God shakes us out of death – Matt 26:14-27:66

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, Year A; Holy Infant parish.

The death of Jesus shakes everything up. And he knew it would. He even warned his disciples, telling them, “all of you will have your faith shaken.” But more is shaken than just their faith. The whole earth shakes, in an earthquake that shows that earth itself seismically gets what’s going on here, gets that what is happening in earth-shattering, creation-shattering: the God of all creation suffers and dies at the hands of creatures, out of love for them.

And what is revealed when the dust settles, and the sun returns? Life. Even before Jesus’ resurrection, a few holy Jewish people rise from their graves and bear witness that God shakes us out of death. The Roman soldiers, the death squad, are shaken out of their murderous careers and recognize who they’ve slain, that in Jesus, God is with us. The narrator finally draws our attention to the disciples who were women and who stayed, at a distance, but stayed, were willing to stand by Jesus in his suffering. We see Joseph of Arimathea who gives up his costly own tomb, that Jesus might have a decent burial. We see life, we see faith, we see persistent courageous compassion and we see selfless generosity. That is life. That is holiness. That’s what Jesus shakes us out of death for.

[I didn't mention this in the homily, but the picture is one I took of one of the oldest churches in Haiti (and, hence, in the "New World"). All was destroyed by the earthquake except the altar.]