PALM SUNDAY
FIRST READING
Isaiah 50: 4-9a
Our reading is one of several passages in Second Isaiah (Chapters 40-54) about the “Suffering Servant.” Because he attempts to teach God’s word, the Servant is turned upon, cast out, beaten, spit upon (especially Chapter 53). When one looks at the context of these passages, he can have no doubt that their slavery at Babylon and preserved the religion. However, most Christians over the centuries, taking the entire OT as prophetic of Christ, have seen the Servant as representing Jesus. There is justification for such an interpretation in 53: 12: “…he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; Yet he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.”
SECOND READING
Philippians 2: 5-11
This is Paul’s great song of praise and exaltation. In it there is nothing historical except the cross. All is the mystery of our faith.
© Arthur H. Cash