Holy Week

I need to apologize about getting so sidetracked on my devotions that I had started.  I was talking to another pastor about Lenten disciplines and we discussed that sometimes it is almost like New Year’s resolutions.  With the number of funerals and weddings and special events, I found myself reading the devotions but not following through on my insights.  Therefore today I want to spend this Holy Week with reading from the Gospel of Mark that describe day by day what happened.  So here we begin on the first day of the week Palm Sunday.

Sunday Mark 11:1-11

Mark 11:1-11The Message (MSG)

Entering Jerusalem on a Colt

11 ^1-3 When they were nearing Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany on Mount Olives, he sent off two of the disciples with instructions: “Go to the village across from you. As soon as you enter, you’ll find a colt tethered, one that has never yet been ridden. Untie it and bring it. If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ say, ‘The Master needs him, and will return him right away.’”

^4-7 They went and found a colt tied to a door at the street corner and untied it. Some of those standing there said, “What are you doing untying that colt?” The disciples replied exactly as Jesus had instructed them, and the people let them alone. They brought the colt to Jesus, spread their coats on it, and he mounted.

^8-10 The people gave him a wonderful welcome, some throwing their coats on the street, others spreading out rushes they had cut in the fields. Running ahead and following after, they were calling out,

Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!
Blessed the coming kingdom of our father David!
Hosanna in highest heaven!

¹¹ He entered Jerusalem, then entered the Temple. He looked around, taking it all in. But by now it was late, so he went back to Bethany with the Twelve.

The Message (MSG)

Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

The first day of the week begins with Jesus on the move to Jerusalem. Prior to his arriving we read about his healing a blind man named Bartimaeus found in chapter 10:46-52. I find a number of ironic statements in Mark in that here Jesus is going into Jerusalem to face his passion for those who should know are blind and the blind are made to see. Even the disciples are seemingly blind to who Jesus is and will remain so until after the resurrection. Today we can even think about the ways that we are blind to who Jesus is in our own lives. Do we see Jesus, the Son of David, the Son of God or do we see someone who is convenient and demands little from us?

Jesus entering into Jerusalem does so on a colt. This fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9-10 that speaks of a peasant king riding on a donkey and not a war chariot. The symbolic laying down their cloaks harkens back to Elisha who anointed Jehu to lead the rebellion against the Omride regime found in 2 Kings 9:1-13. The palm branches remind the readers of the victorious celebration of the independence of Jerusalem and Judea in the Maccabean revolt which can be read in 1 Macc. 13:51. The people are shouting Hosanna, save us. The people are comparing Jesus to David one of the greatest kings of Israel.

The people are looking for a warrior king. One who would lead them to overthrowing the Roman oppression. This Jesus rejected this for himself. In fact he continued to show that it is through non-violent means that the kingdom was to become evident. God’s love and grace comes to us not through conquering armies but through faith. As the week goes and Jesus does not recruit an army, the people may wonder about this king. At the same time it is easier to understand the concerns of the Sanhedrin about the popularity of Jesus and the possibility of leading a revolt.

The passage ends with Jesus looking around and then leaving for the next day. Maybe scouting out the area to determine his course of action as he faces off against the rulers of his day.

Anytime we read the gospels, we need to see the connection to the Hebrew Scriptures.  Especially as we look the ever increasing tension between the temple priests, the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, and finally the Romans.  It is this tension that leads to the conspiracy to put Jesus to death.