Mark 11:1-10
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week, I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Gospel reading for Sunday, December 3 comes from Mark chapter 11, verses one through 10. Now, when they drew nearer to Jerusalem, to Bethpage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of His disciples and said to them, Go into the village in front of you. And immediately as you enter it, you will find a cult tide on which no one has ever said, Untie it and bring it if anyone says to you, why are you doing this? Say, the Lord has needed it. And we'll send it back here immediately. And they went away and found a colt tied at his door outside in the street. And they untied it. And some of those standing there said to him, What are you doing untying the colt. And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the cult to Jesus and through their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut out from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting Hosanna bless it is he who comes in the name of the Lord bless it is the coming kingdom of our father, David Hosanna, in the highest urines the reading this reading for the first Sunday in Advent is one of the two options. There's another option where Jesus in Mark chapter 13, talks about the coming destruction and his return, and all the signs and powers and says Be ready. Stay awake. And so it's interesting that our lectionary gives us two options. One that is about the first coming of Jesus into Jerusalem, where he rides in under donkey, and one that is about the second coming when he's no longer on a donkey but with power, and on the clouds with might. Fascinating contrast there. But I chose to work on Mark chapter 11. So this is the very famous story. And what is interesting is we often read the Matthew account. And we're used to that from our John from the from Palm Sunday, when we celebrate Jesus entering into Jerusalem. And this one's a little different. This is the one from Mark. So Jesus sends two of his disciples in and they go into the village outside of Bethpage and Bethany. And as soon as they walk in, they're supposed to untie a colt, which of course, is stealing, right? And so it's obvious that somebody who's like, wait a second, what are you doing, you just walked in and you're stealing a donkey? Jesus is prepared for this. He says, No, it's not going to be stealing. What you're going to do is say, The Lord needs it. So they walk in, they they do this, they untie the Colt. The, the passers by are all like, wait a second, don't steal that guy's donkey. And they go, The Lord needs it. And so they they are allowed. So they bring the Colt out to Jesus, and they throw their cloaks on it. And he comes in, and the they cut leafy branches, it says this is not palm branches, but leafy branches from the fields, and they put them on the road. And I'd say Hosanna Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord bless it is the coming kingdom of our father, David Hosanna, in the highest. I think the most fascinating part about this is not everything that happened before, but the differences of the way Mark records this. So we go Hosanna Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. That's pretty standard, right? Hosanna means save us. And they're shouting, bless. It is he who comes in the name of the Lord, that is Jesus who's coming in the name of the Lord into the city of Jerusalem. One of the things that I love is that in the Lutheran church we often sing, sing that phrase, when Jesus comes down to be in the holy communion with his body and blood. We have this song called the song tus, which begins with holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth. Heaven and earth are full of your glory which comes from Isaiah, Isaiah as in the Holy of Holies. And he sees the presence of God and the seraphim are up Love him singing that song. And then we transition to this one, where we say Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest. Which means that we get to celebrate a coming of Jesus every single Sunday, when we we do this when we have Christ coming in his body and his blood, and sort of teleports us into this moment, when everybody is coming and seeing Jesus enter into the city. And then we look up at the altar. And we we know by faith that Jesus is descending from heaven, into the bread and wine to be one with us. Now, the next thing that cry out is Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. That's an interesting phrase. We don't see that one. And the other passages that we're not used to this one. So it's a blessing. We're excited about the coming kingdom of our father, David. So David had lots of promises. David was the one who was chosen that on the throne of Israel, there would be a King forever from David's line. And we saw that in the in the families of the nation of Judah is that David's kids, father to son was passed down this promise, and they were the kings all the way up until the Babylonian exile. And now, Jesus, the son of David reckoned through Joseph is coming as the king of Israel. And so what the people are seeing is they're recognizing in Jesus, the coming Kingdom of the father, David, the one that was promised, all the way back when David was chosen by God. And we see that in Jesus, and His Kingdom is different because he's on a donkey, instead of a war horse, he's not in front of an army, but a cheering crowd. And he conquers by going to a cross and dying, and then rising and ascending into heaven. Now, they didn't know it at the time, that the coming Kingdom of the Father would look the way that it does, that it's a King Who reigns from heaven and descends to his people in his body and blood. And that we're also looking forward when that kingdom is established forever and revealed fully on the last day. So we know that we are in God's kingdom now that he reigns over his church from his throne in heaven. And we are also waiting for the glorious coming kingdom of our father David, when Jesus returned, this passage leading into Jerusalem Jesus's entry focuses in on the hidden nests of his kingdom now, as he enters into our hearts and joins with us. The passage that is the other reading focuses on the glory of the coming Christ, and what we are to do as we wait, but the one we're looking at, we praise God for the gift that he gives us that he's given us, Christ and the kingdom right now. That's all I have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai