Stroll through Scripture for Palm Sunday, March 24, 2024

Based on readings from Mark 11:1–11 and Mark 14:3–9

We made it to Holy Week! Palm Sunday is a unique Sunday in so many ways. It’s a paradox Sunday. We have two Gospel readings. One focuses on the triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the other is about preparation for death that will take place later in the week. It reminds me of the ABC Sports tag line from years ago — “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”

So let’s take a look at each of the readings separately. First the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Mark’s version of the triumphant entry is just odd. Most of the passage is about the events around getting the colt, not the actual entry of Jesus. And when we do get to the actual entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, we hear the crowd’s assumption about that, and then it immediately turns anti-climactic in verse 11 — “Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.” Jesus gets in, and nothing happens. So what’s going on?

Depending on which Gospel you are looking at, you hear about a colt, a donkey, or a donkey and a colt. Mark is emphasizing Jesus showing who he is — the Messiah and King of the Jews — a fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 which states:

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