Palm Sunday -Holy Week- The Gospel According To Mark

Mar 29, 2026

Welcome to Daily Prayer. This Holy Week we walk with Jesus through the final days leading to the cross and his resurrection. Today we begin with the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Today will include several different Scripture readings to give us a fuller picture of the significance of Palm Sunday.

Two from the Old Testament. Two different readings of the Triumphal Entry and a final reading from the book of Revelation that pictures the final fulfillment of Palm Sunday in the age to come.

As we begin our time today, let’s quiet our hearts and minds before the Lord.

Lord, there is no one like you.

Soften our hearts and open our eyes.

We turn our hearts toward you.

We fix our eyes on you.

O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise.

Psalm 118:1, 22-29

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

the Lord has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes.

The Lord has done it this very day;

let us rejoice today and be glad.

Lord, save us!

Lord, grant us success!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

From the house of the Lord we bless you.

The Lord is God,

and he has made his light shine on us.

With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession

up to the horns of the altar.

You are my God, and I will praise you;

you are my God, and I will exalt you.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

This Psalm is celebrated on Palm Sunday. It is what is proclaimed by the people and it is the truth. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Jesus is the Christ. The one promised by the Father. Sent in fulfillment of his Word.

A Scripture reading from Zachariah 9:9-10

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your king is coming to you;

righteous and having salvation is he,

humble and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

and the war horse from Jerusalem;

and the battle bow shall be cut off,

and he shall speak peace to the nations;

his rule shall be from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

A Scripture reading from Mark 11:1-11:

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “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!” And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

As we listen to the triumphal entry story as told in the Gospel of Luke, listen for the heart and heartbreak of Jesus in the midst of people rejoicing. Listen for the word peace and the tragedy of missed salvation.

Luke 19:37-44

37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Lord Jesus, you are the humble King who rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. You fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah. The crowd fulfilled Psalm 118, the proclamation, “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” The crowds shout “Hosanna” but you know what lies ahead. The rejection, the cross, the hidden things that would bring true peace.

You see the city and wept for what is concealed from their eyes. You weep that they were unwilling to humble themselves and receive what would bring them peace.

Lord Jesus, you are worthy of all praise. Hosanna in the highest.

The book of Revelation pictures the final fulfillment of Palm Sunday in the age to come like this:

“I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10)

Reflection from “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter”:

“The entry into Jerusalem with waving palms was a short lived preview of the eternal palm Sunday that will come but if Jesus had taken his throne on that first day of palms, none of us would ever be robed in white or waving palm of praise in the age to come. There had to be the cross, and that is what the disciples had not yet understood.” (Guthrie, 17)

Lord, help us understand the wisdom and the beauty of the Cross. Teach us to embrace your way as the way of life. We fix our eyes on you.

Go this day in the peace of Christ the King. The one who rode toward the cross for us.

Let’s pray the Lord’s Prayer together as we close:

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

Give us this day our daily bread

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Quote taken from page 17 of “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter” edited by Nancy Guthrie