Commentary
“Truly
This Man Was the Son of God”
During
the two trials in front of the Sanhedrin and Pilate, Jesus speaks
only twice, one to the high priest, the other to Pilate.
Pilate
asks if he is the king of the Jews, and Jesus' reply could sound
ambiguous, “You say so.”
But
to the high priest's question, “Are
you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?,” Jesus' answer is
crystal clear and affirmative, “I am.”
This
identity of Jesus as the Son of God is proclaimed, again in
affirmative tone, by the centurion, after his death on the cross,
“Truly this man was the Son of God!”
In
Mark's Gospel, “The Son of God” is the central identity of Jesus.
In fact, Mark begins his Gospel clearly stating his theme, “The
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (1:1)
And
this identity cannot be understood apart from the cross.
St.
Paul understood this, as he wrote to in the Letter to the
Philippians, “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did
not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he
emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human
likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (2nd
Reading of Palm Sunday)
As
an act of Divine Love, the Cross became the instrument of our
salvation.
By
His Cross, we are saved!
No comments:
Post a Comment