April 19, 2019
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25
Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
John 18:1-19:42
Pilate asks Jesus if He is a king. Pilate is interested in what narrative he will receive from Jesus in answer to this question. A narrative is nothing more than a story that conveys a partial perspective of the truth that is really nothing more than articulated opinion. Narratives are frequently offered out of self-interest. Pilate was used to dealing in the narratives of so many interested parties who came to him in order for him to impose his power upon a situation in favor of their private interests. People would come to Pilate, as had the high priests, to give him their narrative in such a way that their interests could coincide with those of Pilate, and then they could get their way. So, the high priests speak their narrative that Jesus has made himself to be a king — a rival to Caesar as well as a rival to them — so it would be for Pilate’s convenience to do away with Jesus to improve his political standing with Caesar. Pilate wants to hear Jesus’ narrative in asking Him the question because he wants to know if Jesus has interests that coincide with his own that are even better than what the high priests have brought him.
Jesus answers Pilate not with opinion but as the Truth. Jesus is the Truth. Jesus tells Pilate, “You say that I am a king, for this I was born and for this I came into the world to testify to the Truth; everyone who belongs to the Truth listens to my voice.” Pilate cynically answers, “What is Truth?” This question of Pilate sums up his sad narrative: Pilate belongs not to the Truth but rather to nothing. This narrative remains a dominant narrative in our media, in our political life, and in our own rationalizations for our personal and social sins.
Jesus does not say a lot in this Passion account; He speaks less as the Passion account moves closer to His death. He is silent in the midst of the angry screams and accusations made by the crowds; He is silent in the midst of the scheming casuistry of the high priests; and He is mostly silent before Pilate. At one with Him in His silence is His mother, Mary. She stands with Him at the foot of the Cross with the Beloved Disciple with an immaculate love that surpasses even the naturally powerful bond between a mother and her son.
Pope Francis observed, “Festive acclamations and brutal torture; the silence of Jesus throughout his Passion is profoundly impressive. He also overcomes the temptation to answer back, to act like a ‘superstar.’ In moments of darkness and great tribulation, we need to keep silent, to find the courage not to speak, as long as our silence is meek and not full of anger. The meekness of silence will make us appear even weaker, more humble. Then the devil will take courage and come out into the open. We need to resist him in silence, ‘holding our position,’ but with the same attitude as Jesus. He knows that the battle is between God and the prince of this world, and that what is important is not putting our hand to the sword but remaining firm in faith. It is God’s hour. At the hour that God comes forth to fight, we have to let him take over. Our place of safety will be beneath the mantle of the holy Mother of God.”
The silence of Jesus and the accompanying silence of Mary are because God is speaking now. God is speaking the Truth and not offering a competitive narrative or compelling argument certainly in the manner of the high priests who seek control of a corrupt system of religious leadership, or Pilate who seeks political advancement as a transfer from Palestine, or the crowds who seek the compelling narrative of a messiah like Barabbas. God is speaking the Truth and offers no narrative to impose His way through manipulation. He speaks the Truth fully that no narrative could ever fully encompass except the fullness of the Truth spoken on the Cross. Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote that “human salvation demands the Divine disclosure of Truth surpassing reason.” God’s Word is eternal and it is spoken on the Cross. The Cross of Jesus is the Truth to which He testifies. The Truth is Himself. The fullness of the Truth is the unconditional love of God who gives His Son to ransom us from the power of evil and sin. He gives His Son that we might not settle for any narrative of lies conjured and cobbled together as partial truths when God offers us instead the fullness of the Truth who is Jesus. He gives His Son as the Truth which like love cannot impose itself on anyone. The Truth and Love that are Jesus requires a free acceptance in loving obedience of a share in His Cross. As Pope Benedict XVI wrote in Deus Caritas Est, “It is only by looking at Jesus dead on the Cross for us can this fundamental truth be known and contemplated: God is Love. In this contemplation the Christian discovers the path along which his life and love must move.”
Jesus Christ on the Cross is the Truth spoken by God. Jesus Christ on the Cross reveals the Truth of humanity in all its death-dealing ugliness rooted in the sin of the Garden and the lie of the serpent. Jesus Christ on the Cross at the same time reveals the Truth of God in all His perfect justice, life-giving mercy, and healing forgiveness that pays the price of sin and death by the sacrifice of His own Son.
Mary standing at the foot of the Cross of Her Son, preserved from stain of sin at her Immaculate Conception, is the only human being who can say in communion with God, “to ransom a slave I gave away a Son.” As Pope Francis recently preached, “At the foot of the cross, Mary thought once more of the words that the angel had spoken about her Son: ‘He will be great… The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’” (Lk 1:32-33) On Golgotha, Mary witnesses the rejection by sinful humanity of that promise: her Son’s brutal death on a cross among thieves. On Golgotha, Mary at the same time witnesses the fulfillment of that promise by God standing at the throne of Her fully human Son, which is the Cross where He wears His crown made of thorns and vanquishes the power of Hell and cunning of the devil, for in His dying it is finished. Mary with Christ keeps silent, because God is speaking.
