The passion narrative or story is actually the first part of the composition which we now know as the Gospel. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the early Christian community reflected on the events that took place over the last days of Jesus’ life. As time passed, the community decided to write this story down so that future generations of believers would have a record of Jesus’ passion and death. Gradually stories were added to this written record until the Gospels as we now know them came into being. So on this particular Sunday, we are actually reading the beginning of St. Luke’s Gospel.
There are many stories that are included in St. Luke’s Gospel that do not appear anywhere else. It is this particular Gentile evangelist who gives us the stories of the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, and the Widow of Nain, just a few of the stories that appear only in this Gospel. His passion narrative is no exception, for it is only St. Luke who tells us that God sent an angel to comfort Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, or that Jesus healed the ear of the high priest’s servant, or that Peter’s three-fold denial happens while he and Jesus are seated in the same courtyard. It is only in St. Luke’s Gospel that Herod appears in the course of that day of Jesus’ trial. St. Luke is the only evangelist to tell us of the women of Jerusalem who wept when they saw Jesus being led to his execution. The words of Jesus from the cross are also remarkably different in this version of the passion as Jesus first forgives those who crucify him (for they know not what they do), and then forgives one of the thieves who was crucified with him. Throughout St. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has been portrayed as a compassionate healer. Could there be a more compassionate response to the confession of the poor man who is dying with Jesus than these words? “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” St. Luke does not portray Jesus as someone who cries out in anguish because he feels abandoned. Rather St. Luke tells us that Jesus speaks with love as he commends his spirit to his Father.
St. Luke’s passion narrative is markedly different than the other three portrayals. The disciples, the men who arrested him in the garden, the women on the way to Calvary and the criminals who were crucified with him are all treated more gently in this Gospel than they are in the others. Forgiveness and compassion are put front and center in this passion narrative. Later, in his second work, the Acts of the Apostles, Luke will show Stephen saying the same words as Jesus as he is stoned. He will portray St. Paul in the same way as Jesus when he faces his accusers and is sentenced to death. St. Luke wants us to come away from this story with a profound awareness of the fact that Jesus dies in order to forgive us our sins.
Each time we come to the altar to celebrate the Eucharist, we do so to remember what Jesus has done for us. The Church insists that the Eucharist is only celebrated where an image of Jesus crucified is displayed. When we look upon the crucifix, we look at the consequences of our sins. It is impossible to deny that our sinful actions have consequences. Indeed, only a hardened heart can gaze upon Jesus hanging on a cross without realizing that God loves us with a love beyond all telling.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator