Archive for the ‘Palm Sunday’ Tag
Above: Icon of the Crucifixion
Image in the Public Domain
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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
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Zechariah 9:9-10
Psalm 31:1-5, 9-16 (LBW) or Psalm 92 (LW)
Philippians 2:5-11
Mark 14:1-15:47 or Mark 15:1-39
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Almighty God, you sent your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ,
to take our flesh upon him and to suffer death on the cross.
Grant that we may share in his obedience to your will
and in the glorious victory of his resurrection;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 19
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Almighty and everlasting God the Father,
who sent your Son to take our nature upon him
and to suffer death on the cross
that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility,
mercifully grant that we may both follow
the example of our Savior Jesus Christ in his patience
and also have our portion in his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 39
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Sometimes I stand back from my standard format for posts such as these and produce short devotions. Doing that now and again is appropriate. I have two tall bookcases full of Bibles, commentaries, and other reference materials. I use these volumes. Yet today I opt to stand back in awe and refrain from becoming too analytical, not that I object to analysis.
Above: My Biblical Studies Library, March 17, 2023
Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor
I, as an active Episcopalian, belong to a denomination that understands the power of rituals and liturgies. The rites for Palm Sunday are especially powerful. By the end of the dramatic reading of the assigned Passion narrative, the congregation is in stunned, reverent silence. Such silence is appropriate at that time.
I invite you, O reader, to sit in stunned, reverent silence and awe after reading these assigned passages, especially the Markan Passion narrative. I also encourage you to move into the next stage as the Holy Spirit leads you.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 17, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT PATRICK, APOSTLE OF IRELAND
THE FEAST OF EBENEZER ELLIOTT, “THE CORN LAW RHYMER”
THE FEAST OF HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINT JAN SARKANDER, SILESIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND “MARTYR OF THE CONFESSIONAL,” 1620
THE FEAST OF JOSEF RHEINBERGER, GERMANIC ROMAN CATHOLIC COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA BARBARA MAIX, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
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Adapted from this post
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Above: The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
Image in the Public Domain
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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
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Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:1-5, 9-16 (LBW) or Psalm 92 (LW)
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 26:1-27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54
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Almighty God, you sent your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ,
to take our flesh upon him and to suffer death on the cross.
Grant that we may share in his obedience to your will
and in the glorious victory of his resurrection;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 19
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Almighty and everlasting God the Father,
who sent your Son to take our nature upon him
and to suffer death on the cross
that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility,
mercifully grant that we may both follow
the example of our Savior Jesus Christ in his patience
and also have our portion in his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 39
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In context, Isaiah 50:4-9a is an odd lection to read on this Sunday. The speaker–the prophet/servant (Second Isaiah)–is pious yet merely human, therefore, sinful. He believes that the suffering of the exiles during the Babylonian Exile has been justified. Yet he also anticipates the divine vindication of that exiled population, for the glory of God. Applying this reading to sinless Jesus (who suffered an unjust execution as an innocent man) requires astounding theological gymnastics.
The hymn St. Paul the Apostle quoted back to the Philippian Christians in the 50s C.E. indicates something about the development of Christology by that time. One may wonder how old the human was when St. Paul quoted it. One may keep wondering, for one has no way of knowing. Yet one may know that the time from which it originated was at or near the dawn of Christianity.
Palm Sunday functions as the Reader’s Digest version of Holy Week through Good Friday in many churches. It does on the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship lectionary. So be it. With that in mind, I invite you, O reader, to ponder the injustice of what Jesus suffered during Holy Week. I also encourage you to place yourself inside the narrative and to ask yourself who you would have been in the story. Depending on your honest answer, you may have uncovered a sin (or sins) of which to repent.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 29, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF CHARLES VILLERS SANFORD, COMPOSER, ORGANIST, AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF DORA GREENWELL, POET AND DEVOTIONAL WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN KEBLE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND POET
THE FEAST OF SAINTS JONAS AND BARACHISIUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 327
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Adapted from this post
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Above: Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
Image in the Public Domain
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For Palm Sunday, Year 2
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Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)
Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)
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Almighty and Everlasting God, who hast sent thy Son, our Savior Jesus Christ,
to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross,
that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility;
mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of his patience,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—The Book of Worship (1947), 157
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Jeremiah 18:1-14
Psalm 8
Hebrews 12:1-11
Mark 11:1-11
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Great power accompanies great privilege. Psalm 8 includes a staggering idea–that
human beings share in God’s creative power and care of creation.
