then they crucified him.” [15:24] Mark records that Jesus was crucified at “nine o’clock in the morning” and died at “three o’clock.” Given that the telling of time in the first century was not an exact science, many scholars believe these times stand for primitive worship observances on the annual observance of Jesus’ death by Christian communities. That said, Mark is describing a full day of unthinkable agony, a human body supported by spikes through the wrists. The text shows particular interest in the verbal insults from the crowd; the irony here is that every insult recorded by Mark is true: Jesus is the Messiah, he would rebuild the new temple in three days, i.e., his own body, and so forth. Mark highlights the insults of the two “revolutionaries” crucified with him, “Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.” [15:32] There is a remarkable word play in the text. The Greek word ονειδος is translated into English as “to abuse.” But its full meaning in Greek is much more violent: screaming, raging, cursing. The word is used only twice in the New Testament, both times in this Gospel. [see below.] Jesus’ Death [15: 42-47] Several Gospels report darkness: Mark says it was dark for three hours before Jesus died. That would rule out an eclipse, which lasts 2-4 minutes. Often the evangelists use terms like “darkness” and “nighttime” to signal the temporary power of evil. The reverse is true, too. In John’s Gospel Jesus converts the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well “at noon.” Jesus’ cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” is a quote from Psalm 22. It is another sign that Jesus has fully embraced the human experience of full dependence upon the Father. It is not a sign of moral despair. Jesus refuses the last offering of wine and dies with “a loud cry.” Several remarkable things happened next. First, “The veil of the [temple] sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.” The perfect offering of Christ’s life has turned the point of liturgical worship upside down. St. John’s Passion describes the piercing of Jesus’ side by a soldier as synchronous with the Passover lambs being slaughtered in the temple.; the blood and water that splash from his side in John are the first outpourings of the new worship, baptism and eucharist. This description is read at the Liturgy of Good Friday. Mark’s second noteworthy event at Jesus’ death is the profession of faith of the centurion at the foot of the cross: “Truly this man was the Son of God.” When nearly all of Jesus’ intimates have abandoned him, there is considerable irony that this pagan soldier steps forward to respect him. Mark also notes that there were women followers of Jesus “looking on from a distance” and waiting to minister to the burial needs of Jesus if that would be possible. A brave and generous man [15: 42-47] Mark has gone to some trouble to keep us informed of the time, and with good reason. If Jesus died at 3 PM, then a good deal must be done to bury him before sunset, the strictly religious practice of devout Jews. The first thing necessary was to obtain the body from Roman authorities. Here we are introduced to Joseph of Arimathea, “a distinguished member of the Council who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God.” Joseph meets Pilate who, strangely, was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead. Crucified individuals were known to linger for several days. Pilate consults with “the centurion” [yes, that one] and, upon his report, Pilate releases the body to Joseph. Joseph spares no expense: he transports Jesus and “laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock.” This is no simple tomb; all the evangelists agree that the door to this enclave was too large to be easily moved. Moreover, nowhere does Mark suggest that this tomb was Joseph’s own tomb. We can guess that Joseph bought it [for cash?] at a very hefty price. Little is known of Joseph who, like the centurion, must have recognized the profound nature of Jesus and his message. However, Mark does not describe the preparation of Jesus’ body by the women after the crucifixion. There was none. With sunset approaching, there was no time for the women to complete a lengthy burial procedure wedded to their traditional faith. But think back to the opening of the Passion Narrative in Bethany where the unidentified woman pours precious perfumed oil on his head. Jesus observes that “she has anticipated anointing my body for burial.” [14: 8] With his other gifts, Mark is a master narrator. By the end of Chapter 15, we are down to two of the old guard followers: “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses watched where he was laid.” [15:47] And then there were none. [16: 1-8] Mark does not have full-blown resurrection narratives like the later Gospels. In truth, his only reference to Easter is the completion of the Passion account. The two Mary’s and Salome return to the tomb, having observed the Sabbath on the previous day, and discover it is already opened. They meet a young man dressed in white who announces the Resurrection and continues to instruct them to tell the disciples to go to Galilee where Jesus will meet them. Mark reports that they fled the scene, “seized with trembling and bewilderment. