Matthew 21:1-11
When they neared Jerusalem, having arrived at Bethphage on Mount Olives, Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: “Go over to the village across from you. You’ll find a donkey tethered there, her colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you’re doing, say, ‘The Master needs them!’ He will send them with you.”This is the full story of what was sketched earlier by the prophet:
Tell Zion’s daughter,
”Look, your king’s on his way,
poised and ready, mounted
On a donkey, on a colt,
foal of a pack animal.”
The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!” “Hosanna in highest heaven!”
As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, “What’s going on here? Who is this?”
The parade crowd answered, “This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth in Galilee.”
March 13th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Jesus rides in on a donkey and un-nerves the whole city. The parade crowd treating Jesus as royalty by laying down their cloaks, yet He arrrives without the pomp and ceremony, on a donkey..I’m not suprised that the crowds were un-nerved.
I wonder how people now would react, in this cynical age would it be seen as a publicity stunt?
The thing is Jesus had the insight that a few hours later the same crowd would turn against Him and condemn Him to death…given that I wouldn’t want a great deal of publicity!
How lonely must Jesus have felt on that trip into Jerusalem…the hypocrisy of the crowd, some simply caught in the emotion on a party, the smiles and laughter that he knew would betray Him.
If it were me, I’d have bottled it, gone in a side entrance, created a side entrance…..i’m good at triying to bottle-out and run away….I think this Lent Jesus is treaching me to get on the donkey again….it’ll be an exciting journey, it’ll be a lonely journey, it’ll be a journey with friends, it’ll be a journey at sometimes I have to make alone with God….but ultimately it is a journey, as was Jesus’, that allows the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan.