“None must be ashamed of the cross of Christ, by which he redeemed the world. None must fear to suffer for righteousness’ sake. None must doubt that God will fulfill his promises. For through toil comes rest; through death comes life.” Pope St. Leo the Great

Matthew 27:27-44 The governor’s soldiers took Jesus with them into the Praetorium and collected the whole cohort round him. Then they stripped him and made him wear a scarlet cloak, and having twisted some thorns into a crown they put this on his head and placed a reed in his right hand. To make fun of him they knelt to him saying, Hail, king of the Jews!’ And they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head with it. And when they had finished making fun of him, they took off the cloak and dressed him in his own clothes and led him away to crucify him. On their way out, they came across a man from Cyrene, Simon by name, and enlisted him to carry his cross. When they had reached a place called Golgotha, that is, the place of the skull, they gave him wine to drink mixed with gall, which he tasted but refused to drink. When they had finished crucifying him they shared out his clothing by casting lots, and then sat down and stayed there keeping guard over him. Above his head was placed the charge against him; it read: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews’. At the same time, two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. The passers-by jeered at him; they shook their heads and said, So you would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days! Then save yourself! If you are God’s son, come down from the cross!’ The chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him in the same way. He saved others;’ they said 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 puts his trust in God; now let God rescue him if he wants him. For he did say, I am the son of God.’ Even the robbers who were crucified with him taunted him in the same way.

Christ the Lord Even in the midst of mockery and scorn, Christ’s Lordship is proclaimed. Three times in this brief passage St Matthew shows Jesus being called a King, and twice he is called the Son of God. It is public proclamation, posted high on the cross for all to see. It comes from Jews and Gentiles alike. They pronounced it as a taunt and jeer, but they pronounced it all the same. And lest we miss it, the pronunciation is even emphasized by the soldiers, who crown him, robe him, and put a scepter in his hand. Here we see our King enthroned on the throne of his choice, the cross, and what kind of King he really is, becomes clear.

• First of all, his Kingdom is in this world, but not of this world. Until the end of time, conflict will continue to rage between the community of fallen, sin-infected men and the community of those who truly love God. Christ’s faithful followers will always taste this same mockery and violence at the hands of Christ’s enemies.
• Secondly, this King conquers by the beauty of his virtue, not the splendor of his might. The One who had the power to destroy his enemies lets his enemies destroy him instead, and, in the process, he exhibits every virtue to the highest degree: patience, mercy, temperance, fortitude, humility, and above all, love. He loves God his Father enough to suffer unspeakable torments out of obedience, finally untying Adam’s knot of disobedience; he loves sinners enough to take the consequences of their sins upon his own body and soul, siphoning off their just desserts. Other kings conquer through self-assertion; Christ conquers through self-oblation.

If the King is like that, so too must the Kingdom, with all its subjects following his lead, up to Calvary and onto the Cross.

Christ the Teacher Unwittingly, the chief priests expose their own tragic blindness. As they deride and flout their Savior, they voice the very words of Psalm 22, a psalm that prophesied the crucifixion, one that Jesus himself would quote before he died. Verse 8 of Psalm 22 reads: “He trusted himself to Yahweh, let Yahweh set him free!…” A phrase more than merely reminiscent of what St. Matthew puts in the tormenters’ mouths as Jesus hangs there: “He has put his trust in God; now let God rescue him if he wants him”

Among all the fulfilled prophecies that Matthew points out, perhaps this one contains the most poignant lesson. See Jesus hanging on the cross, seemingly abandoned by God, his life an apparent disaster. If he does what his enemies invite him to do, come down from the cross, show some supernatural pizzazz, he would have everyone cowering at his feet. But his Father’s will, God’s plan, is different. Jesus sticks to that plan. Contrary to all merely human logic, the all-powerful Creator allows his own weak creatures to crucify his Son. And yet, that event, the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross, which so blatantly defied human logic, that event becomes the fulcrum and foundation of all of human history. Jesus trusts against all odds, unconditionally and till the end, and his trust is not betrayed.

We who are wounded by our sins and the sins of others put limits on our trust, even our trust in God. So Christ trusts in our place, and in so doing teaches us that we ought to put no limits on our trust in God.

When our self-love cries out against the discomfort of God’s will and the pain of the cross, we need to lift our gaze to Christ crucified. He put his trust in God, and God showed himself worthy; if we do the same, he will surely do so again.

Christ the Friend St. Matthew seems to be particularly shocked by the universality of the scorn Jesus receives. The soldiers, the chief priests, the passers-by, and even the other criminals being crucified all join together in jeering at the Lord. Only one person in the passage doesn’t: Simon of Cyrene. Of all the participants in this dark drama, Simon was closest to Christ throughout. He helped him carry the cross. And Simon doesn’t mock.

Jesus makes himself weak for a reason. He takes on human nature in order to need us. To be human means to be dependent on others. This is how we’re made. From the moment of conception to the moment of death each of us is dependant, directly or indirectly, on a huge number of other people. When Jesus becomes man, he becomes fully man. As he makes his way to Calvary, weakened, exhausted, almost half-dead already after his violent arrest, night imprisonment, trials, and scourging, he in his true humanity needs help to bring his mission to a close. Simon supplies it. Perhaps that’s why Simon doesn’t mock him. He is close enough to experience Christ’s presence, overflowing not with anger and hatred and desperation, but with acceptance and forgiveness and determination. In helping Christ accomplish his mission, he entered into a relationship, a friendship, with the Lord.

Jesus took that same humanity with him into heaven on the day of his Ascension; he rules the universe in his glorified humanity. That means he still needs help to fulfill his mission; he is still dependent, like all men. If we shoulder our corner of his cross sincerely, even if at times reluctantly, we will never fall into mocking him, and he will surely give us the incomparable gift of his unique friendship.

Christ in My Life

• Nothing men do to you will change your Kingship. You are the King, the Lord of life and history. I believe in you, my Lord, and I want to follow you, to know you, to defend and extend your Kingdom. I know that if they persecuted and humiliated and misunderstood you, they will do the same with your followers. I am willing, Lord. Thy Kingdom come…
• You have identified yourself with every person. When I insult my neighbor, I insult you; when I judge and condemn my neighbor, I judge and condemn you; when I merely use and fail to love my neighbor, I am treating you as these soldiers did. Don’t let me, Lord; teach me to love all people as you do…
• Mary, Christ’s flesh, torn by the scourging, ripped by the crown of thorns, pierced by the nails, was your flesh. He took it from you, as we all take our flesh from our mothers. And so you ached with every wound. But you trusted in God, as Jesus did. Teach me to suffer with love, so as to conquer the death of sin with eternal life…

Editor’s Note: This post is the seventh of nine posts on this coming Sunday’s Passion Gospel reading.  Part six can be found by clicking here. Part eight can be found by clicking here.

PS: This is just one of 303 units of Fr. John’s fantastic book The Better Part. To learn more about The Better Part or to purchase in print, Kindle or iPhone editions, click here. Also, please help us get these resources to people who do not have the funds or ability to acquire them by clicking here.

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Art for this post on Matthew 27:27-44: Cover of The Better Part used with permission. The Crucifixion of Christ, Jacopo Tintoretto, 1568;  Christ carrying the cross [Simon of Cyrene helping], Titian, circa 1560, both PD-US author’s life plus 100 years or less, both Wikimedia Commons.