Isaiah 62:11-63:7; Revelation 1:5b-7; St Luke 22:1-23:56
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Friend, why have you come? So Jesus said to His betrayer. So He says to you. “Friend, why have you come?” Judas seeks to betray Him. Others seek to control Him. Soon they will beat Him, batter Him, abuse Him. Yet Jesus calls His betrayer “friend.” Friend, why have you come?
What is this? Does Jesus not understand? Is it irony, tongue in messianic cheek? No. He understands what is happening. He knows. Nevertheless, He calls His betrayer, “friend.”
Betrayal hurts. There is a prophecy of Judas in the Psalms: Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate My bread, has lifted his heel against Me (Ps 41:9). My close friend. Betrayal hurts. Still, Jesus calls Judas “friend.” He means it. Jesus always means it. His friendship is open to the end.
In place of the term “friend,” the Greek translation of the Psalms uses the astonishing expression, “Man of my peace.” For even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, lifted up his heal against me. St Paul says to the Romans, If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all (Rm 12:18). And so Jesus does. He remains the Man of Peace all the way to His Cross.
It doesn’t take many years of living in this world before someone you counted as a friend acts as your enemy. Our innate response is to turn and respond as an enemy. “I will make the one who made me suffer pay. I demand an apology! I demand respect!”
This is not the way of Jesus. He remains a friend to Judas. He continues to count Judas as “the man of my peace,” even as they come with weapons of war.
What weapons do you sling? Hate-filled glares. Scowls of derision. Laughter, mocking. Lies, slander.
To you, Jesus repeats His words for Judas. Friend, why have you come? Put down your weapons. Put down your selfishness. Put away your angry words. Put away every pretense, every fiction you tell others and yourself about who you are.
You are a beggar, so beg.
You are a mortal, so seek the One who gives life.
You are hungry, so receive the food of righteousness.
Friend, why have you come? What were you expecting from the liturgy today? What were you expecting from the Church? What were you expecting from Jesus? Friend, why have you come? We want answers to the creeping sadness in our hearts, the lurking sickness in our bodies, the random meaninglessness of it all.
Friend, why have you come? We want to believe everything will be okay. So we join the crowd, wave the palms, and follow the cross into church.
Follow the cross. That’s why we’ve come. To follow the cross. That’s what Jesus does, that’s who Jesus is: He is ever the Crucified One, the Friend who gives His life for the selfish, deluded, prideful cowards who pretended not to know Him.
What made them come – that crowd assembled on the first Palm Sunday? They came because He dried the tears of Martha and Mary. It was their brother, Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from death just the day before.
For them, Jesus wept. For Jerusalem, Jesus wept. And for you, Jesus wept.
Which means, He suffers. Not just for you, but with you. He sympathizes, suffers along with you. The Man of Sorrows knows your sorrow. The pain of your divorce. The agony in your back and your joints. The loneliness and betrayal. The anxiety for your kids. The crying when you don’t even know why.
And He knows your part in all the selfishness and stupidity, the arguments that never should have been, the words you cannot take back.
A friend sticks with you when you’re down, when everything has gone off the rails. That’s how Jesus is Friend. He comes as Friend to all the human race, gone entirely off the rails, and shares in the suffering of Adam and his children.
So in the Church, we turn to Jesus and say, “Friend, why have You come?” And He replies, “I have come to be the Friend of sinners. I have come to be your Friend, Father, Brother, Bridegroom.”
Jesus relates to us sinners. We who have not been friends to Him or most anyone else, He relates to us as the perfect Friend and makes us family. So we become not merely onlookers to a Palm Sunday parade or the Holy Week events; we become not merely spectators to a crucifixion, but we are made participants along with Him. You have been crucified with Christ, your life is now hidden with Him in God.
In the kingdom of God, in the resurrection, we will not be spectators but participants in the life of that new family. We will participate in the life of God as family members: sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, bride to the Bridegroom. We will share together in the new life of the perfect family, a family undivided by strife. This family is filled with love but untouched by lust. This family joys together, laughing and singing and playing, never knowing the horrible sorrow of loss and betrayal, divorce and death.
So how will you answer Jesus, who says to you this day, Friend, why have you come? Say to Him, “I have come to repent. I have come seeking Your forgiveness. I need Your body to nourish my mortal flesh. I need Your blood to cleanse me from sin. I have not been a friend, but I seek now Your unconditional and eternal friendship: now, through death, and into the ages of ages.”
