Description
The story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of his final week is such a well-known one that it’s hard not to get the different versions conflated and mixed up. In his usual brief style, Mark draws us into the action immediately.
Choosing carefully the passages from the Hebrew Scripture he alludes to, Mark has the crowd hail Jesus as the one who “comes in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 118:9). They then cry “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David”, rather than calling him the “Son of David” as Matthew’s gospel does (Matthew 21:9).
I wonder how we make sense of this strange story in our very different times? It would indeed be unusual for someone to enter a city on a donkey today. We probably don’t even understand that an ancient city was surrounded by a wall, and that to enter it one had to pass through a gate. Artist Stanley Spencer, in a painting for his local church in the early 20th century, created this strange work where the crowds are dressed as school children behind the school gates, some running alongside him enthusiastically. I wonder how we would tell this story in the early 21st century?
This resource includes a drama and several activities that can be used in different ways. You may use the ‘donkey’ and ‘palm branch prayers’ as stations preceding worship and then use them as part of the drama telling the story as a whole community together. Alternatively, the prayers could be used as Prayers of the People in response to the story.
However you choose to use these resources this week, I pray that they will be a blessing in helping you to worship God creatively and intergenerationally!
