{"id":766687,"date":"2016-03-20T21:30:05","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T01:30:05","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-06-23T18:08:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:08:55","slug":"bible-study-palm-sunday-c-2016","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-palm-sunday-c-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Palm Sunday (C) – 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Isaiah 50:4-9a<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah is the most-quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament. Its stirring speeches about judgment, exile, and restoration captured the imagination of people during Jesus\u2019 day. Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue, declaring he was fulfilling it. Gospel writers noted that he set his face \u201clike a flint\u201d toward Jerusalem, which is a quotation from our text today. Like the prophet in Isaiah 50, Jesus experienced a confrontation with \u201cadversaries.\u201d He was given over to these adversaries. The cruel soldiers struck him, taunting him, and questioning his prophetic powers. The reference to pulling out his beard led many Christians to believe that the soldiers pulled out Jesus\u2019 beard during the abuse, even though the Gospel writers never mention this detail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I read Isaiah 50 I notice the innocent person\u2019s face. On this face is the tongue of a teacher that spoke words of encouragement to the weary. The ears on this face listen for good words in the morning. But suddenly, cruel hands strike this face. Bones crunch, welts begin to appear. This face\u2019s sacred beard, symbolizing the dignity of manhood, is pulled out like a weed. This face is insulted and spit upon. In spite of this abuse, this face does not turn away in shame or fear. It is set hard like a flint, bearing witness to innocence in the face of condemnation. The face is alone as no one but God stands with him. This face is black and white, male and female, young and old, and it has borne this abuse since the dawn of time. The physical abuse goes hand in hand with unjust accusations of wrongdoing. The courts of the world declare the innocent guilty and the prophets are led away to be killed. No one comes to their aid. Say the name of a modern-day prophet whose face you know because they were killed unjustly. Are Jesus\u2019 followers expected to be prophetic? Are they expected to suffer? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalm 31:9-16 A late-night phone call wakes him up. With a voice groggy from sleep he says, \u201cHello?\u201d \u201cDad? I\u2019m in trouble.\u201d Parents never want to get this call. We dread it, worry about it, and hope it never happens. But sometimes it does. Our child, alone, desperate, and in pain, stirs the strongest feelings in us and we drop everything and help. The Psalmist is calling out to God, like a child in trouble. Sorrow, pain, grief, and a mountain of shame engulf him. He laments his current condition. He pleads for rescue. The Psalmist’s problems are both internal and external. He suffers from inward affliction as his \u201cbones are consumed.\u201d He also suffers from rejection by the community. His own people shame him and seek to eliminate him. God is the only one he trusts. Jesus\u2019 final week is full of passion, full of feeling. The feelings of a lifetime are crystallized in this timeless text. Jesus laments in his final week, blessing this ancient practice. Lament is simply turning suffering into art. In our veteran\u2019s groups, we often have a time of Lament. Veterans will bring poems, songs, or other objects (one brought a crocheted rug he made!) that crystalize their experiences in war.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n