Palm Sunday Pastoral Update 3-28-21

“And he [Jesus] entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve,” (Mark 11:11).

We begin Holy Week this year with the ending of the Palm Sunday reading from the gospel of Mark. We begin with the ending in mind.

The fanfare of the crowds has died away. Jesus has visited the temple. The temple he visited was Israel’s temple. There were other temples as well dedicated to other gods. In Jesus visiting the temple we need to keep in perspective that the temple, Israel’s or temples of other gods, were traditional seats of power. There was no separation of Church and State. Church and state were one-in the same. The king was the son of the gods and the high priest. There was no differentiation like we have in the United States today. With this in mind we return to the opening of the gospel of Mark 1:1 “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

In reading our text from Mark 11:1-11 we need to keep this perspective in mind as we enter into Holy Week.

Please read the following and then answer the questions:

Psalm 1

Mark 11:1-11

Genesis 1:1-2

Who is Jesus Christ for you?