Episcopal Church of the
Incarnation
The Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday) [B]
Isaiah
50.4-9a Psalm 31.9-16 Philippians
2.5-11 Mark 14.1-15.47
The service begins with the Liturgy
of the Palms, which includes Mark 11.1-11.
The themes which recur in Mark’s account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into
1.
2. Jesus’ foreknowledge and lordship are emphasized.
3. Matthew conflates Isaiah 62.11 and Zechariah 9.9, stressing the humility of the King who comes.
4. The “Hosanna” (“Help [or save], I pray!”) cry of the crowd is part of a quotation from Ps. 118.25, 26. Nonetheless, the crowd has a “low” Christology, hailing Jesus as a prophet.
Isaiah 50.4-9a
1) The section is taken from that part of Deutero-Isaiah in which the Servant speaks of his confidence as a prophet.
a) Our translation has the servant say that God has given him the tongue of a “teacher,” but the original Hebrew word is that for “disciple”!
i) The point is, apparently, that those who are disciples of the Lord (i.e., instructed by Him) must also speak for Him, to “sustain the weary”.
2) Like the prophets before him, the servant is ignored and even maltreated.
a) The servant’s face is set “like flint”. This is a frequent image in prophetic literature, cf. Isa. 48.4; Ezek. 3.8-9; Jer. 1.8, 18.
b) The servant is to teach in response to the Lord’s instruction, and yet this meets with resistance. Nonetheless, the servant proceeds in the strength of the Lord.
Psalm 31.9-16
1) The psalm as a whole is an individual lament. Safety and deliverance is to be found in the “hand” (keeping) of the Lord.
2) The psalmist experiences that “fear is all around” (v. 13). The original is rather stronger, “terror is on every side”.
a) Cf. Jer. 20.10. The psalmist here remembers the persecution of the prophet.
Philippians 2.5-11
1) The famous “Christ Hymn” is distinguished by its rhythmic character, use of parallelism (as in the Old Testament, particularly the Psalms), and by the occurrence of rare and uncharacteristic language.
a) This
has led some to believe that the hymn was written originally in Aramaic, and is
older than Paul, having been composed at the very start of the Church in
2) The hymn has a two fold structure, following the introduction in v. 5:
a) Vv. 6-8 describe Christ’s abasement.
b) Vv. 9-11 describe His exaltation.
3) Christ was in the “from of God” (en morphé theou). Morphé denotes the essential mode of being by which the essential character or status of something is known.
a) Christ enjoyed a divine way of being.
4) In His exaltation, Jesus is given dominion over all. This despite His abasement to the lowest form of death, on a cross.
Mark 14.1-15.47
1) Mark’s account of the passion of our Lord can be broken down into broad sections:
a) The plot against Jesus, and His anointing (14.1-11).
b) Arrangements for the Passover meal (14.12-16).
c) The Last Supper (14.17-31).
d) Jesus’
prayer and arrest (
e) The trial before the high priest, and Peter’s denials (14.53-72).
f) The trial before Pilate (15.1-15).
g) The mocking of Jesus (15.16-20).
h) The Crucifixion (15.21-32).
i) The death of Jesus (15.33-39).
j) The burial of Jesus (15.40-47).
2) Mark’s account clearly identifies Jesus as the Messiah, places His death in the context of the Jewish Passover, highlights His self-sacrifice (and how He faced death alone, but sustained by the Father).
3) Jesus’ death is depicted, clearly, as the death of the king of the Jews, in accordance with Old Testament prophecy.
a) The tearing of the Temple veil, and the centurion’s confession that Jesus is the Son of God, confirm that in fulfillment of the O.T., the boundary between the Lord and Gentiles is torn, removed.
i) The veil had separated the “holy of holies” from the people.
ii) The centurion, a Gentile outsider, is the first person to confess who Jesus really is.