His Steadfast Love Endures
The Liturgy of the Palms
Mark 11:1-11
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
The Gospel
Mark 11:1-11
When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “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. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
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.
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; *
his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let Israel now proclaim, *
"His mercy endures for ever."
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; *
I will enter them;
I will offer thanks to the Lord.
20 "This is the gate of the Lord; *
he who is righteous may enter."
21 I will give thanks to you, for you answered me *
and have become my salvation.
22 The same stone which the builders rejected *
has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord's doing, *
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 On this day the Lord has acted; *
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Hosannah, Lord, hosannah! *
Lord, send us now success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; *
we bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 God is the Lord; he has shined upon us; *
form a procession with branches up to the horns of the altar.
28 "You are my God, and I will thank you; *
you are my God, and I will exalt you."
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; *
his mercy endures for ever.
Sermon by Rev. Deb Lockhart, Deacon
This morning, as is our tradition, we’ve come in waving our palms, escorted enthusiastically by the sounds of a trumpet, apparently much as Jesus did coming into the city of Jerusalem. Happy Passover! Happy Passover Holiday! Chad Pesach Sameach! On this day we would be greeting one another excitedly, for it might a year or more since seeing each other. For some, making the journey to Jerusalem for Passover would take days. Let us all greet each other! Happy Holiday! Happy Passover! I recently ran into a Jewish neighbor out walking, and as we often do this time of year, great one another in a religious context. I offered up, Chad Pesach Sameach, complete with the gargling sound in attempting Hebrew. He made a slow smile and with eyes twinkling, he looked at me and said, Happy Easter, Deb, I hope you aren’t coming down with something!
It’s Palm Sunday today, the beginning of our Holy Week. It is the day we watch Jesus from the sidelines as he comes into view traveling from Galilee into Jerusalem by way of The Mount of Olives. The Gospel writer Mark, in his brevity, his straight forward manner, says only what is needed, leaving our imaginations to fill in the rest. The story doesn’t change, but our perspective might if we give a it a chance.
Jerusalem is bursting at the seams with Jews coming from all over, having arrived to remember and participate in Passover and to celebrate the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, an event that will last the week. The Roman authorities are fearful of such a large gatherings and the threat of uprising they may pose. Pilate, in all his splendor is entering the west gate with his war horses and military dressed for battle, is headed to Herod’s palace, while Jesus and his less threatening group enter the east gate.
Last year, I missed being with you because, as my grandson said, I had the Corona. We had returned from the Holy Land and the image of the Palm Sunday Road was still very fresh in my memory. I described the road as graveled, wide enough today for 2 compact cars to pass. It begins up top of the Mount of Olives and then travels downward toward the city in a gradual descent.
Standing at the top, surveying the city in the near distance, one can see Jewish graves marking both sides of the road. For those who could, it was desirable to be buried near the top, for that meant when the Messiah comes, those buried closest to his feet will be raised first.
Mark, in our scripture this morning, begins with Jesus sending two disciples to “borrow” an unridden colt. When that is done, the many who have gathered throw their cloaks on the colt and onto the road along with leafy branches, paving the way for Jesus to travel. Interestingly, Mark’s description here is a throwback to Zechariah 9:9— words that would have been very familiar to all, especially to Jesus. This passage says:
“Lo, your king comes to you, humble and riding on a donkey…and he shall command peace to all nations”.
Peace and not revolt as Rome feared.
The shouting we hear in this passage is not in protest but of crying out.
“Hosanna, Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
This is not a victory cry but one of asking for help. In Hebrew it basically says “pray, save us”
So for this moment of what looks to be the confrontation of 2 very different kingdoms, Pilate coming from the west, embodying power, glory and violence and Jesus arriving from the east, embodying something quite the opposite, things look quite lopsided. Yet then, and even now, those watching this story unfold have hopes of something different. The people in Mark had hopes of being freed from the Roman domination system, where they have no voice, where they have no chance of economic independence, and where their king, who is also called the Son of God, was not Divine but a human king, who reigned with a deadly force. Those of us watching in hope today aren’t thinking about ridding our lives of Roman domination but of the social injustices of our time, of the need for peace in Ukraine and Russia, or for the ceasefire in Gaza and the return of hostages in Israel. We hope for the relief of the massive starvation going on in Sudan. We hope for peace and civility and the relief of civil discord in our country especially facing an upcoming presidential election. Or we maybe our hopes of relief are much closer to home, or even in our home.
