Reflection on Mark 11:1-11; Psalm 118:22-29

Palm Sunday: March 20, 2016

Mark 11: 1-11                    Jesus’ Triumphant Entry

Psalm 118: 22-29              The passage around the cries of the people

Mark 11:1-11

Jerusalem was a walled city, set up on a ridge, with a normal population of maybe five thousand.  One end of the city is dominated by the Temple, the House of the Lord, the center of the Jewish religion.  It is Passover, the Festival celebrating the Angel of Death passing over the Jewish houses in Egypt, the houses protected by the blood of the Lamb.  For this Festival, the population of Jerusalem has swollen in size.  Estimates put the population anywhere between fifty and two hundred and fifty thousand people. 

When approaching Jerusalem, coming over the Mount of Olives, between Bethpage and Bethany, the vista of the City suddenly stretches out before you.  Imagine the walled city now stretching several times its usual width under the roofs of tents and temporary shelters.  Similarly, from the City, if a crowd were coming over the Mount, it would look like they appear from nowhere as they come into view.  This is the direction that Jesus chose to approach from for the Triumphal Entry.

This was a Royal Entry, fulfilling the expectations of the Son of David.  He rode upon a colt, but not upon the ground.  The people spread their cloaks and palm branches as a veritable red carpet for Jesus to ride in on.

Consider what their cries are.  They are right and wrong.  Yes, he comes in the name of the Lord.  No, this is not the militarily established kingdom of the King and Warlord David.  It is God’ kingdom.  As Jesus enters on a ‘royal tour’, it says he toured the temple, the house of His Father. 

Psalm 118:22-29

In verse 26 is the line sung out by those greeting Jesus, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”  But the remainder of the passage does not celebrate the kingship of David.  This psalm is not even one that is attributed to being written by David. 

Rather, consider verse 22, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”  In the next chapter of Mark, chapter 12:10, Jesus will speak these words, in reference to himself.  As you read these verses, do you see a different intent then what the people cheering Jesus intended?