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” [16:8, the generally recognized conclusion of Mark’s entire Gospel.] If you read all four of the Gospels, you will catch a common theme—the empty tomb caused more grief than joy. In St. John’s Gospel, Mary Magdalene admits to an unrecognized Jesus that “someone has taken the body.” In Matthew’s text, the Jewish leadership pays hush money to the tomb guards and spreads the rumor that the disciples stole the body. It is indeed quite possible that some of Jesus’ followers believed his corpse was stolen or were genuinely confused by what was happening. Before we jump to radical conclusions, remember that Mark wrote this Gospel three or four decades after the Resurrection. It was plain to Christians by then that the “Jesus movement” did not die two days after the Resurrection, even if the inner circle had been shaken to its core and some of their brethren had apostatized. Mark is not simply a historian: he himself has encountered the risen Christ—in person or in baptism--and he is a teacher and preacher. His original Gospel is a sermon about discipleship: it is easy to be friends with Christ when the road is downhill, but as danger and persecution mounts, it is easier to melt away and disappear. Mark, recall, was writing in the era of Nero; he knew the pressures to give one’s cross back to the Savior. The later endings [16:9-20 et al] Your bible will have multiple endings for Mark’s Gospel, mostly post-Resurrection appearance narratives added in later years because the original ending was so stark. These endings [the longer ending, the shorter ending, and the Freer logion**] were recognized as inspired by the Council of Trent in 1563. One point worth addressing here is 16:14 where Jesus is quite angry with the disciples “for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he was raised.” In this sentence the author uses the Greek ονειδος, the same word used to describe the two angry men as they raged at the crucified Jesus. **The Freer Logion manuscript is stored in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. but it is not available for public viewing. I made that mistake once in 1987. The guards laughed heartily.
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PALM/PASSION SUNDAY AND THE GOSPELS OF THE PASSION
On March 23-24 the Church will celebrate the Saturday/Sunday observance of “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion,” as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ cite refers to this multiple observance. The custom of cutting and carrying palms dates back as early as the third century, based upon Christ’s solemn entry shortly before his death. But the focus of the weekend’s observance is the proclamation of the Lord’s Passion. Since 1970—with the reformed rite of the Mass and Lectionary—the Church alternates the Passion narratives on a three-year cycle; this year, Year B in the rotation, features the Passion according to Mark. Prior to 1970, the Palm Sunday Gospel was always the Passion of St. Matthew. As the Paulist Biblical Commentary observes, “From the earliest times it has been the preferred Gospel of the Christian Church, the most quoted by the fathers, the document that comes closest to providing the Church with a “constitution” for its life, structure, and mission.” [p. 900] But later modern scholarship discovered that [A] St. Matthew’s Gospel was not the first Gospel written; that honor goes to St. Mark. [B]. St. Matthew draws 80 percent of his material from St. Mark. [C] All four evangelists provide distinct and insightful “constitutions” for the life, structure, and mission of the Church, and thus each of the four must be solemnly proclaimed for the faithful in the Church’s worship. Consequently, we now have the three-year Palm Sunday rotation of Matthew, Mark, and Luke in successive years. [Again, 2024 is a year of St. Mark.] The Passion according to St. John is always proclaimed at the Liturgy of Good Friday. FOUR TAKES Naturally, all four evangelists are in unison with the Holy Spirit on the central truths of the Incarnation, Message, and Redemption manifested in Jesus of Nazareth. But each of the four evangelists was an independent theologian, stylist, and preacher—much like our later doctors of the Church—and creates narratives which emphasize, as much as any four humans can do, a narrative of Jesus of Nazareth that open doors for us to marvel at new visions of divine mystery, much like turning a precious jewel to the light. The art of Bible study includes the ability to analyze the differences between the four Gospels and to isolate the key ideas and themes. In some cases, this is obvious: St. Luke sees the Holy Spirit as Christ’s life in the Church till the end of time. St. Matthew sees Jesus as the ‘new Moses” come to fulfill Jewish messianic expectations. St. John, the last of the writers, is more mystical in addressing the Church about 100 A.D. of the reality of the humanity and divinity of Jesus. It does not seem to