“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of
Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming
to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” –Zechariah
9:9 “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!’ And when
He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, ‘Who is this?’ And
the crowds said, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.’”-Matthew
21:8-11 (ESV).
Throughout
Christendom, the Sunday before Easter is celebrated as Palm Sunday,
commemorating Christ’s notable entry into Jerusalem. All four gospel writers
record what we have come to term Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. I encourage you to read all four accounts in
their entirety: Matthew 21:1-11; Mark
11:1-11; Luke 19:29-44; and John 12:12-19.
In
Christendom, we celebrate “Palm Sunday,” marked by the waving of palm branches. On that day in Jerusalem the jubilant waving
of palm branches and laying of cloaks in the Lord’s path were outward acts declaring
the people’s recognition of to Jesus as King Messiah. Ceremonial waving of palm branches had been
associated with important Jewish victories of the past. Imagine the excitement of the crowd as they anticipated
their long-expected Messiah would soon declare His rule and free them from
Roman oppression.
Jesus rode
on a donkey. That, too, had significant
symbolism. One who rode in triumph on a
lowly donkey brought peace—not war. Of the four gospel writers, Matthew is the
only one who mentions two animals, both the donkey and her colt. We are not to see a problem here, but that
both were brought by the disciples sent to get them. It is fitting to recognize that the donkey
would have walked alongside her unbroken colt to give confidence to the young
animal on whom no one had ever ridden. Jesus
rode on the foal, fulfilling the prophecies given in Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah
9:9: “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, even on a
colt, the foal of a beast of burden’” (quoting Zech 9:9, NAS) .
The shout
of “Hosanna in the highest!” is from Psalm 118:25-26. The translation from the Hebrew (hoshiahna) is rendered “Save us!”: “Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.”
An
atmosphere of celebration and jubilation was everywhere. Noted by the religious authorities whose critical
watch was ever upon the prophet and healer—whom they termed an impostor—they
commented on the commotion at the city gate:
“You
see that you are gaining nothing. Look,
the world has gone after him” (John 9:19). When some
of the Pharisees asked Jesus to rebuke his disciples for the celebration and
demonstration of loyalty their shouts and actions displayed, Jesus told them, “I tell
you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out!” (Luke 19:40). Jesus was referring to the words from
Habakkuk 2:11: “For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the
woodwork respond.”
As we
participate in Palm Sunday, waving palm branches is a reminder to us that the
triumphal entry really happened near the close of Christ’s earthly journey,
just before the Passion Week and His death on the cross. We are likely to view the triumphal entry
into Jerusalem with regret because the ones who cast palm branches and cloaks
before Jesus and cried so fervently, “Hosanna
in the highest!” could so quickly turn against the King of King and Lord of
Lords and cry, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” But we must view His triumphal entry in the
earthly life of our Lord in the perspective of His purpose for coming to
earth. He was, indeed, King of King and
Lord of Lords—but not in the way anticipated.
He was not just for the Jews to be declared their king alone and to
establish His rule in the holy city of Jerusalem. He is indeed the righteous Davidic Messiah
who would “save His people from their sins” (see Mark 8:31, Romans 5:6-8).
His triumph
as Christos, Saviour, Messiah, Emmanuel
was His ultimate purpose: Not just for
the Jews but for everyone who will acknowledge Him as King and Lord, Redeemer
Savior! Not for an age, but for all ages!
Not for an earthly dominion but for the glory of an eternal kingdom! Let us indeed shout “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the
Lord!” --Ethelene Dyer Jones
04.13.2014
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