Matthew 21:1 -11

Palm Sunday, year A

Questions

1) What struck me about the text? What did I find helpful / interesting / challenging ...

2) Why two donkeys?!

3) Am I more comfortable with the idea that Jesus knew what would happen when the disciples went to get the donkeys in a prophetic way, or if it played out as he had said because it was an ordinary, unsurprising occurrence? How comfortable / uncomfortable do I feel knowing so much of what we read and think we understand is potentially lost in translation?

4) Does the idea that groups of people can potentially dramatically shift their position a scary prospect, or an encouraging / helpful one?

5) We often think of the stories of Holy week as a complete narrative ark: can I imagine how it might have felt to be aware of one small snippet of it without being part of the rest of the story? Does thinking of it in that way shift my own relationship to the individual elements or to the whole?

6) Can I think of times when grand symbolic gestures are valuable ... and times when they are unhelpful? Are there times when quietly getting on it with it is a better choice, or a worse one?