Seventh Word: 'Into your hands I commend my spiirt'

 ‘Into your hands I commend my spirit’.

[Luke 23.46]

 

These words from Psalm31.5 are used daily in the service of Compline, whereas we come to the end of the day we commend out spirit to God, entrusting ourselves to his care. At the end Jesus does the same. There is nothing more for Jesus to do, his earthly work and ministry is completed, now he enters into the silence of the Sabbath rest.

 

But Christ’s sabbath rest is far from peaceful, as he enters into death, so he descends into Hell there to harrow it, to bring to light the souls of the righteous. So to it is for us a time not of silence but of preparation, as we prepare for the glory of Easter Sunday and the singing of the words ‘The Light of Christ’ as the newly lit Paschal Candle is brought into the dark and silent church.


Note on Palm Sunday's Passion reading.

At Mass on this Sunday (Palm Sunday) we will read St Matthew's narrative of Christ's Passion. As part of this reading we hear the Jewish crowd cry out that responsibility for the shedding of Christ's blood will be on 'us and our children'. This 'text of terror' has long been used to accuse the Jewish people of Christ's death, and thus as a justification for their persecution throughout history. However the point of a dramatic reading of the Passion narrative is that we find ourselves as participants in the story, not disinterested bystanders, and that we hear our own voices cry out 'Hosanna' as Christ enters Jerusalem, and then 'Crucify him' as Pilate asks what he should do with Jesus.


The point is that we are each intimately involved in the death of Christ, as he dies for each of us. We cannot shift responsibility onto others, because it is because of our sins and our salvation that he dies on the cross. And when we do point the finger of blame, then it becomes easier to do violence to those to whom the finger points. Rather, as we approach this text on Sunday let us be gentle with one another, and remember that as St John tells us, the name of God is love, not hate.



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