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Palm Sunday (B)
Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29
Mark 11:1–11
Philippians 2:5-11
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
O give thanks to the Lord ... his steadfast love endures forever.
The above are pivotal statements for understanding this section of Psalm118 and its appointment for Palm Sunday.
The opening four verses of Psalm 118 function as an antiphonal call to worship extolling God’s faithful love. The psalm ends as it began, “O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever.” Verses 5-18 recount the battle of a person (many presume to be the king), who was vindicated by God. The people of Israel enjoy well-being and salvation because of this man and his victory over his enemies.
In verse 19 the celebrating pilgrims reach the Gate of Righteousness or the Gate of Victory through which they pass to enter the temple square. The conquering leader’s enemies underestimated his strength, disregarded him, never realizing that God was on his side. In victory he is the chief cornerstone for God’s purposes and for his people. (The cornerstone metaphor shows up frequently in scripture: Is 28:16-17; Mk 12:10-12; Luke 20:16-18; Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:6). This day of celebration was the Sabbath that God had long before set aside for worship and rejoicing in him. It is not a special day to honor the leader, but the Lord Day’s when God, who acted with vindication, is honored.
“Hosanna” of Matt 21:9 is translated in verse 25 as “Save us.” The acclamation of blessing for “the one who comes in the name of the Lord”(26) acknowledges the leader’s identification with God and with God’s blessing. This is echoed word for word in Matthew. The meaning of the last half of verse 27 is obscure. Verse 28 is likely the confession of faith offered by the vindicated leader.
Psalm 118 is one of the Hallel Psalms (111-118) sung at Passover and at the Feast of Tabernacles. It may have been created for the dedication of the temple. Jesus’ followers would have known the psalm well and found it natural to reinterpret it in light of his teachings about the kingdom of God, his death, and resurrection.
This psalm involves us in movement. A procession fits the movement of this psalm most adequately. If a physical process is not possible, the internal movement of the faithful heart acknowledges God’s work in vindicating the leader. The political ramifications of this psalm’s procession were (and are) immense. To follow a leader vindicated by God, blessed by God, and now a servant of God is to share in the responsibilities of loyalty and service as the leader does. In light of all that vies for our loyalty (e.g., family, work, church responsibilities, civic duty, leisure activities, friendships, etc.) perhaps joining the process of the servant king Jesus will put many things in sharper focus.
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Rebecca Slough
Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem into Jerusalem marks the culmination of his walk on the way (cf. 11:8). Now, two major new themes are struck by the unfolding narrative: Jesus and the temple and Jesus’ Kingship. Both are initiated in this lenten text. For full discussions of these themes, see chs. 9 and 10 in my book, Mark: The Way for All Nations, and in Israel’s Scripture Traditions and the Synoptic Gospels: Story Shaping Story (Hendrickson, 1994), pp. 154-70, 199-215.
While all three Synoptic Gospels quote Psalm 118:25–26 to interpret the triumphal entry and all three conclude with some word about Jesus’ kingship, Mark is most explicit in linking this kingship with David, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David” (v. 10a). But Mark more than any other Gospel is most ambiguous about Jesus’ kingship, as my expositions in the above works demonstrate. It appears to me that this event and text “scares the rabbit out into the bush into the meadow” so it can be tracked. Already in 8:29ff. it is clear that Jesus’ kingship is readily misunderstood. Now, the connection to David is opened up for discussion, and treated more fully, but still ambiguously in 12:35–37, the great riddle about how Jesus can be both David’s son and Lord!?
In Mark alone, Jesus goes to the temple yet that evening, looks around–takes stock, and then determines overnight what must be done the next day. Yes, indeed, Jesus comes into Jerusalem as king, tripping all the lights of messianic hope. But the agenda of transforming those hopes and expectations now gets under way most seriously. Choosing a donkey-colt as the animal of choice gives off the first hint that Davidic royalty will be redefined. Further, connecting “the road” (hodos in v. 8) narratively with the stark discipleship teaching of 8:27–10:52 gives a second signal for those with eyes to see and hears to hear. This too is the way that leads to the cross! The ominous mood of v. 11 is the climactic signal that the inauguration is not what people thought it to be.
Messianic hopes, high and feverish that day, will need to undergo the refiner’s fire. The “coming kingdom of our ancestor David” will become an upside-down kingdom because the King subverts the royal hope. Not Jerusalem, but Galilee, will become in Mark the radiating center of authority and mission post-cross in the glow of resurrection glory.
What kind of King is he? Jesus first followers and we today still seek to understand. Moreover, just when we think we got it right, there is still another surprise—this King who rides on a donkey upon the garments we lay before him. Yet we rightly say, “Hosanna in the highest heaven. … Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” We welcome you, King, who beckons us into your kingdom that ever astounds and surprises.
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Willard M. Swartley
On Palm Sunday Jesus descended the Mount of Olives on a lowly donkey, crossed the Kidron Valley, and then ascended the slope of Mount Zion on his way toward the temple. Jesus’ physical descent and subsequent ascent at the beginning of Passion Week provide a geographic metaphor for his cosmic journey of descent and ascent as portrayed in Philippians 2.
Philippians 2:5-11 is an exalted poetic narrative about Jesus Christ. The story that Paul shares here does not feature Bethlehem and Nazareth nor Jerusalem and Bethany. Rather this narrative describes the pilgrimage of Christ from his pre-existence to his incarnation, including his death on the cross, to his exaltation as risen Lord.
There is a widespread consensus that Paul is quoting an early Christian hymn in honor of Christ. Whether Paul cites an existing hymn or composed it himself, it is clear that he employs this lofty poetic story of the cosmic Christ as part of his pastoral care and admonition addressed to the church at Philippi.
This hymn is framed by pastoral admonitions that relate to the Philippian church situation (2:1-5,12-16). Paul is concerned to point out that the Christian life needs to be grounded in the character of God as revealed in Jesus Christ, his life, and especially his death, and resurrection. Christian relationships also must be shaped by God’s character, by the mindset of Christ: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus ... (2:5)
What are the dimensions of Christ’s journey, his descent and ascent as pre-existent and incarnate and exalted Lord? And what are the correlates for the life of the believer and for the mindset of the Christian community?
- The hymn begins with the prior existence of Christ in the form of God (2:5,6). When seeking to convey the realities glimpsed in the realm of divine mystery, human language fails to communicate adequately. Debates abound concerning the meanings of the complex terms in this part of the poem, but the message is clear enough: Christ’s attitude is characterized as non-grasping and unselfish.
- The hymn continues by describing Christ’s “kenosis” or self-emptying. His mindset moves Christ to demonstrate the depth of God’s love through being poured out, through servanthood, through self-sacrifice for the sake of others, through obedience even unto death on the cross (2:7-8). Again the interpretive issues are complicated, but the import is indisputable: in his incarnation Christ came to identify and to serve. His service took him all the way to the cross.
- The hymn reaches its climax with the acclamation of Christ as Lord (2:9-11). In this way Paul keeps before the Philippians the prospect of God’s ultimate vindication of all who (like Jesus the incarnate Lord) trust God, even when obedience is accompanied by persecution and suffering. Certainly the acknowledgment that some day every knee will bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord must have stuck a responsive chord with believers in Philippi. They were suffering public rejection or overt persecution because of their unwillingness to participate in the civil cult, which called upon the citizens to confess Caesar as Lord. In their worship they celebrated the Lordship of the crucified Christ and were assured in their identification with the Lord Jesus Christ that they too would be vindicated in their faithfulness.
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Jacob W. Elias
