March 28, 2021 - Palm Sunday
(Is 50:4-7; Phil 2:6-11; Mk 14:1-15)
Holy Week is a unique time in the church calendar where we are suddenly walking minute by minute with Jesus as he goes through his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Starting today with Palm Sunday, we enter into Jesus’s life in “real time.” The way God works in time during this week can really help us to enter into friendship with Jesus as we walk with him in his sufferings. In Isaiah the people understand themselves as a nation struggling to be faithful to God as they endured the many trials and afflictions that accompanied exile. First, the Servant explains how the Lord has given him “the tongue of those who are taught,” that is he is able to speak words of spiritual encouragement to those who are worn out. He receives this word because he listens to the Lord every morning. Our Psalm reminds us “But you, O Lord, be not far from me; O my help, hasten to aid me.” Paul in Philippians defines Jesus’s story as “V-shaped”; he begins in glory, descends to humiliation and then ascends back to glory. This is a great mystery of our Faith. Jesus “emptied himself” and became fully human while remaining fully God, becoming truly one of us in order that he might save us. Ultimately, Jesus’s act of self-emptying leads to his glorification over all. This reading from Mark on Palm Sunday is one of the longest Gospel readings of the entire liturgical year. It is meant to be a powerful and transformative experience that helps us to walk with Jesus in his suffering. As we stand in awe before the powerful love of our Savior. We rejoice because our King is coming, but weep for what he must endure for our sake.