The ride through Jerusalem
CDC/Elder Gong Wooi Sing/1/4/12
“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” Matthew 21:1-11
Jerusalem is a city surrounded by many hills. The Mount of Olives is immediately east of Jerusalem. Bethany is about 3km from Jerusalem while Bethpage is about 1 mile from Jerusalem. As you go down the Mount of Olives towards Jerusalem, you will pass many olive trees and even part of the garden of Gethsemane. While the term normally used is “going down” to Jerusalem, this is a bit misleading as Jerusalem is also on a hill. As such, you will descend from the Mount of Olives and ascend again towards the holy city.
Bethpage is mainly famous for being the place where Jesus got his donkeys. Bethany on the other hand was a place close to the Lord’s heart. There, He was much loved by His close friends Lazarus, Mary and Martha. It was a place of rest and relaxation for Him, where He could expect a warm meal and fellowship with close friends. 10 years ago, I named the Kota Kemuning group Bethany with the goal of being a place where a stranger would feel at home. Today, the Bethany care group has certainly lived up to its name, being a place of warm fellowship and light banter, especially among the womenfolk.
It was on a Sunday morning that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. Saturday, the previous day was the Sabbath and Friday, the day before, He had the Passover meal with His disciples.
How did Jesus secure the donkeys? Those days, a donkey was like a Mercedes to a farmer. Some think Jesus prearranged for the donkeys while others say it is the Holy Spirit’s work. The important thing is that it took place to fulfill prophecy. Still, one sign is not enough to confirm the Messiah. Not everyone who comes to Jerusalem in a donkey can claim to be the Messiah. There are of course many other prophecies that are needed to be fulfilled to confirm this.
How many donkeys did Jesus ride on? I can’t quite imagine a man riding on two donkeys at the same time. In my recent trip to Israel, we had a very knowledgeable guide who knew the New Testament very well. Once I forgot the proverb “Don’t say things too quickly” and when she was talking about the Eastern gate of the temple, I confused it with the Eastern gate of the city and she promptly corrected me “They don’t allow donkeys in the temple” to much laughter. Regarding the two donkeys, she explained that the people placed cloaks on both the donkeys but the Scripture did not say that Jesus sat on both donkeys. Genesis 49:11 says “He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch”. Jesus rode on a baby donkey, never ridden before. The presence of the other donkey, presumably the colt’s mother, would be calming to the colt.
How did they gather such a large crowd in Jerusalem without any media? Tens of thousands had gathered at that occasion. There are in fact 3 reasons for this. Firstly, it was the time of the Passover. Every Jew must visit Jerusalem 3 times a year and Passover is a favorite time for it is then that the Jews remember their deliverance from Egypt. Passover is something like Independence Day to them. The historian Josephus wrote that while the normal population of Jerusalem was about 100,000, during the Passover, it could swell up to 2 million. Secondly, a lot of them had also come to see Lazarus, whose fame had spread as the guy who had been raised from the dead. Thirdly, the day Jesus rode in was the first day of Nisan where the households were asked to prepare lambs for sacrifice. The High Priest would go out to the surrounding areas to find a spotless lamb and carry it through the Eastern gate of Jerusalem. Jesus must have come in not long after. John the Baptist introduced Jesus as the Lamb that takes away the sin of the people.
What kind of reception was this? It was one fit for a king. Palm fronds are symbolic of victory. The cloaks on the road signifies submission to the king. In the Old Testament after Jehu was anointed by Elisha, the soldiers placed their cloaks on the steps for him to walk up.
The overwhelming welcome showed that the mood of the people. They were emotionally fired up. For over a 100 years, the Jewish people had been conquered and oppressed. Horrendous and terrible atrocities had been inflicted upon them. They really suffered a lot. In Israel, we visited Masaga, a fortress built by King Herod on a precipice at the end of the Dead Sea. It is only about 15 feet above sea level but very high up relationally as the Dead Sea is a 1000 feet below sea level. It was the last stand made by the Jews when the Romans sacked Jerusalem in AD70. It was there that over a 100 Jews killed their own wives and children to spare them being raped and forced to be slaves. Then they drew lots to kill each other. When Israelis go for national service, they say on oath “Masaga must never fall again”.
