When things are empty or we are empty we normally feel this as something bad. We want to fill the emptiness. That’s definitely the feeling I get preaching in an empty church this weekend. But sometimes, empty is good.
At the last supper, the apostles are definitely not empty. They are so full of themselves that no one can even imagine that they would do anything to betray Jesus. Peter is convinced he will even die before he would ever deny Jesus. He is full of confidence. Full of ignorance. Full of himself. Judas likewise is full of his own plans. Full of greed and pride. But there is one who is described as empty.
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Second Reading – Philippians 2:6-8
Being empty is the key to being like Christ. If we are full of the world and full of ourselves, there is not room for God. Even this feast of Palm Sunday begins filled with joy, but ends with an empty cross. But God does not mean to leave us empty. He will surely fill us. He wants to fill us with himself. This can only happen if we first become like Jesus and empty ourselves. Sometimes, empty is good.