Palm Sunday, Year A, Psalm 22 (1, 7-8, 17-20,)

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? … ⁷ All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. ⁸ “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him,  since he delights in him.” … ¹⁶ Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. ¹⁷ All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. ¹⁸ They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. ¹⁹ But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. … ²² I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. ²³ You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

For a commentary on Palm Sunday’s Old Testament reading see https://biblestudystjosephsparis.wordpress.com/2022/04/09/palm-sunday-year-c-old-testament-reading-isaiah-504-7/

Today’s Psalm, number 22, is probably, for Christians, the most important in all the psalter  since Jesus recited part of it while dying on the cross. He clearly found an echo of his own suffering and isolation in the writer’s words. Certainly, the evangelists saw this as a messianic psalm, and they pointed out all the similarities between the crucifixion and the scene described here (the mockery of Jesus’ enemies, the piercing of his hands and feet, the gambling for his clothes). Therefore, on Palm Sunday, when we listen to the Passion story, the Church also gives us significant extracts from this long prayer to meditate upon.

Jesus reveals his human nature in his decision to quote this psalm from the cross. The writer of psalm 22 was someone facing death who felt abandoned by God. Christians believe that God through Jesus actually experienced the terror of mortality that we all feel and identified with our suffering. Peter writes in his first letter that “He carried our sins in his own person on the gibbet.” This weight, carried while dying, blotted out the presence of God for Jesus. Perhaps, he could only die if his human nature took over. We just don’t know what happened in those last moments. Donald Coggan says: “If the cross is the place where God’s disgust with sin and his burning love for humankind meet in terrible expression; if God in Christ is there clearing up the mess made by a rebel race, can we wonder there is mystery?”

The psalm ends on a happy note for the writer doesn’t die. The final part is full of praise and, perhaps surprisingly, it’s included in the extract read for Palm Sunday. However, Jesus was not saved but an excruciating death but gave his life on the cross. Does this invalidate the messianic aspect of the text? Not at all, for it is quite possible to read this as more than just being saved from death. Through his resurrection, Christ vanquished death itself. The deliverance that Christ brought to us, on so many levels, through his crucifixion, death and resurrection is certainly grounds for praise and so the Church fittingly includes the end part. As Paul writes in today’s second reading, Jesus “humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death” and, for this reason, God exalted him. We should all praise God today for all he has done for us.