—The Revised New Jerusalem Bible–Study Edition (2019), 941
When we add Jeremiah 18:1-14 to the mix, we add another element: We belong to God, not ourselves. We–individually and collectively, ought to allow God to shape us. That is one of our responsibilities.
Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance in the Bible. Also, repentance can stave off judgment, sometimes, at least. Furthermore, punishment can be discipline, as a parent disciplines a child. And one, such as the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, may understand suffering as a form of discipline.
Hebrews 12:5-11 borrows from Proverbs 3:11-12 to address the suffering of the audience familiar with persecution. Keep the faith, the Letter to the Hebrews teaches. The text even uses the language of “sons” from Proverbs 3:11-12. The germane Greek word in Hebrews translates literally as “sons,” not “children.” This is consistent with the Pauline theology of sonship of God, although St. Paul the Apostle neither dictated nor wrote the Letter to the Hebrews. The reference to “sons” is crucial and specific to the culture. It is a reference to heirs, for sons inherited; daughters did not. Specifically, legitimate sons inherited.
The Jerusalem Bible (1966) gets to the point in 12:8:
If you were not getting this training, as all of you are, then you would not be sons but bastards.
Suffering as spiritual training may be a difficult idea to accept. Nevertheless, if one professes to be a Christian, one claims to follow Jesus, who suffered greatly, especially during Holy Week. As Daniel Berrigan (1921-2016), who suffered unjustly at the hands of the United States federal government for practicing his Christian faith observed, those who follow Jesus must
look good on wood.
So, we have two sides of our calling from God in Christ:
- To share in divine creative power and care of creation, and
- To look good on wood.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) wrote that when Jesus calls a man to follow him, Christ bids that man to come and die. A servant is not greater than the master.
Welcome to Holy Week.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 8, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT THORFINN OF HAMAR, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF A. J. MUSTE, DUTCH-AMERICAN MINISTER, LABOR ACTIVIST, AND PACIFIST
THE FEAST OF ARCHANGELO CORELLI, ROMAN CATHOLIC MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF NICOLAUS COPERNICUS AND GALILEO GALILEI, SCIENTISTS
THE FEAST OF HARRIET BEDELL, EPISCOPAL DEACONESS AND MISSIONARY
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Above: Ecce Homo, by Luca Giordano
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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The Assigned Readings:
Procession of the Palms
John 12:12-16
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Liturgy of the Word
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:1-13
John 19:1-42
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I offer, O reader, a few thoughts I hope will prove useful to you. They, nevertheless, can never match the power of the assigned portions of scripture.
Inserting oneself into a Biblical story can be helpful. Ask yourself, O reader,
Who would I have been in this story? What would I have said or done?
The answer may be either pleasant or distressing.
We know from psychology and sociology, as well as from experience, that people will commit some actions and utter some words in a crowd they will not do alone. The group dynamic and the pressure to conform are powerful. Satirists, such as the Yes Men and Sacha Baron Cohen, know this. They use it to peal back the masks concealing the ugly, dark side of human nature, often to the displeasure of their subjects.
Ask yourself, O reader, how easily you, in a world, would have joined in the cry,
Crucify him!
Then ask yourself if you would, a few days earlier, in a different crowd, just as easily have shouted,
Hosanna!
What do your honest answers reveal about you?
Peer pressure has a relatively weak pull on me. I have spent my life resisting peer pressure. Some of my fellow students (my “peers”) bullied me for this reason when I was a youth in public schools in southern Georgia, U.S.A. Some people still criticize me for being rebellious in this way. That is their failing, not mine. “Conformity” is the most profane word in the English language.
Despite my rebellious ways regarding peer pressure, I am not immune to it. I cannot honestly tell you, O reader, that I know I would have resisted the peer pressure to shout,
Crucify him!