Through the starkness of Mark’s storytelling, do we manage to catch a glimpse of the kingdom Jesus is bringing—one of peace and of love, not of war or not of overthrowing the oppressive dominance, but of something quite different, or even radical?
For me, it is in the last sentence of Mark this glimpse of something begins to be exposed. Mark says Jesus entered Jerusalem, goes to the temple, wanders around, sees little happening, and leaves! The later Gospels, written from Mark’s account, have him tossing tables but not here! No, Jesus has assessed the situation and leaves for Bethany with the 12. But why?
Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossen in their book titled The Last Week, call out this scene as one of a planned political protest, other commentaries call is a “staged protest”. It is a mocking of the Romans with this entry to the city, but more importantly, it is setting the stage for what Jesus is preparing us to learn by showing us this stark contrast. We must remember that during his short ministry Jesus avoided the big cities, choosing to do his healing and other miracles in places out of the purview of authorities. Yes, he angered the Pharisees, and other Jewish leaders, but he purposely avoided Rome…. until now. Now that he has surveyed the temple, where little is happening, he leaves, to return the following day when the crowds were present, to turn over tables of the money changers at the temple, wither a fig tree with his words, and publicly and with purpose, be the “king” he intends to be.
Those following him still did not understand, including his disciples, despite Jesus’ teachings of his impending death. Those standing on the sidelines in year 30 AD have no way of truly understanding all that is coming. The change they wanted wasn’t the change Jesus was bringing. We, on the sidelines in 2024, know how this is going to end and yet we still need to be reminded of every detail as we move toward the cross. We must go through the pain of watching, of listening again in hopes of remembering that it is about our transformation that happens when we receive God’s abundant love. This ultimate, unconditional love, comes about through the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus came to live among us totally human and divine and to die, taking away our sins, giving us a clean slate.
It is our sin, which keeps us separated from God, and when it is taken away through forgiveness, we are free to turn back toward God who is always there waiting for us with the gift of forgiveness, no matter who we are or how we came to this place.
By being transformed, by being open to the love of God, we are forever changed. It changes the way we see the world, the way we treat one another, the way we care for creation and the way we relate to our creator.
As we enter Holy Week, even with our eyes on the cross, there is joy is to be had. In the Psalm we just heard, Psalm 118, the first and last verses carry powerful messaging we need to hear all week long. Not only do we hear these words today but we will hear them again on Easter.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!
Jesus would have known all of these Psalms as he did the Old Testament scripture. This Psalm would have been part of Jesus’ songbook, his meditation, and would have been prayed as well as sung.
These words are in the present tense, AND these words are thousands of years old, written 1000 years before Jesus was born! So on this Palm Sunday, as we celebrate Jesus coming into Jerusalem having revealed a different way of living our lives, that of loving and being loved by a God who doesn’t ever give up on us. Imagine, if you will, these words we are hearing or saying are being said today around the world; we are part of something much larger than this small church in Lancaster County Virginia. God’s love endures forever, yesterday, today and forever more. God’s steadfast love is present at the cross as much as the triumphal donkey ride; His steadfast love is present at the horrors of Good Friday, in the silence of the waiting on Holy Saturday, and is present on Easter morning.
As we offer up our hosannas, our cries for help, for being saved, as generations have done before us for thousands of years, and as generations to come will do likewise, there is good news. God is remains right here with us, in our losses, in our grief, in our hopelessness, and in our sin. His steadfast love endures to each and every one of us, over and over again…..forever.