Matthew
26:14—27:66
Then
one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and
said, ‘What will you give me if I betray him to you?’ They paid him thirty
pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to
betray him.
On
the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Where
do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ He said,
‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, “The Teacher says, My time
is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.” ’ So the
disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.
When
it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating,
he said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ And they became greatly
distressed and began to say to him one after another, ‘Surely not I, Lord?’ He
answered, ‘The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray
me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom
the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have
been born.’ Judas, who betrayed him, said, ‘Surely not I, Rabbi?’ He replied, ‘You
have said so.’
While
they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke
it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ Then he
took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it,
all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many
for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit
of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s
kingdom.’
When
they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of
Olives.
Then
Jesus said to them, ‘You will all become deserters because of me this night;
for it is written,
“I
will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be
scattered.”
But
after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.’
Peter said to him, ‘Though all become deserters because of you, I will never
desert you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I tell you, this very night, before the
cock crows, you will deny me three times.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even though I
must die with you, I will not deny you.’ And so said all the disciples.
Then
Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane;
and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He
took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and
agitated. Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain
here, and stay awake with me.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on
the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from
me; yet not what I want but what you want.’ Then he came to the disciples and
found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not stay awake with
me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial;
the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again he went away for
the second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it,
your will be done.’ Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were
heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time,
saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you
still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of
Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my
betrayer is at hand.’
While
he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large
crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the
people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is
the man; arrest him.’ At once he came up to Jesus and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’
and kissed him. Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you are here to do.’ Then
they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. Suddenly, one of those with
Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high
priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword back into
its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think
that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve
legions of angels? But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it
must happen in this way?’ At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, ‘Have you come
out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day
I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But all this has taken
place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.’ Then all the
disciples deserted him and fled.
Those
who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, in whose house the
scribes and the elders had gathered. But Peter was following him at a distance,
as far as the courtyard of the high priest; and going inside, he sat with the
guards in order to see how this would end. Now the chief priests and the whole
council were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they might put
him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At
last two came forward and said, ‘This fellow said, “I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.”
’ The high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer? What is it that they
testify against you?’ But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him,
‘I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah,
the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said so. But I tell you,
From
now on you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of Power
and coming on the clouds of heaven.’
Then
the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has blasphemed! Why do we still
need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?’ They
answered, ‘He deserves death.’ Then they spat in his face and struck him; and
some slapped him, saying, ‘Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who is it that struck
you?’
Now
Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant-girl came to him and
said, ‘You also were with Jesus the Galilean.’ But he denied it before all of
them, saying, ‘I do not know what you are talking about.’ When he went out to
the porch, another servant-girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, ‘This
man was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ Again he denied it with an oath, ‘I do not
know the man.’ After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter,
‘Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.’ Then he
began to curse, and he swore an oath, ‘I do not know the man!’ At that moment
the cock crowed. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: ‘Before the cock
crows, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.
When
morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred
together against Jesus in order to bring about his death. They bound him, led
him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
When
Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back
the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, ‘I
have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘What is that to us?
See to it yourself.’ Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he
departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the
pieces of silver, said, ‘It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since
they are blood money.’ After conferring together, they used them to buy the
potter’s field as a place to bury foreigners. For this reason that field has
been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been
spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, ‘And they took the thirty pieces of
silver, the price of the one on whom a price had been set, on whom some of the
people of Israel had set a price, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as
the Lord commanded me.’
Now
Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, ‘Are you the King
of the Jews?’ Jesus said, ‘You say so.’ But when he was accused by the chief
priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, ‘Do you not
hear how many accusations they make against you?’ But he gave him no answer,
not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
Now
at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the
crowd, anyone whom they wanted. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called
Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you
want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?’
For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over.
While he was sitting on the judgement seat, his wife sent word to him, ‘Have
nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal
because of a dream about him.’ Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded
the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. The governor again
said to them, ‘Which of the two do you want me to release for you?’ And
they said, ‘Barabbas.’ Pilate said to them, ‘Then what should I do with Jesus
who is called the Messiah?’ All of them said, ‘Let him be crucified!’ Then he
asked, ‘Why, what evil has he done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Let him be
crucified!’
