Holy Week 1.0 : Jesus Enters Jerusalem
Holy Week Blog: Day 1 - Jesus Enters Jerusalem (Triumphal Entry)
(Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19)
They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew 21:7-9
Yesterday, Palm Sunday, was the beginning of what we now refer to as ‘Passion Week’, or Holy Week. The setting is this: Jesus of Nazareth, formerly a carpenter by trade from the rural area of Galilee, has had a three year ministry proclaiming the that the Kingdom of God is at hand. He has gone from obscurity to the heights of popularity, to controversy as the people debated whether he is a prophet, Messiah, or madman. In the weeks leading up to the Triumphal Entry, Jesus had been speaking more openly and clearly with his disciples concerning his coming death, the nature of his kingdom and kingship, and the cost of being his disciple. Many of the crowds had begun to fall away as pressure began to mount from religious and political opposition. But then, during the week before Palm Sunday, as if as an answer to those questioning his authority and kingdom, Jesus raises Lazarus, a man who had been dead for several days, back to life! There are now new whispers and rumors in the region. Surely this is no coincidence, being so close to the time of Passover and so close to the location of Jerusalem and the Temple.
So now, in these passages, we see a triumphal king coming to the capital. But what does it all mean? Well, in those days, it was the custom of any victorious king or general to enter a conquered city on a tall, powerful war horse. This would be a sign of their might and superiority. Instead, here we see Jesus entering the scene on a young donkey, an unmistakable sign of humility and peace. Furthermore, this scene was prophesied by a man named Zechariah about 500 years before (Zechariah 9:9).
The people throwing their cloaks on the road was a declaration of submission and servanthood. Their cloaks were one of their essential items, you didn’t just chuck it on the ground for any reason. But from their actions they are saying, ‘We are your subjects. Walk over us. We submit!’ This is echoed in their words, ‘Hosanna!’ Which would mean, ‘Save us now! Deliver us!’ Not only were the people submitting, but we can see that they were joyfully doing it, by the waving of branches. This was a sign of joy and rejoicing! This was a victory lap for their king! And Jesus is allowing himself to be openly worshipped, since he knows that his time is near, something he had forbidden before (not because he didn’t deserve it, but because the timing had not been fulfilled).
However, as exciting as all that sounds, the people of Jerusalem and Jesus’ own disciples, still had in mind a military victory. A king who would restore the political nation of Israel, not this new kingdom that Jesus kept talking about. And instead of some wild scene of conflict, Jesus simply enters the city, looks around, heads back out to the hillside and weeps over Jerusalem and its population because he knows of the hard times that will be coming to them in a few years, that their Messiah had been in their midst, something they had been waiting for anxiously as a nation since the death of Moses, and they had been completely oblivious.
So reading this account, we see three types of worshippers. I’m challenged and convicted by all three.
Sometimes we say, ‘I call myself a Christian, but I do what I want.’ The crowd that welcomed Christ into their city this Sunday would be voting for his death by Friday. They loved his signs and miracles, but always seemed to shrink away when Jesus described how his disciples were to act. We are saying to ourselves, ’I wanted his salvation, but not his rule.’ Where in our life does our claim that Christ is our ‘Lord’ show it’s evidence (or ‘fruit’)? Do we truly throw down our ‘cloaks’ and say, ‘I am your servant. Do with me what you will. I am not my own, but have been bought with a price. ALL I have is yours.’
Sometimes we say, ‘I worship God, but I don’t know if I know God, or love Him.’ There may be external signs of our ‘citizenship’, good behavior, Biblical knowledge, and morality, but we have no joy in it. This attitude is certainly not cutting down branches and throwing a party when Jesus shows up in our life. And in fact, it can lead to genuine anger or despair when things don’t seem to go our way or make sense. ‘I did all this stuff, where are you in my life right now?!’ This is the ‘do good, to feel good, so God will give you nice things’ lie. The more Jesus repeats that his version of the Kingdom is different than what they have in mind, the more confused the crowds got.
But there is a third way. By the act of the Father’s lifesaving will on our behalf, we may truly worship the real Jesus. We are freed to see the lies that we are believing in both of those two previous attitudes, and we are presented with God’s redeeming alternative. As we will see later this week, on Thursday and Friday, Christ is God’s sacrificial lamb on our behalf that covers our sins. Through Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday, the ultimate piece of the curse is defeated: Death! Through Christ’s ascension, we can truly call him, ‘My Savior! My King!’ and mean it! He is the ‘Son of David’, the true and better King, and he is reigning forever with all authority! Amen!
(Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19)
They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew 21:7-9
Yesterday, Palm Sunday, was the beginning of what we now refer to as ‘Passion Week’, or Holy Week. The setting is this: Jesus of Nazareth, formerly a carpenter by trade from the rural area of Galilee, has had a three year ministry proclaiming the that the Kingdom of God is at hand. He has gone from obscurity to the heights of popularity, to controversy as the people debated whether he is a prophet, Messiah, or madman. In the weeks leading up to the Triumphal Entry, Jesus had been speaking more openly and clearly with his disciples concerning his coming death, the nature of his kingdom and kingship, and the cost of being his disciple. Many of the crowds had begun to fall away as pressure began to mount from religious and political opposition. But then, during the week before Palm Sunday, as if as an answer to those questioning his authority and kingdom, Jesus raises Lazarus, a man who had been dead for several days, back to life! There are now new whispers and rumors in the region. Surely this is no coincidence, being so close to the time of Passover and so close to the location of Jerusalem and the Temple.
So now, in these passages, we see a triumphal king coming to the capital. But what does it all mean? Well, in those days, it was the custom of any victorious king or general to enter a conquered city on a tall, powerful war horse. This would be a sign of their might and superiority. Instead, here we see Jesus entering the scene on a young donkey, an unmistakable sign of humility and peace. Furthermore, this scene was prophesied by a man named Zechariah about 500 years before (Zechariah 9:9).
The people throwing their cloaks on the road was a declaration of submission and servanthood. Their cloaks were one of their essential items, you didn’t just chuck it on the ground for any reason. But from their actions they are saying, ‘We are your subjects. Walk over us. We submit!’ This is echoed in their words, ‘Hosanna!’ Which would mean, ‘Save us now! Deliver us!’ Not only were the people submitting, but we can see that they were joyfully doing it, by the waving of branches. This was a sign of joy and rejoicing! This was a victory lap for their king! And Jesus is allowing himself to be openly worshipped, since he knows that his time is near, something he had forbidden before (not because he didn’t deserve it, but because the timing had not been fulfilled).
However, as exciting as all that sounds, the people of Jerusalem and Jesus’ own disciples, still had in mind a military victory. A king who would restore the political nation of Israel, not this new kingdom that Jesus kept talking about. And instead of some wild scene of conflict, Jesus simply enters the city, looks around, heads back out to the hillside and weeps over Jerusalem and its population because he knows of the hard times that will be coming to them in a few years, that their Messiah had been in their midst, something they had been waiting for anxiously as a nation since the death of Moses, and they had been completely oblivious.
So reading this account, we see three types of worshippers. I’m challenged and convicted by all three.
Sometimes we say, ‘I call myself a Christian, but I do what I want.’ The crowd that welcomed Christ into their city this Sunday would be voting for his death by Friday. They loved his signs and miracles, but always seemed to shrink away when Jesus described how his disciples were to act. We are saying to ourselves, ’I wanted his salvation, but not his rule.’ Where in our life does our claim that Christ is our ‘Lord’ show it’s evidence (or ‘fruit’)? Do we truly throw down our ‘cloaks’ and say, ‘I am your servant. Do with me what you will. I am not my own, but have been bought with a price. ALL I have is yours.’
Sometimes we say, ‘I worship God, but I don’t know if I know God, or love Him.’ There may be external signs of our ‘citizenship’, good behavior, Biblical knowledge, and morality, but we have no joy in it. This attitude is certainly not cutting down branches and throwing a party when Jesus shows up in our life. And in fact, it can lead to genuine anger or despair when things don’t seem to go our way or make sense. ‘I did all this stuff, where are you in my life right now?!’ This is the ‘do good, to feel good, so God will give you nice things’ lie. The more Jesus repeats that his version of the Kingdom is different than what they have in mind, the more confused the crowds got.
But there is a third way. By the act of the Father’s lifesaving will on our behalf, we may truly worship the real Jesus. We are freed to see the lies that we are believing in both of those two previous attitudes, and we are presented with God’s redeeming alternative. As we will see later this week, on Thursday and Friday, Christ is God’s sacrificial lamb on our behalf that covers our sins. Through Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday, the ultimate piece of the curse is defeated: Death! Through Christ’s ascension, we can truly call him, ‘My Savior! My King!’ and mean it! He is the ‘Son of David’, the true and better King, and he is reigning forever with all authority! Amen!
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