Behold Him

Homily for March 25, 2018 (Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord)
Mark 11:1-10; Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47

 

Behold him

Stripped

of his clothing,

dignity and respect,

power and authority,

justice,

friends, companions, and disciples,

skin and blood,

religious standing.

          Deprived of hope

                    and the sense of his Father’s presence and care.

 

Behold him

Victim of a lynching,

an execution

sanctioned by Roman law

yet conceived

          in spiritual blindness

          and an orthodoxy

                    rooted not in love

                    or a desire to teach or learn

                    but instead in fear,

                    hardened hearts and stiff necks. 

 

Behold him

Never stripped of his love for his Father,

for his friends and disciples

or us.

          Clothed in humility

                    and the power of self-sacrifice.

 

Behold him

          INRI:  Iesus Nararenus Rex Iudaeorum.

King of the Jews.

The real Barabbas, “Son of the Father.”

The Son of Man.

The Son of God.

          Stripped of his life

                    yet clothed in eternal glory.

 

Behold him

          Iesus Christus

and give thanks. +