20 March 2027 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God.” John 11:51–52
On the eve of Holy Week the Church reads a promise of unity. Ezekiel had seen the kingdom of David split into two, Israel and Judah, and then both scattered in exile. Now God promises: “I will take the people of Israel from the nations… I will make them one nation in the land… and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations.” He will cleanse them from their idols, give them “one shepherd,” his servant David, and make “a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant… My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Instead of a Psalm, we sing Jeremiah's song of the shepherd who gathers: “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock… I will turn their mourning into joy.”
The Gospel shows how this gathering will happen. Jesus has just raised Lazarus at Bethany. Many believe in him; others report to the authorities. The council meets in fear: if we let him go on, “the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” Caiaphas, the high priest that year, gives a cold political calculation: “it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” John sees a hidden prophecy in it: Jesus was indeed about to die for the nation, “and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God.” What Caiaphas meant as expediency, God turned into salvation. We must read this carefully: the decision belongs to a small group of leaders in a frightened hour, and the Church teaches that the Passion cannot be charged against all the Jews then living, nor against the Jews of today (Nostra Aetate 4; Catechism 597). In truth, Christ died for the sins of all of us. The chapter ends with pilgrims in the Temple asking each other, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?” Tomorrow we have the answer: he comes, riding on a colt, to lay down his life and gather us into one.
Theme: “To gather into one the dispersed children of God.”
Ezekiel's promise, Caiaphas' unwitting prophecy, and the threshold of Holy Week.
“My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes.” Ezekiel 37:24
“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” John 10:16
Apply: Pray this week for Christian unity, and greet a Christian of another Church with warmth.
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
“He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God.” John 11:51–52
Apply: Say each day of Holy Week: Jesus, you died for me; gather me into your one family.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9
“They were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?”” John 11:56
Apply: Come to the Palm Sunday procession tomorrow, and keep the whole of Holy Week with Jesus.
God's will is to gather his scattered children into one.
Jesus comes to Jerusalem freely, to die for all and to make us one.
Take-home resolution: Make peace with one person before Palm Sunday.
Dear friends, Ezekiel saw God's people broken into two kingdoms and scattered among the nations. And God promised: I will make them one nation… never again shall they be two nations… they shall all have one shepherd (Ezekiel 37:22, 24). God's dream is not a scattered people but one family.
In the Gospel, after Lazarus is raised, some leaders are afraid. Caiaphas says: it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed (John 11:50). He was thinking of politics. But John tells us he was prophesying: Jesus would die not only for the nation, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God (John 11:52).
We must hear this rightly. The Church teaches that the death of Jesus cannot be blamed on all the Jews of that time or on the Jewish people today. The deepest truth is that Jesus died for the sins of all of us, and freely gave his life. And what men intended for evil, God used for the salvation of the world.
The pilgrims in the Temple asked: will he come to the festival? Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. He comes. Let us go out to meet him with palms, and let us make peace with one another, so that he may gather us into one at his cross. Amen.
Children, God wants all his children to be one big family. Jesus gave his life to bring everyone together. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, and we will wave palms for Jesus our King! Today, if you have quarrelled with someone, go and make peace.
Good Shepherd, you laid down your life to gather into one the scattered children of God. Heal the divisions in our families, our parishes and among Christians. As Holy Week begins, let us go up with you to Jerusalem, to your cross and to your resurrection. Amen.
On the eve of Palm Sunday the theme is one word: gather. Ezekiel promises that God will bring his scattered people home, make them one and dwell among them. In John, the high priest says more than he knows: Jesus will die “to gather into one the dispersed children of God”. The response today, from Jeremiah, sings of the God who gathers his flock like a shepherd. The plot is now set, and the Passover is near. The key words are one, gather and dwelling.
Setting.
Ezekiel is a priest among the exiles in Babylon, and this oracle comes after the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC. Just before our reading come the vision of the dry bones (37:1–14) and the sign of two sticks joined into one, Judah and Joseph (37:15–20). The northern and southern kingdoms had been divided since the time after Solomon (1 Kings 12), and the north had fallen long before. Our reading gives the meaning of the sign: there will be one people, one king and one sanctuary.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel;” (37:22)
A God who keeps his word to scattered exiles can be trusted when there seems to be no people left.
“I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen, and will cleanse them.” (37:23)
A note on the text. The NRSV’s “apostasies” follows a small correction of the Hebrew, supported by some ancient Greek witnesses. The Hebrew as we have it reads “dwellings”, which the Malayalam POC follows (വസതികൾ). In either case, the return is not only a journey home, but a cleansing.
“My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd.” (37:24)
David had long been dead. Ezekiel is speaking of a king to come, in his line. Compare Ezekiel 34:23 and Jesus’ words in John 10:16.
“My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (37:27)
The formula of the covenant once more. The last book of the Bible uses the same picture for the end of all things (Revelation 21:3).
How the Church reads it.
This promise was made to Israel, and it stands, for “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29; CCC 839). Christians hear in it also the work of Christ, the shepherd in David’s line, who “lived among us” (John 1:14), and they see the Church as a people gathered by God (CCC 762, 781). Here the Lenten call to reconciliation meets the prayer for Christian unity.
Setting.
Jesus has just raised Lazarus (11:1–44). John shows the result: many believe, and some report to the Pharisees. The chief priests and Pharisees call a meeting of the council. Their fear is real: the Romans, who rule Judea, might see a popular movement as a threat and crush it. John’s first readers know that the Romans did destroy the Temple in AD 70.
Caiaphas was high priest for many years, from about AD 18 to 36. “That year” means that fateful year. The Catechism notes that the authorities were not all of one mind about Jesus (CCC 596), and many here believe in him (11:45).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” (11:48)
They are thinking of their people’s survival, and that is no small thing. But a good aim does not make it right to take an innocent life.
“it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” (11:50)
The cold logic of power in every age: one person may be sacrificed for the sake of the rest. The Catechism answers this very case: the end does not justify the means, and the condemnation of an innocent person cannot be justified as a way of saving the nation (CCC 1753).
“He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation,” (11:51)
John says that God can use even a word spoken for an evil purpose. Caiaphas meant “instead of the nation”, and God meant “for the sake of the nation”.
“and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God.” (11:52)
The heart of the reading. Compare 10:16 and 12:32. The Cross is where the scattered are brought home.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes this scene and speaks of the division among the authorities (CCC 596), and it takes up 11:52 when it says that Christ, the offspring promised to Abraham, gathers into one the scattered children of God in the Spirit (CCC 706). St Augustine notes that the Spirit of prophecy can use even a wicked man, because of the office he holds, not because of his merit (in substance). In this way the passage prepares us for Holy Week: human plans go ahead, and God’s plan goes through them, without excusing them.
How could God speak through a man plotting a death?
The gift of prophecy here belongs to his office, and it says nothing of his holiness. John does not excuse Caiaphas’s plan. Nor is he a picture of a whole people: the Church teaches that the Passion cannot be charged to all the Jews of that time or of ours (Nostra Aetate 4; CCC 597).