Sunday April 5 Matthew 21:1-11

Greetings, I keep hoping for spring but winter keeps coming back. It seems as I write this every week it is snowing somewhere in Minnesota. Our text for this week covers two chapters of Mark. As it would be too extensive to cover all of that in this study and Sunday is Palm Sunday I will instead go over the text of the Triumphal Entry. What do those palm leaves mean? If you would like notes for this Sunday’s text you may get them off of the crossways website which has a link on the left side of this blog. They are in the podcast PFD file and are very good and extensive for Mark 14:1-15:47. I will be using the text of Matthew 21:1-11. Pastor Reggie will be using the text of Mark 11:1-11 on Sunday. They are the same story.

Jesus’ group is approaching Jerusalem from Jericho where he has healed a blind man. The blind man “saw” who Jesus was without having his sight. He calls Jesus the Son of David which means King. This is the first time that Jesus is called the Son of David in the book of Mark.

A Triumphal entry, in the Old Testament, was made by a victor who had left the battle field, made his way to the city and was about to enter the temple and declare victory for himself and for his god who had battled with him. There would be enthronement as a king and a great banquet of celebration. For the people of Israel, God was their divine warrior and would provide victory in a (holy) war. The entry of Jesus should be viewed against this background of processional motif as he is enacting the role of the divine warrior who makes his way to his holy mount and temple. [The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery] Throughout the gospel texts Jesus has been waging a war against the demonic. His coronation will be the cross. His enthronement will be at Gods’ right hand.

V1 The group reaches Bethphage which is next to Bethany where friends of Jesus live. They are Mary, Martha and Lazarus (whom he has raised from the dead in the book of John). This town marked the limit of a Sabbath day’s journey. The day is a Sunday. These two towns are on the Mount of Olives. Jesus is coming up over the Mount of Olives from the east, the direction the Messiah was to come from. The prophet Ezekiel tells in chapter 10 that as God left the temple before the Babylonians came, He left going out the east gate of the temple and last stood on the Mount of Olives before leaving. Now Jesus is entering in from the east, the Mount of Olives. This fulfills Mark 1:2 from the prophet Malachi 3:1a. “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, now 3:1b is being fulfilled, “and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple”. Jesus is coming to his temple.

V2 He asks some disciples to go ahead and find a donkey, untie it and bring it to him.

V3 He must have prearranged for the use of this donkey and they are instructed to comment the “Lord needs it” if questioned. In Mark this donkey has never been ridden. If a beast was to be used for a sacred purpose it must not have been used for any other purpose.

V4-5 This was significant for two reasons. First, in 1 Kings1:32-34 David had instructed his priest to put his son Solomon on his own mule (donkey) for Solomon’s coronation. This is David’s dynasty restored. This is a king coming; but if a king rode a donkey he came in peace, if he rode a horse he was advancing to war. Jesus is a king coming in peace. Jesus riding into Jerusalem near the time of Passover invoked an image of Messianic expectation. The second reason is that this image would cause the people to remember some of the Old Testament texts, one of which was Zechariah 9:9-10. In these verses Zechariah speaks of their Davidic king coming to them on a donkey and restoring Israel. Israel will then rule all. Also they would recall Zechariah 14:4. On that day the Messiahs’ feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which is in the east. This whole image of Jesus riding in on a donkey from the east would have had such strong Old Testament imagery for the people that excitement would have started to erupt. This was a deliberate claim by Jesus to be the Messiah.

V6 By placing their cloaks on the donkey the disciples would have been paying Jesus royal homage.

V8-9 When they spread their cloaks on the ground they were doing the same thing that the people had done when Jehu was anointed king in 1 Kings 9:13. Others cut branches from trees. Note: it doesn’t say palm but it does say leafy in Mark. This is reminiscent of how Simon Maccabaeus entered Jerusalem one hundred and fifty years earlier after he had fought the Greeks for control of the land, winning the battle. 1 Maccabees 13:51. Two successful men in battle entered Jerusalem in this way to be anointed king. The crowd was whipped into a frenzy. Their king was coming for battle; they would finally be free from gentile oppression. They start to shout Hosanna!! This literally means “Save now” in Hebrew. “Save now”, “Save now” to the Messiah, the Son of David, riding as a great warrior king. Deliver us from exile and oppression!!

They quote Psalm 118:26. “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord”. This was also said to pilgrims when they reached the Temple for the feasts. “The one who comes” was another name for the Messiah. Psalm 118 was probably written to commemorate Judas Maccabaeus winning the battle and purifying the Temple after the Greek ruler Antiocheius had desecrated it by sacrificing a pig on the alter. Later his son Simon was anointed king. This was a conquerors psalm according to William Barclay in his commentary on the gospel of Mark.
Hosanna in the highest heaven meant with the power of God. “Save now with the power of God”. Kenneth Bailey, research professor of Middle Eastern New Testament studies, comments that verses 19-28 of Psalm 118 contains a series of striking features that appear in the triumphal entry.

V10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem from the east the implications were huge and the people were becoming excited. Even if they hadn’t been following Him down the Mount of Olives on His donkey they would have heard the shouting and uproar from the crowds. They would have inquired “Who is coming?” “Who is causing such a stir?”

V11 The people are telling those inquiring; it is Jesus from Nazareth in the Galilee. He is a prophet.

When he entered Jerusalem He didn’t enter through the east gate – the golden gate; but rather went in through the north gate – the sheep gate. In doing so he went by the pool of Bethesda – the sheep pool where the sacrificial lambs were kept in pens. This was significant in the gospel of John as he was the sacrificial lamb and came the way of those lambs.

Jesus came in riding a donkey. The crowds are shouting for deliverance. A mounted donkey meant “I am coming in peace”. The crowds are getting ready to fight a holy war. Jesus is getting ready to be the final sacrifice. The crowds are getting ready for battle. There was a gross misunderstanding between the actions of Jesus and the expectations of the crowds. How many times do we mount up to fight a “holy “war when instead we should be seeking peace and forgiveness? How often do we live in that disconnect?

Peace be upon you, Kim