This coming Sunday is the sixth Sunday in the Lenten season called Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He said in reply, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!”

The first sign of opposition to Jesus in Jerusalem arises in the response of the Pharisees to the phenomenon of Jesus’ approach to the city.

This coming Sunday is the sixth Sunday in the Lenten season called Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. The kingship motif that is implicit in the details of the processional entrance to this point becomes explicit in the praise of the multitude: “Blessed is the king….”  The verse is drawn from one of the Hallel psalms (Ps 118:26), which was used to welcome pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage festivals. Luke, however, has added both the royal title “the king” and the last couplet. The use of the title contributes to the kingship motif developed by the acclamation of Jesus as the “Son of David” in Jericho (18:38–39), the parable of the greedy and vengeful king (19:11–27), and by the overtones of the entrance procession. The last couplet echoes the words of the heavenly host at Jesus’ birth (2:14). Now, Jesus is hailed as the bringer of “peace in heaven” and “glory in the highest heaven.” Jesus’ reign as king will bring shalom on the earth and glory to God.

This coming Sunday is the sixth Sunday in the Lenten season called Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Each year we read a different gospel at the beginning of this Mass as we follow the Lectionary cycle. Mark, Matthew and Luke all have accounts – John too – and all are similar, none are identical. The differences are sometimes just that, differences, but sometimes there is a point the sacred author is making that is brought out in the differences. In the Lukan account we read:

This coming Sunday is the sixth Sunday in the Lenten season called Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Luke portrays Jesus’ entry into the holy city in four scenes (vv. 28–48), the first two concerned with the acquisition of a colt for the short trip from the Mount of Olives to the city and the entry itself (vv. 28–40). These two serve a common theme—namely, Jesus’ royal personage. As will become evident, the whole process from obtaining a colt to the crowds’ proclaiming Jesus king is wrapped in the eschatological expectation and scriptural allusion (esp. Psalm 118 and Zech 9:9). 

Earlier today a post gave the context of the Lukan narrative in which the entrance into Jerusalem marks the end of the travel dialogue. Every end is then a new beginning and so too here. In the chapters that follow mark a transition in themes that Luke emphasizes: Christology and Discipleship, Division in Israel, and Universal Salvation. The insights are from the scholar Joel Green.

This coming Sunday is the sixth Sunday in the Lenten season called Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. It is often popularly called “Palm Sunday” but it is a Sunday in which there are two gospels proclaimed  (Luke 19:28-40 and 22:14-23:56). At the entrance procession in Year C of the Lectionary, the Lukan account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is read. In the Liturgy of the Word, the Passion Narrative is proclaimed.