Behold, your King is coming to you

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt tied with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

"Tell the daughter of Zion,
'Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.' "

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

"Hosanna to the Son of David!
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'
Hosanna in the highest!"

And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

- Matthew 21:1-11

On Saturday, we read that as Jesus and the disciples went out of Jericho, heading toward Jerusalem, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt tied with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  Today we read of Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  In the Church, this event is celebrated on Palm Sunday.  At this time, says my study bible, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah to deliver them from Roman control, and to reestablish the kingdom of David.  Jesus enters but not as conquering king with a mighty army.  He requests His disciples to find a donkey with a colt.  These two animals, found in Matthew's Gospel, are traditionally seen as representing faithful Jews and Gentiles who are brought together in Christ's Kingdom.  

All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey,  A colt, the foal of a donkey.' "   The daughter of Zion is the Bride of Christ, Jerusalem prefiguring the heavenly Jerusalem with all believers.   The New Jerusalem is His pure Bride (Revelation 21:2).  This entrance into the Holy City, says my study bible, declares the establishment of the Kingdom of God.   The prophecy is taken from Zechariah 9:9.   Christ enters as Prince of Peace, not warrior king.  He is displaying His word that as King He is gentle and lowly of heart, that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:29).

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:   "Hosanna to the Son of David!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Hosanna in the highest!"  And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."   The people spread their clothes did so as paying reverence to a King.  My study bible tells us that the spiritual interpretation of this is the need to lay down our flesh, our very lives, for Christ -- the deepest humility.  The cry of the people is from Psalm 118:25-26, which was associated with messianic expectation.  It is the recitation repeated daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles (or Feast of the Coming Kingdom, Sukkot), and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"

How does Christ enter His Kingdom?  Today's scene of crowds waving palm branches and spreading their clothes teaches us about the welcoming of a King.  The spiritual interpretation of Christ coming into our hearts is an important one, as we come to understand that no matter what else is portrayed here, the King who comes to our hearts is the Bridegroom of the soul, before whom we lay down all that makes up our lives, all that we think we are, and hope to be.  The heavenly Jerusalem is prefigured here, too, as this is the inauguration of a Kingdom that is fulfilled at the end of the age, upon His return, the Second Coming.  His Kingdom, we know, lives within us and among us in this world.  It is present in His Church, His Bride, present in the work of the Spirit, which is "everywhere present and filling all things" (from the Orthodox prayer to the Holy Spirit).  It is important to remember that all of this is in fulfillment of Jewish spiritual heritage, the true search for the Kingdom, the expectations of Messiah.  Today, many of us are tempted to think that liberation is only political, only philosophical, only in an abstract sense.  But none of this understands the power Christ brings into the world as a spiritual force, spiritual realm and reality.  Jesus has told us, "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth," and that "the Father is seeking such to worship Him"  (John 4:23-24).  To worship in spirit and truth, and to acknowledge God as Spirit, isn't just to consider our faith some sort of abstraction of philosophical ideal.  The ancients who welcomed Christ into their hearts and minds were well-steeped in philosophy and abstraction, and political theory!  The Fathers of the Church, those who gave birth to theology, were all trained in the highest educational standards of the classical Hellenistic world, fully knowledgeable of all philosophical schools up until their time, and Christianity shone as a way beyond such thought.  To worship in spirit and in truth is to include all that is true and that serves truth, including philosophy -- but there is more.  There is the reality of spirit -- and the reality of the spiritual kingdom to which we belong.  We enter with our hearts.  The currency of this kingdom is love, the softening of hearts, something that can't happen based only upon ideological or philosophical abstraction.  To stay purely in intellectual capacity is to remain in danger of a hardened heart, or perhaps to find an easy sentimentalism that substitutes for honesty, for seeing what is, including the evil in the world.  To enter into this kingdom we have to be at full capacity:  heart, mind, soul, strength, spirit all engaged.   This consciousness is sometimes called "the mind in the heart," meaning the whole person, more in fact than just emotion and intellect.   There is no substitute.  In this marriage, there is nothing reserved.   There can be no real repentance without this level of engagement:  all "clothes" off, laid at His feet, for a total transformation of all that we are.  Can we engage with the fullness of the heart and find His Spirit that leads us?