Readings: Jeremiah 11:18-20; Mark 14:32–72; 15:1–46
As Holy Week deepens, the Church invites us into a profound contemplation of Christ’s Passion. On Feria Tertia—Holy Tuesday—the readings are deliberately chosen to unveil both the innocence of the Lamb and the malice of those who plot against Him. The voice of the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 11 becomes a foreshadowing of Christ’s interior sorrow and abandonment. Coupled with the harrowing narrative of Mark’s Passion account, we enter into the silent sorrow of Gethsemane, the sting of betrayal, the false accusations, and finally, the death of God on a Cross.
Jeremiah 11:18–20: The Lamb Led to the Slaughter
Jeremiah’s lament—“I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter” (Jer 11:19)—is fulfilled most perfectly in Christ. The prophet is betrayed by his own people, just as the Lord is handed over by one of His own. This passage reveals the interior awareness of suffering: “The Lord made it known to me, and I knew.” It is the knowledge not of vindictiveness, but of trustful surrender: “To Thee have I committed my cause” (v. 20).
St. Ambrose, commenting on such prophetic suffering, writes:
“Jeremiah was a type of Christ, who too was delivered into the hands of sinners, scourged, and condemned, though innocent. In him, we behold the form of the Just Man suffering.” (In Lucam, Book 10)
Likewise, St. Cyril of Jerusalem teaches:
“The Just One suffered for the unjust, the Master for His servants, the Lamb for the sheep; we were the guilty, and yet the punishment fell upon Him.” (Catechetical Lectures, XIII, 33)
Thus, Jeremiah becomes an image of the Suffering Servant—knowing the plots, enduring the pain, yet offering it all to God.
Mark 14:32–72; 15:1–46: Gethsemane to Golgotha
The Passion according to St. Mark is stark in its detail and swift in its progression. It begins in the garden of Gethsemane, where Our Lord suffers a spiritual agony more intense than any bodily pain. “My soul is sorrowful even unto death” (Mk 14:34). Here the mystery of redemptive suffering reaches its height. Christ, true God and true man, accepts the chalice of suffering freely.
St. Augustine reflects on this moment:
“He took upon Himself a soul capable of sorrow, that He might drink the bitter chalice of our affliction. In this agony, He teaches us not to seek suffering, but to obey the Father even unto death.” (Tractates on John, 58)
The narrative then descends through betrayal by Judas, the denial by Peter, the false trial before the Sanhedrin, the mockery by soldiers, and the unjust sentence of Pilate. Each moment is a piercing of the Heart of the Innocent One. But Christ is silent—like Jeremiah’s lamb—bearing the weight of our sins in meekness.
St. John Chrysostom remarks:
“He answered nothing, that thou mayest understand the might of His silence. He who could overthrow His enemies with a word endured their judgments to fulfill the Scriptures.” (Homilies on Matthew, 87)
The crucifixion itself is the supreme offering. In Mark’s account, the cry of Christ—“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”—resonates with Psalm 21 (22), the psalm of the suffering Just One. It is not a cry of despair but of fulfilled prophecy. The same psalm declares: “All who see Me mock at Me… they have pierced My hands and feet.”
The Fathers are unanimous: this is not mere tragedy—it is sacrifice.
St. Leo the Great proclaims:
“By dying He destroyed our death, by rising He restored our life. The Lord’s Passion is the true cause of our reconciliation, the redemption of the world.” (Sermon 55, On the Passion)
The Silence of Holy Tuesday
Holy Tuesday is not a day of action, but of reflection. The Church is silent; the altars are bare. The Passion is proclaimed not to stir us emotionally, but to convert our hearts. We are invited to see our sins in Judas’s betrayal, in Peter’s denial, in the crowd’s shouting, “Crucify Him!”—but also to see our hope in the silent, suffering Lamb.
Let us return to Jeremiah’s final line: “To Thee have I committed my cause.” Here is the key to Holy Week. We do not flee from the Cross; we pass through it with Christ. In suffering, we commit our cause to the Father. In the face of injustice, we hold fast to the example of Christ. And in death, we find life.
Prayerful Response
O Lord Jesus Christ, Innocent Lamb led to the slaughter,
teach me to follow Thee in Thy silent suffering.
Give me the grace to watch with Thee in Gethsemane,
to stand with Thee at the pillar,
to weep with Thee at Calvary.
Let not my heart be like the sleeping apostles,
nor like the mocking crowd.
But awaken me, cleanse me, and draw me into Thy Passion,
that I may rise with Thee in Thy glory. Amen.