Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!

Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples; and He said to them, "Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this? say, 'The Lord has need of it,' and immediately he will send it here."

So they went on their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. But some of those who were there said to them, "What are you doing, loosing the colt?" And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it and He sat on it. And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

"Hosanna!

'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'

Blessed is the kingdom of our father David

That comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest!"

And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.

- Mark 11:1-11

On Saturday, the reading taught us the story of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar. Jesus was passing through Jericho, and Bartimaeus shouted out for His attention, even though he was repeatedly told to keep quiet. "What do you want Me to do for you?" is Jesus' reply. Bartimaeus wishes for his sight. Jesus tells him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." Receiving his sight, Bartimaeus becomes a disciple, following Jesus on the Way to Jerusalem. See Have mercy on me!

Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives . . . This setting is important, and has messianic significance. We have seen how, in the previous reading, Bartimaeus was not told to keep his healing from blindness a secret. Jesus is ready for confrontation, and willingly allows, for the first time, the messianic secret to be exposed. The Mount of Olives and the villages through which Jesus approaches are east of Jerusalem. The mount rises higher than Jerusalem, and popular expectation is that the Messiah will appear and enter Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. So Jesus prepares for the triumphal entry. To enter from the East also has other symbolic significance: when Zechariah (the father of John the Baptist) sings in prophecy, he sings of the "rising sun" of heaven. In the original Greek of the text, the word for this literally the "Eastern" (ἀνατολὴ), meaning the light that comes from the East - and remains an important term for Jesus in hymns and liturgical use.

He sent two of His disciples; and He said to them, "Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. . ." My study bible says here, "Jesus fully understands what He is about to do: He deliberately prepares His entry into Jerusalem as a messianic act, thus challenging the authorities. He also, therefore, makes a statement regarding humility in His Kingdom, for He has just commanded His disciples not to be worldly rulers (10:40-45). He will practice what He preaches. The donkey is a symbol of peace. Jesus comes on a donkey's colt as a Messiah of peace, not on a chariot or war-horse as a political or military deliverer. Using a donkey on which no one has sat is appropriate to the dignity of the messianic entry of Jesus." In a commentary regarding this colt, St. Cyril of Alexandria has written that it is symbol of the "new people" He will bring into His kingdom - young and not broken in. The two disciples bring in "the heathen" (that is, all of us who are not prepared through Jewish heritage) just as they will go out, two by two, into the wide world, with the gospel message. An unbroken colt is yet without a master, a Lord - the symbolism becomes a parable.

"Loose it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this? say, 'The Lord has need of it,' and immediately he will send it here." My study bible notes that there are many in Israel, at this point of His impending entry into Jerusalem, who love and follow Christ. "It is not presumptuous of Jesus to request this colt, for the owner will be told, The Lord needs it -- granting him the privilege of giving to God."

So they went on their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. But some of those who were there said to them, "What are you doing, loosing the colt?" And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it and He sat on it. And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. This story about the colt is a significant one, appearing in all four gospels. John tells us that it is in fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah: "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." It teaches us about Jesus' popularity at this time, and the popular expectations of His ministry, and His messianic identity. He is finally open in declaring Himself. Commentary in the New Oxford Annotated Bible tells us, "Jesus dramatized his offer of himself as the Messiah, putting his emphasis on humility. Like a parable, his action had to be understood and accepted."

Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" My study bible teaches, "An excited crowd acclaims Jesus as messianic King, a dangerous act before the Jewish and Roman authorities. Hosanna (lit. "save now," quoted from Ps. 118:25) was sung at the Passover as a greeting or blessing with messianic significance." Without force, without an army, but with the hearts of many who hope in the promise they see in His ministry, Jesus enters into Jerusalem. It is a state with a complex set of rulers and leadership. There are the Jewish authorities - those parties of the temple and also of Herod and his court. There are also the Roman authorities, whose interest is in keeping the peace in this colony, a possession of Rome and part of Rome's empire. And into this picture - in some sense in our hearts, the center of the world, at the center of the world's history - comes Jesus, on a donkey's colt, with popular support. It is the peaceful Messiah up against the powers of the world.

And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve. Fittingly, He enters into the temple. In some sense, it is an anticlimactic end to the passage for today. There is no speech, no proclamation of some sort of victory, no announcement of the kingdom. Only that Jesus looks around at all things, and "the hour was already late." And He goes with the twelve to Bethany, one of the towns which they have passed through to the east of Jerusalem, for rest.

Jesus knows what He is getting Himself into. He has prepared His disciples for this day. And now that it is here, there is no grand proclamation, no assertion of a heavenly kingdom about to manifest fully on earth -- only the expectations of those who have put their faith in Him. Finally, He is unveiled as Messiah but without force or coercion, only popular acceptance. We will see what is to come. We know what awaits Him. But in some way, the note I quoted from the New Oxford Annotated Bible has it perfectly right - and I might add, the same statement is so true of so much of what we have reported of Jesus' life. We have to approach the story as a parable. It must be understood and accepted. The "march" into Jerusalem, the clothes and the branches, a popular response but done, in some sense, at the last minute, in a kind of makeshift acclaim, a homespun response with what is at hand and what can be immediately gathered - this is the welcome to the One whom we call King of Kings. It is not impressive nor splendid such as would accompany the arrival of a contemporary ruler of this period of history - a Caeasar, a Cleopatra, a Mark Antony. Jesus' triumphal entry is one, instead, that might even open itself to ridicule, had it not been such a popular one (and He will be ridiculed on the Cross). It teaches us that we cannot go by appearances, nor by blind force nor the power of coercion in all its forms - but the real acceptance of this king is in the heart, in the hearts of the people who are prepared for this spontaneous reception and enact it in the ways they can. How it is fitting that Jesus walks into the temple, and "looks around at all things." I see this "parable" of these events as Jesus' walk into our hearts, our center, the place where we worship. We honor Him and let Him in and He will "look at all things" there, and rest and sup with us. But He comes in humility and in forms we may not at all expect, in the homespun welcome of whatever it is we can offer Him in our own humility, whoever we are. He's not going to fight for Jerusalem, or rulership, it is we who must let Him in.