April 5, 2020 - Palm Sunday, Provoking the Powers

April 5, 2020 PALM SUNDAY For Discussion: 1. Have ever done something deliberately to provoke a reaction in someone (you have!)? What was the response? Did it surprise you or was it what you were aiming for by your action? 2. We can’t control another’s reaction; we can be more aware of how our displayed emotions/action might affect someone though. Before you speak or act, how aware are you of how it may impact another (on a scale of 1-10, 10 being greatest awareness)? 3. Read the two passages. What are some of the actions/reactions that you see? How might you have responded if you were in the groups around the main actors in the passages? 4. Jesus enters the city with actions that provoke different responses; worship of various kinds, disciple’s acts of service, angered leadership (in the rest of Mark 11-14). How do people react to Jesus today when they hear his story? 5. The worship of Jesus was a provocative act, is it still today? Who does it provoke and why? 6. If worship is provoking in its very nature, what does this say about the value and often ignored depth of worship today? 7. How can you worship throughout your day and occasionally offer public worship of Jesus during times of crisis or virus outbreak? PrayeR: Worship is a political, Provoking the Powers act (inside yourself and beyond). This Palm Sunday we are in a whole new world. The politicians are helping, AND helping themselves, to powers they cannot possibly predict the future impact of. We are worshippers; we will worship Jesus or we will worship other things like our false sense of security and peace promised to us by powers to secure their own place in our minds and hearts. Worship of Jesus can break the spell and reveal the real war on the earth today. Mark 11:1-11 (NET Bible) Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King 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?’ say, ‘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 heaven!” Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. Mark 14:3-9 (NET Bible) While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. INTO THE TEXT MARK 11:1-11 Jesus' Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem (Cf. Matthew 21:1-11; Luke 19:29-44; John 12:12-19) Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” BIG IDEA: Jesus provokes reactions in all of us when his presence and story are near us. VV. 1-6 VV. 7-10 Zechariah 9:9, Genesis 49:11 Psalm 118 There are worshippers of political power/identity in security and worshippers of revealed beauty/love. V.11 MARK 14:3-9 The anointing at Bethany NOW WHAT? ▪▪ What are you worshipping? ▪▪ If Jesus, for what reasons? What does your worship of Jesus reveal about your heart and what you place hope in? ▪▪ If not Jesus, can you be honest about what has your heart’s attention? Is it worthy of worship? ▪▪ Politicians often desire our worship...we see them as ultimate powers in our lives. What changes if they are seen as servants of the public instead of holders of power first?