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[RCL] Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 71:1-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; John 12:20-36 “When wilt thou save the people? O God of mercy, when? Not kings and lords, but nations, Not thrones and crowns, but men… God save the people.” Famous words, not from the Gospel of John, but from the Stephen Schwartz musical, Godspell. Palm Sunday. It…
RCL: Isaiah 50:4-9; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 14:1-15:47 Isaiah 50:4-9 Biblical scholars largely place this passage within what is called “Deutero-Isaiah,” the second of three movements in the Book of Isaiah dating to the end of the Babylonian Exile or the early post-exilic period. The passage contains the third of Isaiah’s four songs about…
RCL: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 14:1-15:47 or Mark 15:1-39, [40-47] Isaiah 50:4-9a This passage is from what scholars call “Second Isaiah,” written while the people of Israel were living in exile in Babylon. This text is one of the “servant songs,” speaking of God’s servant, called to gather the exiled people back…
RCL: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 14:1-15:47or Mark 15:1-39, [40-47] With so much going on in the world, it may seem almost silly to insist on giving so much time and energy to the religious observance of Holy Week. This is especially true when one considers that so many people around us may…
Isaiah 50:4-9a As we begin Holy Week, this passage in Isaiah reminds us of God’s help in times of distress. This passage was likely written during the time of Babylonian exile in the 6th Century BC—a time of great suffering and disorientation for the Israelites. Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion would have been similarly devastating…
How did this happen? How did Jesus’ life of peace end in such a violent death? We stand at the edge of this moment, looking on in horror and confusion — just as Jesus’ followers did on the day he was crucified. The violence we have seen is numbing: it robs us of the ability…
Isaiah 50:4-9a Palm Sunday is the transition point between Lent and Holy Week, making it a particularly fitting time to reflect upon one’s relationship with God. The prophet Isaiah beseeched the people of God again and again to attend to their relationship with God, yet throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites struggled. They struggled because…
The story just proclaimed presents Jesus as mocked three times, by three different groups: first, the religious authorities; then the secular authorities; and finally, the ordinary people, the crowd. These instances of mockery have unexpected results. The pretensions of each group are dismantled. The stage is cleared of rivals, and the true king is enthroned….
It is often questioned why Palm Sunday is also the Sunday of the Passion. What starts off as what is sometimes called the “Triumphal Entry” to Jerusalem at the beginning of the Liturgy seems to race all the way forward to Good Friday by the end of the liturgy of the Word. The stock answer,…
What words can one utter after the reading of this gospel? The most dramatic events in all creation are recounted by Mark in his customary simplicity and minimal use of words, but both the telling and the hearing break the heart. We ask: How can people be so cruel? How could the disciples have been…
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