Holy Week in Lent

April 14th, 2025
by Schertz UMC

Bible Study & Questions

This would make a good study to do alone or with a small group.

Read Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

The Passover praise psalm

118:1 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!
118:2 Let Israel say, "His steadfast love endures forever."
118:19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD.
118:20 This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.
118:21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
118:22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
118:23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
118:24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
118:25 Save us, we beseech you, O LORD! O LORD, we beseech you, give us success!
118:26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the house of the LORD.
118:27 The LORD is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.
118:28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you.
118:29 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Read Luke 19:28-40

Entrance into the final days

19:28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
19:29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,
19:30 saying, "Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
19:31 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it.'"
19:32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them.
19:33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"
19:34 They said, "The Lord needs it."
19:35 Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
19:36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.
19:37 Now as he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen,
19:38 saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!"
19:39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop."
19:40 He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out."

Study Questions

Palm/Passion Sunday shines a light on the crowds that shouted, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord” on Sunday and “Crucify him!” just days later. The worship notes for this Sunday remind us that “withineach of us is the capacity to claim Christ and reject him almost at the same time.” Can you think of ways this happens in our lives? [One example: We faithfully attend church on Sundays and just as faithfully avoid the kind of costly discipleship Jesus teaches about in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) on Mondays.]
The Rev. Dr. Rodney Sadler, associate professor at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, offers this observation on today’s reading:
- The people gave their all in joy to pave the way for the coming of the Kingdom. Imagine the type of commitment and the excitement it takes to remove your clothes from your body and cast them in the street. Some of these people were poor and may only have owned one cloak, yet they cast them on the ground so that their new king would have a royal pathway on which to walk.
Sadler raises this question:
- What would this world be like if we were so excited about our relationship with God that we committed all of our time, talent, and treasure to spreading the Gospel, to feeding the inner city poor, to visiting and praying for the sick and shut-in, to comforting the discouraged who struggle with drug abuse and other addictions, to seeking justice for those treated unjustly by the prison system, and to sharing hope with hopeless young men and women?
Jesus enters Jerusalem on a humble colt, promoting an alternative to Pilate’s kingdom of power and violence. Jesus’ kingdom centers on peace and love. How does this alternative kingdom remain a threat to the established powers today? [It challenges government preoccupation with military might and police action as an answer to our problems.]
In Luke 19:39, the Pharisees demand that Jesus get his disciples under control. It brings to mind the late John Lewis’s admonition to ‘get into good trouble, necessary trouble.’ How is this complaint against the disciples a compliment to Jesus’ disciples then and now? [Their devotion to Jesus makes waves and causes a necessary disturbance.]
“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” It is the beginning and concluding refrain in Psalm 118. How does this psalm invite us to embrace radical gratitude and intentional celebration as a cornerstone of our lives? [The psalm focuses on all that God has given us.] What are some practical ways we can incorporate celebration into our daily living?

Prayer

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. (Pause for participants to pray silently.) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. (Pause again for participants to pray silently.) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Posted in Lent
Posted in Holy Week, Bible Study, Steadfast Love