Palm Sunday March 2024 Bible notes for adults and young people

Isaiah 50:4-9a

This is the third of the four so-called ‘Servant Songs’ of Isaiah.

Written in the context of exile in Babylon after the people of God have turned away from God, and have lost their freedom and their country as a result, Isaiah looks ahead to a time of restoration. The people, having turned back to God, will return to Jerusalem and, through ‘the Servant’, God will be shown to all people. Across these ‘Servant Songs’ the identity of the Servant moves between being the people of God themselves, a remnant of believers, and a single individual – later thought of as God’s Messiah – who is able to accomplish what the collective people of God were unable to achieve. For this reason these songs, and particularly the last of the four (Isaiah 52:13–53:12), are seen – with hindsight – as referring to Jesus. It would not be difficult to imagine the words of this reading being spoken by Jesus, a king who faces suffering with inner strength, who teaches and encourages, who is humble before God.

Psalm 118:1-2,19-29

A psalm of thanksgiving and praise, these verses might well have been used in a procession at the beginning of an act of worship or travelling through Jerusalem towards the Temple. The people collectively are called to thank God for rescuing and saving them. Underpinning this is the secure knowledge that God is good and is characterised by steadfast love. This is the lens through which Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem is being viewed by the crowd calling out verse 26.

Philippians 2:5-11

Writing to the predominantly Gentile church in Philippi, on the main trade route from Rome to what is now Istanbul, Paul makes explicit that which has been expressed implicitly in the other readings set for today: the humble nature of Jesus the Messiah. This early Christian hymn provides an insight into the way in which Jesus was viewed by the Early Church, some 30 years after the events of today’s Gospel reading. It is a song of two halves. The first describes Jesus’ setting aside of all to which he was entitled as God in order to make himself like us, experiencing the very depths of humanity. The second sets out the consequences of this: in a world where names express one’s character and nature, Jesus’ name is that of someone exalted above all others. This is the kind of king being implied by Isaiah’s Servant Song and Mark’s retelling of the events of Palm Sunday. This is also the kind of disciple Paul urges his readers to strive to be, setting aside themselves in order to look to the interests of each other.

Mark 11:1-11

In their waiting for the fulfilment of the new covenant, and their anticipation of a new leader from God who will set them free in the way they experienced freedom at the Exodus, God’s people have particular ideas about their expected Messiah. Mark writes for a Jewish audience who will be aware of the weight of expectation; he doesn’t explain this but sets out clearly the kind of Messiah he perceives Jesus to be. An animal that is designated to be ridden by a king should not be ridden by anyone else, hence the note that the colt has never been ridden. A military leader would ride a horse, but Jesus rides a colt, a young donkey, as spoken of by Zephaniah, demonstrating that his leadership will not be overthrowing the ruling forces with an army. The spreading of cloaks on the ground was the way in which the people would declare their new king and their allegiance to him – and, by inference, a vote of no confidence in the existing ruler. The waving of palm branches was used in the celebration of victory, and to honour royalty. The shouting of ‘hosanna’ – ‘save!’ – was an expression of both deliverance and praise. The verse from Psalm 118 reinforces this.

Jesus appears in control of this event; he has made the necessary plans and makes this public entry into Jerusalem with the minimum of fuss and in a non-threatening manner. He looks at the Temple, and then leaves without event or challenge. It is the response of the people that raises the stakes here, and this gives us some sense of the volatile situation in Jerusalem ahead of the imminent celebration of the Passover, the ultimate freedom festival recalling the exodus from Egypt.