PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Monday

Scripture lesson: Mark 11:1-11 The Irony of Palm Sunday

Time to reflect: More and more the church is recognizing and accepting the irony of Palm Sunday: They were expecting and greeting a King and Savior but when he arrived he didn't look or act like one so they rejected him finally, but in reality he was a king and messiah beyond their wildest imagination. They greeting Jesus with “Hosanna in the highest heaven” then proceeded to call for his execution. Jesus accepted their accolades while knowing what was coming. Despite the big deal of the procession, by the time he gets to the Temple it is too late to do anything, so he just goes back to his apartment.

Moving Through The Day: Think of a time when a “religious high” clouded your vision or interfered with your ongoing faithfulness. (Too often the result of a Evangelical experience of being “born again” results in a feeling of being duped by emotion or a desire to be reborn again and again, looking for the religious adrenaline of these experiences). Differentiate such experiences with times when a religious experience instead moved you toward ongoing faithfulness and strength of faith. What was the difference between the two experiences?

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'

 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
   "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!"

 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.