The Exaltation of Christ

Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday is an occasion marked by great and noisy celebration. The crowd exalts Jesus as the military Messiah who will free them from Roman oppression and reestablish the Davidic monarchy. But is Jesus the Messiah they think he is? As we read Mark's account of the triumphal entry against the prophecies of Isaiah Chapters 52 and 53 we find a very different portrait of the Messiah -- one the crowds cannot see, and we find Jesus pursuing not the exaltation of the crowd, but the exaltation of the cross. What does it mean for the cross of Christ to be exalted? And are we ready to peer into the dark brilliance of the atonement? Deacon Lisa Elmers teaches from Mark 11:1-11 and Isaiah 52-53.