That disturbs me.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 8, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT THORFINN OF HAMAR, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF A. J. MUSTE, DUTCH-AMERICAN MINISTER, LABOR ACTIVIST, AND PACIFIST
THE FEAST OF ARCHANGELO CORELLI, ROMAN CATHOLIC MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF NICOLAUS COPERNICUS AND GALILEO GALILEI, SCIENTISTS
THE FEAST OF HARRIET BEDELL, EPISCOPAL DEACONESS AND MISSIONARY
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2021/01/08/devotion-for-palm-passion-sunday-year-d-humes/
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Above: Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
Image in the Public Domain
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For Palm Sunday, Year 1
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Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)
Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)
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Almighty and Everlasting God, who hast sent thy Son, our Savior Jesus Christ,
to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross,
that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility;
mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of his patience,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—The Book of Worship (1947), 157
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Zechariah 9:9-14
Psalm 24
Galatians 2:16-21 or 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 19:29-44
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The readings for Palm Sunday, taken together, present a contrast between expectations and immediate reality.
The prophecy in Zechariah 9:9-14 is of the Messiah returning on the Day of the Lord. (The text was surely in the minds of many supporters and opponents of Jesus during the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Jesus was NOT keeping a low profile. The week of Passover was a dangerous time not to keep a low profile in Roman-occupied Jerusalem.)
Psalm 24 is a liturgical text for the procession of the Ark of the Covenant. The text contains parts for two alternating choirs. Perhaps one could not get more triumphant than such a formal procession for a very long time, certainly pre-Easter 29 C.E. or so.
Yet the Romans remained in power for centuries after that day. In that manner, they won, or seemed to win. On the other hand, Jesus did not remain dead for long. In that regard, the Roman Empire lost.
If one answers that all Jews of the time shared one Messianic hope, one errs. Choose any population, O reader; you will find variation within it. Nevertheless, if one thinks that the expectation that the Messiah would be a conquering hero was commonplace, one is correct. This commonplace idea of Messiahship is one against which the Gospel of Mark argues.
What kind of king is Jesus? He is not the conquering hero. And as Bishop N. T. Wright points out, Yahweh will be the king after the end of this age. Jesus is the king of salvation, but Yahweh is the king of the ages. The Western Church even observes Christ the King Sunday.
I understand the appeal of Messiah as conquering hero. I also know one finds it in certain prophecies, including Zechariah 9:9-14. That must wait, however. For now, we have the Prince of Peace, who laid down his life to a violent power.
Does God confuse us by defying our expectations at times or even most of the time? If so, we stand in the company of a myriad. We can argue with God’s choices or we can revel in them, if not understand them.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 29, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR C
THE FEAST OF CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD, COMPOSER, ORGANIST, AND CONDUCTOR
THE FEAST OF DORA GREENWELL, POET AND DEVOTIONAL WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN KEBLE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND POET
THE FEAST OF SAINTS JONAS AND BARACHISUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 327
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Above: A Crucifix
Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor
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The Collect:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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The Assigned Readings:
Liturgy of the Palms:
Luke 19:28-44
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Liturgy of the Word:
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:1-13
Luke 23:1-56
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Some texts are standard for Palm/Passion Sunday on the Humes lectionary. The account of the Triumphal Entry varies from year to year; each of the four versions gets its year. Likewise, the Gospel reading varies each year. It is always the Passion, though. The readings from Psalm 31, Psalm 118, Isaiah 50, and Philippians 2 are evergreen, though.
I focus on Luke 23:1-56 in this post.
The Gospel of Luke hits us over the head with Jesus’s innocence. Christ’s innocence is a theme in 23:4, 14-15, 22, 40-42, and 47. Whenever the Bible keeps repeating a theme, we need to pay attention to that theme.
The execution of Jesus was a travesty and an example of judicial murder.
There is an interesting moral and legal question: Is it better for a court to convict an innocent person or to acquit a guilty person? The answer is obvious: the latter. Innocence should always lead to the absence of a conviction, incarceration, and execution. I gaze with moral horror at those who would ever approve of convicting any innocent person.
