Every Christian has heard the story of Jesus’s “Triumphant Entry”. If you haven’t read it recently you can look it up: Matthew 21:1–11, Mark 11:1–11, Luke 19:28–44, and John 12:12–19. It’s a nice story where Jesus borrows a donkey to ride in to Jerusalem. Where a crowd of people cheer Him and wave palm branches. And where the evil Pharisees get rebuked by Jesus after they get mad at the crowd and tell Jesus to shut them up. And none of that is wrong.
But it misses so much!
Riding the donkey
The story starts with Jesus riding a young donkey in order to fulfill an old testament prophesy.
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Zechariah 9:9
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
To fully understand the significance of this we need to look back at the previous few days of Jesus life to put this in the right context. Let’s go all the way back to Jesus and the disciples visiting Caesarea Philippi. This is where Peter made his declaration of faith and where Jesus said “On this rock I will build my church. And the gates of Hell shall not prevail.”.
- They were there about a week before a few of them went up the mountain (most likely Mount Hermon which they were already at the base of) for the transfiguration. Even assuming they went to a shoulder of the mountain and not the top, that is 17km of walking – not to mention the more than 1,800m of climbing they had to do!
- They then rejoined the other disciples and going the way of Galilee returned to Capernaum. This is another 74 km.
- From there they went to Judea on the other side of the Jordan and then over to Jericho for another 159km.
- Finally they travel another 33km to get to Bethphage.
They are now just outside the border of Jerusalem and 2km from the Temple and Jesus stops them. After walking about 280km in the previous few days NOW Jesus wants a donkey. Why?
What if Jesus rode the donkey all the way from Capernaum? Maybe He is fullfilling the prophecy but maybe He is just a tired traveller. How do you know for sure?
What many Christians don’t know is that the Jews had very distinct borders to their towns. In order to obey the observance of the Sabbath they decided that part of that was limiting the number of steps outside their camp / town. Modern towns in Israel actually have a wire on a pole to mark the exact border. This is called “Eruv”. In Jesus’s time Bethphage was the Eruv (border) of Jerusalem! He literally walked right up to the border and rode the donkey across. He probably got off again after only 100 or 200 meters before continuing to walk to the Temple! By doing this He was very clearly stating that He is the Messiah and was fulfilling the prophesy!
Hosanna and Palm branches
First some history.
Israel had been under oppression from the Seleucids until around 164-160 BC there was a Jewish revolt led by Judah Maccabee and Israel won it’s independence. However, they realized that during the fighting they had missed the feast of Sukkot. Better late than never they said so they celebrated Sukkot anyway. Part of Sukkot involves waiving Palm branches and singing the song called “Hoshia Na” (in English – Hosanna) so these things took on a political meaning. The Palm branch became a symbol of Jewish freedom and independence while Hosanna came to mean “Lord, save us by killing our enemies!”.
Enter the Romans in 63 BC and the Jews are back under oppression. This leads some Jews to form a group called the Zealots. They believed in using force and violence to free Israel from the Romans and killed Romans and collaborators every chance they got. Simply put, they were terrorists. And they took the Palm branch as they’re symbol and Hosanna as their battle cry.
At Passover in 4 BC there was a group of these Zealots waving Palm branches and shouting Hosanna as one they acclaimed as Messiah came into Jerusalem. King Herod could see this from his palace and went to the Romans. Together they came in to Jerusalem and slaughtered thousands. After that, Rome declared waving Palm branches and chanting Hosanna to be a crucifiable offense.
Now we can understand, and maybe even sympathize with, the leaders asking Jesus to shut the crowd up. They don’t want the Romans to come and kill them or the up to 3 million (according to the historian Josephus) people in the city! The crowd there did not understand what Jesus was doing. They still looked to him as a political or military ruler – a King just like David to replaced Herod and the Romans! I believe this is the reason for Jesus crying.
This is not a triumphal entry to Jesus. His heart is breaking as He looks at the crowd who are wanting a military saviour instead of the Messiah that was God’s plan. He knows that many of these and other people will die at the hands of the Romans when they finally get their wish for a war. He wept for them then just as He weeps for us now when we put the desires of our hearts ahead of what God wants.
Jesus, Lamb of God
Lastly there is one more lesson here Christians may not be aware of. Why did Jesus choose that day to go in to Jerusalem? He went in on that day because it was Lamb Selection Day in preparation for Passover! God commanded the Israelites back in Exodus to select a lamb that was perfect and without blemish. They would keep it for four days, when they would then kill and eat it as their Passover lamb. I find it fascinating that on the day that people were choosing their Passover lamb, Jesus the Lamb of God was entering the city and declaring that He is Messiah – in effect saying “Here I am, choose me!”!
What lamb do you choose?
This Easter season ask yourself what lamb have you chosen? Have you chosen the one truly perfect lamb who takes away the sins of the world? Or have you chosen the lamb of Palm branches and Hosannas – your own desires? I pray that each and every one of us would learn to set aside our wants and to desire more the things of God.
Amen and God bless.
One response
I take pleasure in, resulkt in I found exactly what I used to
be having a look for. You have ended my four day lengthy
hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye https://www.waste-ndc.pro/community/profile/tressa79906983/