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Bible passage:
Mark 11:1-10
Palm Sunday was a major statement about the mission of Jesus.
The custom for pilgrims coming into Jerusalem was to walk into it on foot (as is clear in one of the psalms of Ascent, which pilgrims recited as they went up to Jerusalem, Psalms 122:1-2)
Therefore why did Jesus ride in?
(Read Mark 11:1-10)
It was clearly Jesus who orchestrated the events of the day:
Do you think the collecting of the colt was a prearranged act?
Can you see any significance in the detail that the colt had never been ridden before?
What might be the reason for that detail?
(e.g. Could it be..
Jesus is master of all able to control an untamed animal, perhaps pointing to how Jesus is in control of the events that would happen in Jerusalem, despite all that would suggest otherwise?
Or could it signify the pure Lamb of God entering Jerusalem to be sacrificed being carried on a beast that had never been used for any other purpose? Any other ideas?)
It was definitely an action that was rich in prophetic symbolism.
(Zech 9:9, 'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. See your king comes to you righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey...')
This was a statement to be the King. What kind of king was Jesus proclaiming himself to be by this act?
The King Zechariah was predicting was the Messiah, the Christ. Do you think the crowd got the significance of this?
Their subsequent actions of the crowd suggest that they did grasp the meaning of the procession, what are the signs of this fact?
CLOAKS
Why do you think the crowd laid their cloaks on the road? Can you imagine doing this with your best coat? What are you prepared to lay down in the dust that Jesus may be exalted in your life?
'You don't spread cloaks on the road-especially in the dusty, stony Middle East -for a friend, or even a respected senior member of your family. You do it for royalty' (Wright)
BRANCHES
Only John calls them 'palm' branches, which apparently were not native to Jerusalem, so they were likely just 'leafy branches', which is what the word means, and these were readily available in the nearby fields. Still, 'Leafy Branch Sunday', doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it? Mark tells us, that like the cloaks, they were laid down on the road. It shows how spontaneous the demonstration was, for the crowd, that they had not pre-planned this (unlike Jesus), and it also points to the poverty of the majority of the crowd, who, nonetheless did what they could to express their homage to Jesus. That was the same idea Jesus expressed when Mary anointed him at Bethany, 'she did what she could.' (Mark 14:8) . How are we doing what we can to show that Jesus is our King and to demonstrate that Jesus has the first place in our affections, no matter what other people think?
SHOUTS
The key sign is the shout of the crowd, 'Hosanna', a Hebrew word that mixes exuberant praise to God with the prayer that God will save his people, and do it right away. The subsequent shout of 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' shows that the crowd saw that Jesus was the One who would fulfil this prediction. Why was this potentially a very dangerous shout in Jerusalem?
Luke's account (Luke 19:39-40) tells us that some Pharisees told Jesus to stop his disciples from making these statements and doing these symbolic actions.
How did Jesus' reply (Luke 19:40), make it clear that Jesus had no intention to quietly slip in to Jerusalem or hush up the claim to Messiahship?
How does Matthew in his account amplify this claim by noting that these shouts continued in a very significant place, where? (Matthew 21:15-16) Do you raise your voice to proclaim Jesus has saved you? Should we be more vocal and excited about it?
From all of these actions on Palm Sunday, Jesus makes it clear that our key calling is to PRAISE him before others.
What kind of things inhibits our praise of Him?
PRIDE?
How much does the thought of what other people might think of us, stop us from expressing our love and gratitude to Jesus?
How often do we hide behind excuses of our temperament ('I'm too shy'), our culture ('It's not Scottish') or our tradition ('We don't do that kind of thing'), when really it is our pride that is the barrier?
Has your life been saved by Jesus? Then let it show in your praise!
Are you prepared to lay down your pride before Jesus?
FEAR?
On that first Palm Sunday, the followers in the crowd had more reason than us to fear declaring their belief about Jesus. The potential for being misunderstood as a revolutionary against Rome was high. The potential for being arrested and condemned with Jesus was very real. Would fear have kept us quiet? And what about today? Who do we fear? Jesus tells us what the proper answer should be in (Luke 12:4-5).
Are you prepared to lay down your fears before Jesus?
DOUBT?
Have you ever been part of an excited crowd, and they have been wildly cheering on a team or a speaker and you have thought, 'Hang on a minute, I don't feel I can go along with that'? Perhaps you feel swept along, but you have your doubts?
Do you have doubts about Jesus? Are you prepared to be honest and bring them out into the open before Jesus?
When we think about our pride, fear and doubt, perhaps we see them as obstacles that keep us back from truly praising Jesus, and we wish we could be rid of them?
But could it be, that we in fact use them as barriers behind which we live and they are excuses to keep us from praising Jesus?
Can you echo this prayer?
'O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise' (Psalms 51:15)
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