Tagged: suffering servant

Isaiah 50:4-9a

This text is used for the Lectionary Year C on March 20, 2016.

Isaiah - Marc Chagall
Isaiah – Marc Chagall

This is not your typical Palm Sunday text.  We prefer the celebration. Children waving branches as Jesus, mounted on a donkey, rides into the holy city.  We join the parade singing “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” The congregation knows Good Friday will happen before we meet again.  But on this day, we prefer to celebrate, sing, and dance.

Perhaps, breaking tradition is healthy every so often.  The unwritten question resonating in the background of the Triumphal Entry asks, “Will these same people worship the Jesus on the donkey, when he is hanging on cross?”  “Will they identify with the suffering one, just as they celebrate the one who comes as a king?” “Will we?”  These questions are where Isaiah 50 and the Triumphal Entry find common ground this Palm Sunday.

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