The crucifixion of Jesus has more than one meaning. It is, for example, a component of the atonement; the resurrection equals the final act. The crucifixion of Christ should also spur us on to affirm that convicting and punishing the innocent is never acceptable.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 29, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR C
THE FEAST OF CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD, COMPOSER, ORGANIST, AND CONDUCTOR
THE FEAST OF DORA GREENWELL, POET AND DEVOTIONAL WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN KEBLE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND POET
THE FEAST OF SAINTS JONAS AND BARACHISUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 327
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2020/03/29/devotion-for-palm-passion-sunday-year-c-humes/
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Above: Triumphal Entry
Image in the Public Domain
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For Palm Sunday, Year 2, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970
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Almighty and everliving God, who gave thy Son to be a leader and servant of men:
grant that as he entered Jerusalem to suffer and die for us,
we may enter his world, follow his example, and, by his power,
live in obedience to thee; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 121
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Zechariah 9:8-10
Hebrews 12:1-6
Luke 19:29-44
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The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem was an overtly political act with apocalyptic overtones. He looked like the ideal Davidic king, who had already won, arriving for negotiations after a battle. Romans may not have noticed the symbolism, but Temple officials were far from oblivious to it.
The old Presbyterian lectionary, by focusing on Palm Sunday, not Passion Sunday, permits us to focus on the Triumphal Entry, not treat it like a prologue to a Passion Narrative. This narrow focus lets helps us to ponder whether we think of Jesus as a threat. If we do, we need to take that sin to him and surrender it. The portrayal of Jesus in the Gospels is of him as, among other things, an instigator and a trouble-maker for God.
Consider a hypothetical question, O reader. Suppose your church is seeking a new priest or pastor. One candidate stands out. He or she argues with ecclesiastical authorities, dines frequently with disreputable people, has questionable credentials, transgresses societal norms often, and runs afoul of political authorities habitually. Is he or she a feasible applicant for the job?
Think about it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 25, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT WILLIAM OF VERCELLI, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT; AND SAINT JOHN OF MATERA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT DOMINGO HENARES DE ZAFIRA CUBERO, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF PHUNHAY, VIETNAM, AND MARTYR; SAINT PHANXICÔ DO VAN CHIEU, VIETNAMESE ROMAN CATHOLIC CATECHIST AND MARTYR; AND SAINT CLEMENTE IGNACIO DELGADO CEBRIÁN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP AND MARTYR IN VIETNAM
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Above: Icon of the Crucifixion
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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The Assigned Readings:
Liturgy of the Palms:
Mark 11:1-11
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Liturgy of the Word:
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:1-13
Mark 15:1-47
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The two options for this Sunday are to focus on the Triumphal Entry and to treat it as the précis of Holy Week through Good Friday. The Humes lectionary follows the second path.
Devotions for Palm/Passion Sunday have something in common with graduation speeches; they risk all sounding the same. I, having written many devotions for Palm/Passion Sunday, know how little one can write for this day without becoming repetitive.
Therefore, I ask you, O reader, to do something perhaps difficult for you. Read all the assigned readings aloud or listen attentively while someone else reads them. Experience these texts as most people who have experienced them have done so–audibly. Focus not on any particular line or on a few verses, but on the whole. As you listen, let the texts form you. Then go and live and think accordingly.
Pax vobiscum!
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 25, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT WILLIAM OF VERCELLI, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT; AND SAINT JOHN OF MATERA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT DOMINGO HENARES DE ZAFIRA CUBERO, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF PHUNHAY, VIETNAM, AND MARTYR; SAINT PHANXICÔ DO VAN CHIEU, VIETNAMESE ROMAN CATHOLIC CATECHIST AND MARTYR; AND SAINT CLEMENTE IGNACIO DELGADO CEBRIÁN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP AND MARTYR IN VIETNAM
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2019/06/25/devotion-for-palm-passion-sunday-year-b-humes/
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Above: Triumphal Entry
Image in the Public Domain
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For Palm Sunday, Year 1, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970
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Almighty and everliving God, who gave thy Son to be a leader and servant of men:
grant that as he entered Jerusalem to suffer and die for us,
we may enter his world, follow his example, and, by his power,
live in obedience to thee; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 121
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Isaiah 59:14-21
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Mark 11:1-11
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In Christian tradition there are two ways of handling the Sunday prior to Easter. One is to make it, for lack of a better term, the Reader’s Digest condensed book version of Holy Week through Good Friday. In this practice the Sunday is the Sunday of the Passion. The old Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970 follows the other option–Palm Sunday.
The imagery of God, victorious and just, in Isaiah 59, is powerful. The passage, set amid disappointment after exiles have returned to their ancestral homeland and not found the promised paradise, follows condemnation of faithlessness and injustice earlier in the chapter. To quote a note from The Jewish Study Bible–Second Edition (2014),
God brings justice, which is good news for the faithful and dreadful news for everyone else.
–884
Jews living in their Roman-occupied homeland must have felt as if they were in a sort of exile. This must have been especially true at Passover, the annual celebration of the Exodus from Egypt, and the commemoration of their independence. Jesus looked like the victorious messianic monarch of Zechariah 9:9-17 to many people as he entered Jerusalem as part of a counter-parade–not the Roman military parade into the city.
He was not that kind of king, though, as he said.
God brings justice for the faithful. Sometimes this entails extravagant mercy, even for the purpose of repentance At the same time this constitutes catastrophe for others. Why God throws the book, so to speak, at some enemies and converts others may prove to be confusing. Yet divine judgment is superior to human judgment.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 13, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF HENRY MARTYN DEXTER, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HISTORIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT ABBO OF FLEURY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT BRICE OF TOURS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS TAVELIC AND HIS COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS
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Above: Triumphal Entry
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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The Assigned Readings:
Liturgy of the Palms:
Matthew 21:1-11
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Eucharistic Liturgy:
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:1-13
Matthew 27:1-66
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Rejoice, heart and soul, daughter of Zion!
Shout with gladness, daughter of Jerusalem!
See now, your king comes to you;
he is victorious, he is triumphant,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
He will banish chariots from Ephraim
and horses from Jerusalem;
the bow of war will be banished.
He will proclaim peace for the nations.
His empire shall stretch from sea to sea,
from the River to the ends of the earth.
–Zechariah 9:9–10, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
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The author of the Gospel of Matthew invoked that image of the triumphant Messiah on the Day of the Lord when crafting the account of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The procession was just one parade into the city that day; there was also a Roman military parade. The separation of religion, state, and oppression did not exist, especially in Jerusalem during the time of Passover, the annual celebration of God’s deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. At the first Passover animal blood prompted the angel of death to pass over the Hebrew homes and delivered Hebrews from the consequences of sins of Egyptians.
Two of the assigned readings seem ironic on Palm/Passion Sunday. Isaiah 50:4-11, set in the context of the latter days of the Babylonian Exile, teaches that (1) the Hebrew nation’s suffering was just, and (2) righteous exiles accepted that. Yet we Christians hold that Jesus was blameless, without sin. The suffering author of Psalm 31 ultimately affirms trust in God. Yet we read in Matthew 27 that Jesus perceived that God had forsaken him. My analysis is twofold: (1) Many passages of scripture prove to be appropriate for a variety of circumstances, and (2) much of the Biblical narrative is paradoxical.
Philippians 2 and Matthew 27, taken together, affirm the humility and obedience of Jesus. We should follow Christ’s example, we read in Philippians 2. That is a high calling, and perhaps a fatal one.
The vision of Zechariah 9:9-10 has yet to become reality. Until then we must trust in God, despite how foolish doing so might seem, and persevere in humility and obedience to God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 25, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BEDE OF JARROW, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND FATHER OF ENGLISH HISTORY
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALDHELM OF SHERBORNE, POET, LITERARY SCHOLAR, ABBOT OF MALMESBURY, AND BISHOP OF SHERBORNE
THE FEAST OF SAINT MADELEINE-SOPHIE BARAT, FOUNDRESS OF THE SOCIETY OF THE SACRED HEART; AND ROSE PHILIPPINE DUCHESNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN AND MISSIONARY
THE FEAST OF SAINT MYKOLA TSEHELSKYI, UKRAINIAN GREEK CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2018/05/25/devotion-for-the-sunday-of-the-passion-palm-sunday-year-a-humes/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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