July 18, 2025

Entering Jerusalem

Mark 11:1-11

This passage, which highlights Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, on what we now observe as Palm Sunday, may seem overly familiar to many, especially those who have gone through numerous Lenten seasons.  But there are actually several interesting things to take note of, which together add interest to this story.

The acquiring of the colt is fascinating to me.  How did the steps actually unfold?  If someone came up to you and said that their master needed your car, would you just hand over the keys?  It is curious.  And it has led me to the conclusion that this was in reality all prearranged by Jesus.  Either he himself had set it up, or he had made other arrangements, but the key phrase, the secret password if you will, was, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.”  And indeed, when the owners hear that phrase, they allow the disciples to take the colt.

Jesus then enters the city amidst great acclaim.  The text says that many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches.  The question is, how do we quantify the word “many”?  “Many” could be twenty-five, or it could be two hundred.  We have no way of knowing.  Certainly it would seem that Jesus was better known in the Galilee than in Jerusalem, although word about him had no doubt spread in many directions.  It is just difficult for me to envision this event, or, more accurately, I have several visions of it and don’t know which one is closest to the actual happenings.

As Jesus is riding the colt, and people are spreading cloaks and branches, there is also the shout of, “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 wording echoes Psalm 118:26, which is a Psalm of victory, and may indeed bring out the gathered peoples’ expectation that Jesus is coming as a conquering hero.  As many have pointed out though, the fact that Jesus is riding a colt rather than a horse gives a pretty good indication that he sees this entrance into the city in a way quite different from that of the onlookers.

Finally, Jesus does nothing more here than to go into the temple and look around, saving any other activities for the next day.  He then returns to Bethany for the night, perhaps again staying with his good friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

July 11, 2025

Persistence and Clarity

Mark 10:46-52

There are three things that are particularly striking about this passage.  The first is the persistence of the man who is blind.  He doesn’t give up.  He has obviously heard about Jesus, and he takes advantage of the opportunity to meet Jesus.  When people in the crowd tell him to be quiet, he calls out even louder.  Now why, though, would people discourage him?  Part of it may have been that they had seen him day after day, knew his situation, and figured that there wasn’t any hope for him anyway.  They may also have been pleased that Jesus was visiting their town, and they didn’t want anything to disturb the glory of it.

Jesus, of course, as he often did, has other ideas about how one welcomes people.  He commands the people to bring the man forward, and when Timaeus gets there, Jesus asks him what Timaeus wants Jesus to do.  There is no hesitation.  Timaeus knows exactly what he wants – to see.  That clarity is instructive for us.

So Jesus, who wanted to share his gifts with people, immediately gives sight to Timaeus.  And Timaeus then goes his way.  He doesn’t stand around and think about what else he might get from this amazing man.  He received what he asked for, and he goes away happy.

This brief story shows us so much.  It can be easy to gloss over it as just one more healing by Jesus.  But the persistence of Timaeus, his clarity of what he wants, and Jesus’ gracious sharing of his gifts, all tell us a lot.

July 4, 2025

Serving Others

Mark 10:35-45

James and John, two of the original four disciples whom Jesus called to follow him, come to Jesus with a request, and ask that they be give the honored positions with him when he is glorified.  Now, from the wording, I think that we most often take this to mean that they want to sit on his right and left in the heavenly kingdom.  But, considering that Jesus was often seen as a Messiah who would vanquish the Romans, they might even mean to be right next to him when he ascends to his earthly throne.

Jesus responds to their request by asking if they are capable of following him wholly, implying that this includes whatever trials will come his way, including his own death.  They respond, perhaps without fully understanding what Jesus means, that they can indeed do these things.  He tells them that in fact they will do these things, which I take to mean that they will receive the same fate as he does whether they choose it or not.  But he then says that as far as being on his right and left, that is not his decision.  Presumably he means that it is up to God.

Well, as one might expect, the audacity of these two provokes the resentment of the other ten.  One can hear them – “Who do they think they are?”  Jesus uses this as an opportunity to teach all of the disciples about how following him is different than going about in the ways of the world.  Whereas in the world it is the powerful who are in charge and who rule over others, in the turning-the-world-upside-down view of Jesus it is those who serve others who are the great ones. 

Jesus tells the disciples, and it is a clear message for us today, that if we are to be great in his kingdom, then we are to serve others gladly, even as he came to serve and offer himself to others.