Bible study on Mark 11:1-11

This study can be used by an individual, a small family/household group, or by an online group.

See also our Guidelines for a weekly Bible study including suggestions for adapting it to your context.

Begin with an opening prayer

Jesus, King extraordinary,
you call us to fight with you against the world’s evils,
but you also promise us peace and reconciliation.
As we seek to understand you better,
give us courage to follow your example,
patience to keep working at self-control and peace-making,
and thankful hearts for the power for good your love brings.
Amen.

Read the passage

Consider different ways to read the text. For example, hearing it in more than one version of the Bible.

In an online group, you could share parts between those present, or use/adapt this week’s Share the Word suggestion: Use the Jump to this week's menu on the right to go to Share the Word and scroll down to find the Gospel reading.

Explore and respond to the text

Start by reading the Bible notes below. You may want to read them more than once, or pause after each paragraph to reflect on what you have read.

Bible notes

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.

See also: Scripture in context: Mission and teaching

Covenants and commandments
Ruth Dennigan looks at some Old Testament themes in this issue’s readings.

Reflection

Spend a few moments thinking about what stands out for you from the Bible reading. This idea may help.

What would you do if the king was coming to your local town? How would you prepare? Where would you roll out the red carpet? What would you do to ensure his security, to manage the crowds, to facilitate a welcome? Jesus didn’t engage with any of these things. His entrance was planned to be both low-key and make a statement; his welcome was spontaneous. Where would you have been in this?

Questions for reflection

You may wish to use these questions and the picture to help you think about or discuss issues arising from this week’s Bible passage.

Click on the image to view a larger version
or use the Jump menu to go to This week's images.
For artist's details, see this issue's illustrators.

Questions

What point do you think the cartoonist is making here?
What different kind of king might Jesus have been?
What kind of welcome might Jesus get in today’s world?

A simple activity

An active personal prayer

Give everyone a scrap of coloured material to represent a cloak. Ask them to ponder what they might have been thinking if they had been in the crowd throwing cloaks in front of Jesus. Imagine doing so to be an act of prayer – what might you have been praying for
Coming back to the present, ask: What is on your heart? What do you want to bring to Jesus today?
Then invite everyone to offer those thoughts in prayer, throwing their scrap into a basket at the front, or, more simply, onto the floor.
Invite everyone to say together, ‘Whatever we need, whatever troubles us, whatever we offer, God receives it in love.’

Use the Jump to this week's menu on the right to go to more activities in Explore and respond.

Prayer

Adapt to your local context.

Almighty God, we praise you for calling disciples to follow Jesus, for their lives and their witness, for their successes and failures. We praise you for the way you reveal yourself to us through people and events, through noise and silence, through light and dark. We praise you for revealing yourself to us through Gospel stories, the writings of the prophets and the letters written by your early followers. We praise you for revealing yourself to us in the ordinary events of life and the extraordinary events and encounters that amaze and startle us. For all of this and so much more we praise you, O God; in the name of Jesus, King of kings.
Amen.

Use the Jump to this week's menu on the right to find more prayers, including up-to-date intercessions.

A prayer to end the Bible study

As the crowds gathered to welcome and celebrate the coming kingdom of freedom, peace and justice, so we lay ourselves before our donkey-riding King, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let his vision be our vision, his Kingdom be our kingdom, his call be our call, his journey be our journey, and his life, death and resurrection be our salvation.
Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Amen.