me that in catechetics or in preaching we study the Gospels helpfully, as individual works of literature. Instead, we toss the four Gospels in a blender and end up with a generic narrative that obscures much of the mystery of Jesus on earth. It is very noticeable at Christmas, where only St. Luke portrays the Bethlehem infancy, and two evangelists have no Christmas stories at all! It is also true with the Passion and Resurrection narratives. WHO IS ST. MARK? Strangely, the oldest copies of this Gospel circulating around church communities had no name attached to them. The earliest theological doctors of the Church, notably St. Irenaeus, record around 200 A.D. that this Gospel was written by a disciple of Peter whose name was Mark. In one of his own New Testament letters, St. Peter speaks of one Mark as a companion, a son, and dear disciple. [1 Peter 5:13] and a John Mark is mentioned in St. Luke’s Acts of the Apostles. There is historical confidence that Mark was a bona fide Christian who lived at Rome. Did his material come from Peter? It is possible that Peter and other Christians shared their memories, but not in a literal sense, as Mark’s arrangement of his Gospel is clearly his own as he develops a theological understanding of Jesus. When I was growing up, Mark was still something of the ugly duckling Gospel. It was the shortest, at [barely] sixteen chapters. [Matthew has 27, Luke 24, John 21]. Liturgically, before the 1970 reforms, his Passion narrative was read on the Tuesday of Holy Week when few people attended Mass. People used to say that Mark’s Gospel was basically a Passion narrative with a long introduction. But in the twentieth century scholars came to agreement that Mark was the first to attempt a form of faith biography that was entirely new to Christianity. He “invented” the Gospel format. His Gospel was shortest because it was the first! HOW IS MARK’S GOSPEL DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS? It is generally believed that Mark’s is the only Gospel written before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Both Rome and Jerusalem were going through hard times: Nero [37-68 A.D.] persecuted Christians mercilessly in Rome and is believed to have executed St. Peter. Jerusalem, meanwhile, had revolted against Rome in a four-year siege [66-70 A.D.] and ultimately destroyed by the Roman general Titus. The later Gospels, in describing the end of the world, borrow heavily from details of the last days of Jerusalem; Mark does not. The Paulist Commentary [p. 972] states that Mark may have been written in Rome for a Christian community deeply committed to St. Peter’s preaching and leadership—who were living in terror under Nero’s reign and missing their executed leader, Peter. [The Book of Revelation, written some years later, seems written for persecuted community as well.] All the same, Mark’s Gospel is not just a rally to one community. The tenor of this Gospel is universal, intended for all who had been attracted to the words and deeds of Jesus. In a sense Mark teaches that there will always be a Nero and the Church. In fact, if this were the only Gospel to survive, the Church would identify itself as a community of intense believers who took Jesus’ invitation to literally take up the cross and follow him to death. Writing two decades later, St. Luke rephrased Jesus’ words to “take up your cross daily,” to soften the stark austerity. [Luke 9:23; Matthew also] Mark’s chief interest in writing this Gospel is to contrast the pains and terrors of the present time with the unspeakable glory that is to come. In St. Mark’s day, there were still many Christians who believed that the Second Coming was around the corner [as in St. Paul’s 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18, written in the 50’s A.D.] St. Luke was the first evangelist to fully understand that the Church may have a long future. Something for us to contemplate on this year’s Palm Sunday is Mark’s effort to describe our challenges to be faithful disciples. The PC describes this Gospel as “a story about the disciples, who struggle to understand who Jesus is,” [p. 975] a story of growth, recognition, failure, and rebirth. In his excellent commentary The Gospel of Mark, Francis J. Moloney caries out the theme that as Christ’s death came to its final moment, everyone—crowds, intimates, disciples, The Twelve—had peeled away. I explain this further in my review of Moloney's work from 2008 linked here. This is the only Gospel without a formal recognition—and the last followers, the women who anointed him on Good Friday, flee from the empty tomb and even from the divine command to meet Jesus in Galilee. [The original text of Mark’s Gospel ends at 16:8. Two [possibly three] endings were added later and are considered inspired, but not from Mark’s hand.] The next time we meet, we will walk through the Passion as it will be read on Palm Sunday this year. In the meantime, separate yourself from the other Gospels and imagine that all we know about Jesus, particularly his passion, comes from the pen of the inspired St. Mark. |
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