THE SORROWS OF THE SON OF MAN

TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK

Isa 49:1-6; Ps 70:1-6,15,17; Jn 13:21-33,36-38

The Conflict of Loves in the Messiah

The Son of Man is the emissary of the Father’s loving compassion and power. As we have already noted, the role demands a total submission of his will to the Father. As the Eternal Word of God, who is God from God, this is no problem, for he is essentially the same as the Father and does nothing outside the Father’s will, which he expresses for all eternity. The difficulty arises only in his human nature from his natural oneness with us. In our nature, he knows the will of the Father and is consecrated or sacrificed to do it. But we do not know the immutable will of God and lack consecration to it, which is the source of our sins. Harmonising his love for the Father and the natural affinity to his brothers is a source of great tension for the Son of Man. This conflict was the source of his sorrowful passion. He had to deal with us in such a way that he faithfully represents the Father’s love for us and dissuades us from following our sinful will at the same time. Isaiah expressed the dilemma of the Son of Man in the passage. “The Lord called me before I was born, from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name. He made my mouth a sharp sword and hid me in the shadow of his hand. He made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in his quiver.” Doing the will of God implies going against his brothers and judging their motives and actions. In this sense, he is an arrow shot by God to injure our sinful wills, feelings, and lives.

The opposition he is to be to his brothers lies heavy on his heart due to his natural affinity to us. He expresses this weakness in him through the prophet. “He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel) in whom I shall be glorified’; while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing’; and all the while my cause was with the Lord, my reward with my God.” The feeling of helplessness and weakness to bring about any change by his dedication to the good is not unique to the Son of Man. We share in his life and feelings as Christians. Many Christians are willing to give up the effort if not strengthened by the Holy Spirit, who pours the love of God into our hearts. The same love of the Father that was the main strength of the Son of Man is also ours through the Holy Spirit he gives to us. The Lord himself expresses this sorrow and weakness in the gospel as the moment of his passion approaches. “While at supper with his disciples, Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared, ‘I tell you most solemnly, one of you will betray me.’” As in the prophecy, the source of the weakness and the temptation to give up is the seeming blindness of his brothers to his loving effort to show them the love and mercy of the Father. Our efforts at living a good life, doing good to others, forgiving offences, praying, and preaching to others may seem to bear little or no fruit. The Son of Man felt the same helplessness and worries; we are participating in his paschal mysteries.

As in the prophecy, the Son of Man became aware that he is just an arrow concealed in the quiver of the Most High. His weak human efforts and activities are not what matters but the divine strength and grace that accompany these efforts and activities as God's emissary. Recall that the Lord directed us to acknowledge our weakness and nothingness before God when we have put in our best effort. He did that when his tireless effort to save all his apostles and disciples failed. After giving them the loving gift of his life and salvation from the Father, his brothers still betrayed him. Asked who was to betray him, he replied: “‘It is the one to whom I give the piece of bread that I shall dip in the dish.’ He dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. At that instant, after Judas had taken the bread, Satan entered him.” Imagine the sorrow this caused in the heart of the Saviour; Satan entered his apostle as he watched helplessly. The Son of Man realises that his role is to be God’s love to his brothers. The will of the Father who sent him determines the outcome of his effort. The Father is faithful in response to his dedicated service. “Now has the Son of Man been glorified, and in him God has been glorified. If God has been glorified in him, God will in turn glorify him in himself, and will glorify him very soon.” We pray for the grace to glorify God by remaining faithful to the paschal mysteries.

Let us pray: Almighty ever-living God, grant us so to celebrate the mysteries of the Lord’s Passion that we may merit to receive your pardon. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.