From: John 12:12-16 (At the Procession with Palms)
The Messiah’s entry into Jerusalem
[15] “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on an ass’s colt!”
[16] His disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified,
then they remembered that this had been written of him and had been done to
him.
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Commentary:
13. When the crowd uses the words “Blessed is he who comes in the name of
the Lord”, taken from Psalm 118:26, they are acclaiming Jesus as the Messiah.
The words ‘the king of Israel”, not included in the Synoptics, underline Christ’s
royalty: the Messiah is the King of Israel “par excellence”. However, Jesus
had previously fled from those who wanted to make him king because they had
an earth-bound view of his mission (Jn 6:14-15). Later on, before Pilate, he will
explain that his kingship “is not of this world”. “Christ”, St Augustine teaches,
“was not king of Israel for exacting tribute, or arming a host with the sword; but
king of Israel to rule souls, to counsel them for eternal life, to bring to the King-
dom of heaven those that believe, hope and love” (”In Ioann. Evang.”, 51,4).
“Christ should reign first and foremost in our soul. But how would we reply if he
asks us: ‘How do you go about letting me reign in you?’ I would reply that I
need lots of his grace. Only that way can my every heartbeat and breath, my
least intense look, my most ordinary word, my most basic feeling be trans-
formed into a hosanna to Christ my King” (Bl. J. Escrivá, “Christ Is Passing By,
181).
14-16. After Jesus’ resurrection, the Apostles will grasp the meaning of many
episodes in our Lord’s life which they had not previously understood fully (cf.
Jn 2:22). For example, in his triumphal entry into Jerusalem with all the people
acclaiming him as Messiah, they will see the fulfilment of the Old Testament
prophecies (cf., e.g., in addition to Zech 9:9, which the Gospel quotes, Gen 49:
10-11). See the notes on Mt 21:1-5; Mk 11:1-11; and Lk 19:30-35.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Isaiah 50:4-7
Third Song of the Servant of the Lord
[7] For the LORD GOD helps me; therefore I have not been confounded; there-
fore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
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Commentary:
50:4-9. The second song dealt with the servant’s mission (cf. 49:6); the third
song focuses on the servant himself. The term “servant” as such does not
appear here, and therefore some commentators read the passage as being a
description of a prophet and not part of the songs. Still, the context (cf. 50:10)
does suggest that the protagonist is the servant. The poem is neatly construc-
ted in three stanzas, each beginning with the words, “The Lord God” (vv. 4, 5, 7),
and it has a conclusion containing that same wording (v. 9). The first stanza
emphasizes the servant’s docility to the word of God; that is, he is not depicted
as a self-taught teacher with original ideas, but as an obedient disciple. The se-
cond (vv. 5-6) speaks of the suffering that that docility has brought him, without
his uttering a word of complaint. The third (vv. 7-8) shows how determined the
servant is: if he suffers in silence, it is not out of cowardice but because God
helps him and makes him stronger than his persecutors. The conclusion (v. 9)
is like the verdict of a trial: when all is said and done, the servant will stand tall,
and all his enemies will be struck down.
The evangelists saw the words of this song as finding fulfillment in Jesus—
especially what the song has to say about the suffering and silent fortitude of the
servant. The Gospel of John, for example, quotes Nicodemus’ acknowledgment
of Christ’s wisdom: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for
no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him” (Jn 3:21). But
the description of the servant’s sufferings was the part that most impressed the
early Christians; that part of the song was recalled when they meditated on the
passion of Jesus and how “they spat in his face; and struck him; and some
slapped him” (Mt 26:67) and later how the Roman soldiers “spat upon him, and
took the reed and struck him on the head” (Mt 27:30; cf. also Mk 15:19; Jn 19:3).
St Paul refers to v. 9 when applying to Christ Jesus the role of intercessor on
behalf of the elect in the suit pressed constantly against them by the enemies
of the soul: “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” (Rom 8:33).
St Jerome sees the servant’s docility as a reference to Christ: “His self-discipline
and wisdom enabled him to communicate to us the knowledge of the Father. And
he was obedient onto death, death on the cross; he offered his body to the blows
they struck, his shoulders to the lash; and though he was wounded on the chest
and on his face, he did not try to turn away and escape their violence” (”Commen-
tarii In Isaiam”, 50, 4). This passage is used in the liturgy of Palm Sunday (along
with Psalm 22 and St Paul’s hymn in the Letter to the Philippians 2:6-11), before
the reading of our Lord’s passion.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.