In the Name of the Father + and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Friend, why have you come? So Jesus said to His betrayer. So He says to you. “Friend, why have you come?” Judas seeks to betray Him. Others seek to control Him. Soon they will beat Him, batter Him, abuse Him. Yet Jesus calls His betrayer “friend.” Friend, why have you come?
What is this? Does Jesus not understand? Is it irony, tongue in messianic cheek? No. He understands what is happening. He knows. Nevertheless, He calls His betrayer, “friend.”
Betrayal hurts. There is a prophecy of Judas in the Psalms: Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate My bread, has lifted his heel against Me (Ps 41:9). My close friend. Betrayal hurts. Still, Jesus calls Judas “friend.” He means it. Jesus always means it. His friendship is open to the end.
In place of the term “friend,” the Greek translation of the Psalms uses the astonishing expression, “Man of my peace.” For even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, lifted up his heal against me. St Paul says to the Romans, If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all (Rm 12:18). And so Jesus does. He remains the Man of Peace all the way to His Cross.
It doesn’t take many years of living in this world before someone you counted as a friend acts as your enemy. Our innate response is to turn and respond as an enemy. “I will make the one who made me suffer pay. I demand an apology! I demand respect!”
This is not the way of Jesus. He remains a friend to Judas. He continues to count Judas as “the man of my peace,” even as they come with weapons of war.
What weapons do you sling? Hate-filled glares. Scowls of derision. Laughter, mocking. Lies, slander.
To you, Jesus repeats His words for Judas. Friend, why have you come? Put down your weapons. Put down your selfishness. Put away your angry words. Put away every pretense, every fiction you tell others and yourself about who you are.
You are a beggar, so beg.
You are a mortal, so seek the One who gives life.
You are hungry, so receive the food of righteousness.
Friend, why have you come? What were you expecting from the liturgy today? What were you expecting from the Church? What were you expecting from Jesus? Friend, why have you come? We want answers to the creeping sadness in our hearts, the lurking sickness in our bodies, the random meaninglessness of it all.
Friend, why have you come? We want to believe everything will be okay. So we join the crowd, wave the palms, and follow the cross into church.
Follow the cross. That’s why we’ve come. To follow the cross. That’s what Jesus does, that’s who Jesus is: He is ever the Crucified One, the Friend who gives His life for the selfish, deluded, prideful cowards who pretended not to know Him.
What made them come – that crowd assembled on the first Palm Sunday? They came because He dried the tears of Martha and Mary. It was their brother, Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from death just the day before.
For them, Jesus wept. For Jerusalem, Jesus wept. And for you, Jesus wept.
Which means, He suffers. Not just for you, but with you. He sympathizes, suffers along with you. The Man of Sorrows knows your sorrow. The pain of your divorce. The agony in your back and your joints. The loneliness and betrayal. The anxiety for your kids. The crying when you don’t even know why.
And He knows your part in all the selfishness and stupidity, the arguments that never should have been, the words you cannot take back.
A friend sticks with you when you’re down, when everything has gone off the rails. That’s how Jesus is Friend. He comes as Friend to all the human race, gone entirely off the rails, and shares in the suffering of Adam and his children.
So in the Church, we turn to Jesus and say, “Friend, why have You come?” And He replies, “I have come to be the Friend of sinners. I have come to be your Friend, Father, Brother, Bridegroom.”
Jesus relates to us sinners. We who have not been friends to Him or most anyone else, He relates to us as the perfect Friend and makes us family. So we become not merely onlookers to a Palm Sunday parade or the Holy Week events; we become not merely spectators to a crucifixion, but we are made participants along with Him. You have been crucified with Christ, your life is now hidden with Him in God.
In the kingdom of God, in the resurrection, we will not be spectators but participants in the life of that new family. We will participate in the life of God as family members: sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, bride to the Bridegroom. We will share together in the new life of the perfect family, a family undivided by strife. This family is filled with love but untouched by lust. This family joys together, laughing and singing and playing, never knowing the horrible sorrow of loss and betrayal, divorce and death.
So how will you answer Jesus, who says to you this day, Friend, why have you come? Say to Him, “I have come to repent. I have come seeking Your forgiveness. I need Your body to nourish my mortal flesh. I need Your blood to cleanse me from sin. I have not been a friend, but I seek now Your unconditional and eternal friendship: now, through death, and into the ages of ages.”
In the Name of the Father + and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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