Lectionary Readings: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-24 Mark 11:1-11
Our journey through Holy Week always begins here at Palm Sunday. This day is a day of rejoicing. A day when the whole of Jerusalem moved toward the Temple to remember once again the great act of mercy of God, shown to their ancestors. A day when pilgrims recalled God’s love and gave thanks.
And on this day, Jesus and his disciples also set out to make preparation to celebrate the Passover. But this would be a Passover like no other. The rejoicing of this day, would end surely enough with a meal, and the sacrifice of a lamb. But its ending would mark the beginning of a whole new consciousness.
The Journey
The whole of Mark’s gospel, from the moment, when Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah on the mountain of Transfiguration, begins a journey. It is true that it is a physical journey towards Jerusalem; but it is also a journey of discovery, when the disciples become aware of the unique understanding of God’s grace as Jesus experiences and shares it.
It is this understanding that is about the turn the whole world upside down and will call Christ’s disciples into a lifestyle that offers reckless love in the name of God to the whole world.
It is a day staged to enact the entry of a messianic king into Jerusalem, which began ordinarily enough at the Mount of Olive – favoured by most political rulers entering Jerusalem: history records how Alexander, Apollonius (2 Maccabees 4:21-22), Judas Maccabeus (1 Maccabees 4:19-25, 5:45-54), Marcus Agrippa and Archelaus all began their entry here.
And the writer of St Mark’s Gospel would no doubt be aware of the deeper significance found in ancient prophecies which spoke of the LORD intervening on behalf of his people:
On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives,
which lies before Jerusalem on the east.
Zechariah 14:4
And so, overlooking the city, to the eastern side of the Temple Mount, Jesus and his disciples begin this final push towards Jerusalem.
Royal Transport
Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it.
We are quite used to the Royal Family using all kinds of transport: from horse and carriage for ceremonial duties, to jet, helicopter, train or car. Not so for royalty in Ancient Israel. The animal of choice was a mule. And while Mark seems familiar with the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, the quote is actually used in Matthew’s gospel (21:1-7):
Daughter of Zion, rejoice with all your heart; shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King is coming to you, his cause won, his victory gained, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Unlike the lowly status afforded to the donkey today, both Mark and Matthew knew that this would be the choice of a king elect approaching his coronation, as prepared by King David for Solomon (1 Kings 1:32-48). And just as on all those other significant occasions cloaks and leafy branches were spread all around as a sign of welcome, while those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting (or singing?) words from Psalm 118. No wonder the authorities were a little nervous to say the least, when Jesus and his disciples made such a public statement.
When David first appeared in the pages of scripture, he was rejected as just a mere child, although he was worthy to be appointed king and ruler. Yet, although originally rejected by the religious authorities, David would be blessed later by the leaders from the temple precincts. But for Jesus welcomed by the crowd, there would be no acknowledgement from the priests in the Temple precincts.
Coronation
This whole story is written to underline again and again, the primacy of this Galilean approaching Jerusalem: here is the Messiah, your king, arriving for his coronation. Yet the following day the chief priests and scribes were already plotting his death. This journey would end with a cruel death; the king would be crowned with thorns, mocked and pilloried.
Despite this ignominious end, there will be those who believed and continued to show devotion to Jesus. According to Mark 14:3-9 the anointing had taken place at the home of Simon the leper: significantly this action – although here described as anointing for death – also precedes coronation.
Conclusion
In a sense, our attitude to the Lord Jesus Christ mirrors that seen which is seen in the gospel story, and shapes our response too: do we continue to crown him with the thorns of our rejection, or will we anoint him with the oil of devotion?
Worship at home 