the good news is… inspiring us to act
READ
When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Then he 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.
REFLECTION
The account of Jesus entering Jerusalem in Mark’s Gospel reminds us of how Jesus acted in ways that often upended people’s expectations. The crowd welcomes him by spreading cloaks and palm branches on the road, and they announce that he comes in the name of the Lord, that he will renew the promised, coming kingdom of their ancestor David. Exaltation, indeed, but not how the messiah was anticipated. Jesus didn’t arrive like a warrior on a stallion; he sat on a colt, a young, growing horse, perhaps even a bit awkward on its spindly legs. And the kingdom Jesus proclaimed and embodied didn’t privilege the wealthy or powerful or well-connected. It wasn’t a kingdom you could find on any map, with borders to defend by military might. Instead, it was a community of all kinds of people in which the poor are blessed, the alien welcomed, the hungry and thirsty satisfied, the meek and the peacemakers held up as exemplars.
The Bible tells us we are both created in the image of God and simply mortals made of the dust of the earth. Jesus is what that divine image and simple earthiness look like when fully lived out in this world. Just as Jesus walked (and rode) among us in ways that were both regal and humble, full of strength and of peace, so we are called to act in the world as bearers of the divine image, remembering we are dust. Our lives carry meaning as we embody the countercultural good news of the reign of God, creating openhearted communities that live by the vision and values we learn from the humble king Jesus.
Written by Rev. Rop Spach
REFLECT
Jesus’s kingdom has no borders. How, in your daily life, can you help erase borders and barriers in our community and country?