110417 - Yr A - Palm Sunday

This is Palm Sunday - the start of Holy Week. We'll begin with the psalm, but then move into the gospel reading as well.

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

This is a liturgical psalm that was used during Passover as the priests and people entered the temple to worship (an entrance liturgy - a procession).

The Psalm is filled with verses that have become part of our regular church vocabulary.

• Which verses do you recognize?
• How many hymns borrow from this psalm?

Consider each verse of the psalm one by one.

• What do they mean to you?

118:25 - "save us" = Hosanna!

Matthew 21:1-11

Does anything new or different grab you this time as you read this very familiar story?

The writer of Mattew falls into a trap here. He's trying so hard to connect Jesus to prophecy that he combines two traditions and creates a ridiculous visual image - Jesus riding both a colt and a donkey.

It's a very minimalist version of the story. It doesn't say much beyond reporting Jesus' arrival and reporting that the crowd was abuzz about it.

• What about this entry, do you think, caused "the whole city to be in turmoil"?

(I quite like the interpretation that Jesus' entry was at the same time as the Roman parade at the other end of the city and Jesus' entry stands in stark and pointed contrast to it - two vastly different understandings of real power)

• What "story" is Jesus' "triumphal" entry into Jerusalem telling us? In other words, what's going on metaphorically in the story?
• What if we didn't have Jesus' palm story? Would this psalm be enough to communicate the story?

Read Psalm 24 for added emphasis here.

• What does "enter the gates" mean to you for your faith journey?

Shalom!