HE BECAME AS MEN ARE

PALM SUNDAY - Philippians 2:6-11

With Palm Sunday, we begin the Holy Week, a week set apart for us to be touched by Jesus’ cross - that is by his passion and his death, so that, united with him in death, we may be united with him in the resurrection.

At the beginning of this Holy Week, we are presented with the Christological hymn of the letter to the Philippians, thus setting the tone for the celebration of this week, allowing us to come closer to the mystery of Jesus Christ. The first statement of the hymn affirms the divinity of Jesus: “His state was divine”. However, despite being divine, “Jesus did not cling to his equality with God”. It is as if he was ready to leave it behind or to forsake it for our sake: He “emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave and became as men are”. Out of love and for our salvation, he was ready to share in our humanity, becoming one like us. The same truth is presented in the gospel of John: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). Becoming a human being, the Son of God was ready to humble himself. Indeed 

he “emptied himself

to assume the condition of a slave

and became as men are;

and being as all men are,

he was humbler yet,

even to accepting death,

death on a cross.”

The prophet Isaiah speaks of Him as having an abject form: 

“he had no form or majesty 

that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.” (Is 53:2)

In his suffering, he was tortured and humiliated, “despised and rejected by men”. He is “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Is 53:3). Looking at him, we are forced to recognise the evil we are capable of and the suffering that we are ready to inflict on others.

The war in Ukraine, in a very short while, has brought into the open the hatred and the violence that fill our hearts. We are not better than all those that came before us. And it serves no purpose to be ready to judge and condemn when we have done the same and will do it again if we find ourselves in the same situation. In the animal kingdom, we are the most savage of all. Jesus, who came as the Prince of peace, suffered on his flesh the rejection and the hatred of all those who stand proud in self-righteousness. 

“Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows” (Is 53:4).

In his suffering, “he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” (Is 53:12). He came so that by “his wounds we are healed.” (Is 53:5).

Jesus suffered the consequences of his decision to share in our pain and loss. Since the beginning, humanity has been driven by envy and jealousy, which lead to violence and war. That is the result of our deep desire to be gods, which turns out to be an impossible desire. Jesus followed a different path: he lived to do his Father’s will, thus showing us the only way that may heal our poisoned hearts, brings us peace and allow us to share in God’s glory. Jesus’ way is the only way. Although he passed through suffering and death, he came out victorious. By raising Him from the dead, God made a solemn proclamation of Jesus’ righteousness.

“But God raised him high

and gave him the name

which is above all other names

so that all beings

in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld,

should bend the knee at the name of Jesus

and that every tongue should acclaim

Jesus Christ as Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus is Lord

and in Him we find salvation.