Imagine how the Jews longed for a Savior. The Christmas song, O come, O come, Emmanuel expresses very well this deep longing. Seeing Jesus fulfilling prophecy by entering through the East gate and riding on a donkey and considering all the great miracles He had done, the people became so excited that Jesus would be the King to overthrow the Romans, free them and restore the glory of Israel. Incidentally, an East gate reference can be seen in Ezekiel 43:1-2 which says “Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory.”
Today, the mood in Israel is great and gungho. They were involved in 5 wars since their were formed again in 1948 and won all of them, some through miraculous circumstances. There are some who even wear T-Shirts in the market that say “America, do not be afraid. Israel is behind you”.
Hosanna, hosanna means “Save us now, save us now”. The Scripture “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” is very popular in worship songs among the Messianic Jews or Jewish Christians. In Matthew 23:39 Jesus says “For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Barukh haba b'Shem Adonai "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." In other words, Jesus was saying “You won’t see Me again until you are ready to welcome Me”.
What was in the mind of the disciples? The mood of the disciples must also have been very upbeat. On the way, James and John were arguing about who was the greatest among the disciples. Even their mother came forward to lobby Jesus for her sons to be seated on his left and right in Heaven.
In Matthew’s account, the Pharisees are not even mentioned. In Luke’s account, it says they were indignant that Jesus was receiving such praise. However, He told them that even if the people did not praise, even the stones would cry out! The Pharisees knew that with Jesus, their popularity was gone, and they were very jealous. They were also perhaps afraid that such fanfare would stir up the Romans in the city. However, the Romans typically would have had a look at Jesus on a donkey and thought it was a big joke. To them, even generals had to come into the city on a tall, white horse.
Jesus knew He was the promised Messiah and set Himself up as Messiah. Earlier, we see that Jesus shunned publicity and asked those He healed to keep quiet about it. Once, when Jesus perceived the people were about to make Him king by force, He departed to the mountains. It was all a matter of timing. Now was the time when publicity was needed. If Jesus were to come and die quietly Christianity would have never taken off so quickly. Imagine if you were a resident in Jerusalem. Emotions were so high that Jesus would be the Messiah and then brought so low when He was humiliated and crucified. Then you would be astonished when you heard that Jesus had resurrected. And then, you heard Peter preaching that powerful message quoting the Scriptures to fit in recent events. Wouldn’t you be an interested listener? 3,000 came to the Lord in a single day. Many would have had an internal tug of war and relooked the Scriptures for themselves.
Jesus had come as the Messiah and not the conquering king this time. The Jews totally misunderstood His mission. They wanted to fit Jesus into a mould of their own making. People felt cheated and this probably caused them to turn and shout for Jesus to be crucified. The Lord however, went into Jerusalem determined to the will of the Father, knowing there was no turning back.
In verse 11, people in the city asked “Who is this?” The crowds gave a seemingly understated answer “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee”. It was a low-key answer. Perhaps, they were afraid to provoke the Pharisees. Galilee and Nazareth were not known to have prophets. Nathaniel expressed surprise that anything good could come out of Nazareth. In Matthew 2:23, Matthew quoted the prophets concerning the Messiah “He will be called a Nazarene.”
In Isaiah 53, the prophecy of Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension is told in amazing accuracy, 100 years before the event. Jesus is truly the Son of the living God. In Revelation 9:7-10, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.””, we see how there will be an eternal Palm Sunday in Heaven.
As we consider Palm Sunday, each one of us will have our own different responses. However, for me, there are 2 main lessons about Christ – His humility and His sacrificial love.
Coming on a colt shows us the Lord’s humble nature for riding on a young donkey was a very humbling things. Earlier in the Beatitudes, Jesus taught, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”. Sir George Allenby, the British General dismounted from his horse when entering Jerusalem in respect for the Lord. “How could I ride a horse into Jerusalem when my Lord rode a donkey?”
Our Lord’s sacrificial love was seen when Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem. He suffered 39 lashes and died the most painful death to show how deep was His love for you and me. In response, it is easy to say “I’ll try to love Him more” but we would do well rather to show kindness to those around us, and be a blessing so that others can know God by showing His love through us.