So
when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning,
he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent
of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’ Then the people as a whole
answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’ So he released Barabbas for
them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
Then
the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and
they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet
robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his
head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him,
saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They spat on him, and took the reed and
struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and
put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
As
they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene
named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to
a place called Golgotha (which means Place of
a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted
it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his
clothes among themselves by casting lots; then they sat down there and kept
watch over him. Over his head they put the charge against him, which read,
‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.’
Then
two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘You who would
destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the
Son of God, come down from the cross.’ In the same way the chief priests also,
along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, ‘He saved others;
he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the
cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him
now, if he wants to; for he said, “I am God’s Son.” ’ The bandits who were
crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.
From
noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And
about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema
sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ When some of
the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’ At once
one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick,
and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, ‘Wait, let us see whether
Elijah will come to save him.’ Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and
breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two,
from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also
were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and
appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping
watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified
and said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’
Many
women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from
Galilee and had provided for him. Among them
were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of
the sons of Zebedee.
When
it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was
also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus;
then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped
it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in
the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away.
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
The
next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the
Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, ‘Sir, we remember what that impostor
said while he was still alive, “After three days I will rise again.” Therefore
command that the tomb be made secure until the third day; otherwise his
disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, “He has been raised
from the dead”, and the last deception would be worse than the first.’ Pilate
said to them, ‘You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.’
So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.
Commentary
Today’s Gospel is about Palm Sunday of the Passion
of the Lord. It is different from the
Gospel in Cycle B and C. The Gospel is
long but is good to read it through slowly so as to allow the Passion of the
Lord to enfold in front of us, just as we take part in his Passion and death.
It begins with Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Jesus. He went to the chief priests and offered to betray Jesus for a price and they paid
him with thirty
pieces of silver. Judas’ betrayal suggests that each of us can be bought with a price. The price of Jesus, for Judas, is thirty
pieces of silver. How much is the price for us? You may say that it is more than thirty
pieces of silver. If we search our heart attentively, it is not
hard to discover that our ‘price’ needn’t be in hard cash. It
could be our career, success, popularity, comfort, learning and many other
things. On the other
hand, God sees each of us as priceless and He exchanges us with His Son.
Although Judas wants to get rid of Jesus, as the
Gospel is unfolding, Jesus is welcomed by others. For example, the owner of the house, who
welcomes Jesus and his disciples to have the Passover meal at his place.
The mood of the meal is not a happy one. While they are eating the meal, Jesus says: “Truly
I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
The disciples want to know who is the traitor. They do not care about the betrayal as long
they are not the traitor. Even Judas
asks innocently: “Surely not I, Rabbi?”
How often we betray our Lord and our brothers and sisters but still
pretend that we are innocent? How often
we would be interested in a betrayal if we are not the guilty party? Such an attitude won’t help stop
betrayals.
In
all sorts of weakness in our lives, the love of God is triumphant. At the meal,
Jesus institutionalizes the Lord’s Supper so that he will be
the strength in our weakness and sinfulness.
After the meal, Jesus and his disciples go out to Mount of Olives.
While on their way, Jesus foretells Peter’s denial of him. At this moment, Jesus realizes that there is
not a human being that he can rely on, not even the community set up by
him. He realizes that the Father is the
only one whom he can trust. That is why
he goes to pray in Gethsemane alone, though he
asks his three close disciples to be at a stone’s throw away. Like Jesus, when we have no one to turn to,
we can always to turn to our Lord.
Jesus is so well prepared for his Passion and death
because he draws strength from the love between the Father and him. Thus he can face and accept the betrayal and
arrest, the trial, the public denouncement and condemnation, the authority of
Pilate, the human humiliation of putting him between two bandits, the cross,
the crucifixion, death and the burial.
At the end of the Gospel, there is a paradox. Even the chief priests and the Pharisees had
killed Jesus, they cannot feel peace and secured. Fear is still with them. So they ask Pilate to send soldiers to guard
the tomb. How often we want to kill our
Lord once and for all? It is because we
don’t want our Lord to bother our conscience.
We wished to put God in the tomb forever. But Christ has indeed been raised from the
dead. With the risen Lord, we can be
freed from our sins, which want to keep us to be their slaves forever. What a grace for all of us! Amen.