Thought for the week - 24 March 2024

Readings:
Isaiah 50:4-9a;
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29;
Philippians 2:5-11;
Mark 11:1-11

Collect:
O holy God,
who buy the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross,
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen 

Reflection

We’ve been following the Unbounded Love responses at the beginning of Sunday worship and on this Sunday of the Palms, we’re invited to place a coat under the cross, or at the altar, with these words:

Unbounded God, we thank you that you rode humbly into Jerusalem that day, knowing what pain and misery lay before you. You received short-lived praise from a crowd who spread their cloaks before you, but would soon reject you, and condemn you to death.

Lord Jesus, we place this coat at the cross to remind us that we need to let go of the things that bring us status in this world. Help us to stay true to you, knowing that you are the source of all life.

Holy God, we cast our crowns before thee.

Mark warns us, the climax is near and Jesus is entering Jerusalem. Jesus has been getting visitors from the city, not all of them friendly, and just before he enters, Jesus says that there he will be handed over and be condemned to death (10:33, 45). Till this moment, Jesus has instructed all those who know to not say anything about his status. Demons, those who are healed, they are all told to keep quiet about who he is. This is sometimes called the Messianic Secret, and is especially evident in Mark. It is just possible that now we readers know why Jesus is going into Jerusalem, the secret is now disclosed: he is to die. Only now does he can enter and proclaimed as the one who is to come. Now he does not stop the calls of “Hosanna!” (save us now), quoted from Psalm 118:25.

Mark offers this whole event to us as the fulfilment of Zechariah 9:9:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, daughter Jerusalem!
See your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

The people cry to be saved, delivered now, and they proclaim this is the one who is to be their deliverer. What they do not appreciate in the story is that this is the one who is to die. Mark has been preparing us readers for this shocking truth from the beginning, and now we see it unfolding before our eyes. It is true. He is being proclaimed in dramatic terms as the one who is victorious and triumphant. But he is going to die. This is the only reason he enters Jerusalem, and enters now.

The crowd spread their cloaks on the road, a clear reference to 2 Kings 9:13, when the people proclaim Jehu king and spread their cloaks before him. The people offer this sign of their acceptance of his rule, first Jehu … and now Jesus.

Then, as now, Jesus undermines all our preconceptions about rule and might. This story looks like an imperial entrance, full of proclamations of deliverance and power over the oppressors. We’re holding our breath, waiting for the dramatic announcement … and Jesus leaves the scene (v11). He goes to Bethany, and we’re left wondering: “What just happened?”

Anticlimax? Probably. But we know there is trouble brewing. Restoration of David’s empire has been evoked. People are restless. The authorities have taken note. Good Friday is now just a few days away.

Barry Lotz