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!

 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 their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it.  But some of those who stood there said to them, "What are you doing, loosing the colt?"  And they spoke to them as Jesus 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 1:1-11

Yesterday, we read that Jesus and the disciples to Jericho, on their way through to Jerusalem.  As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you."  And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?"  The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he receive his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

  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 their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it.  But some of those who stood there said to them, "What are you doing, loosing the colt?"  And they spoke to them as Jesus commanded.  So they let them go.   Today's reading gives us the story of Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, which is celebrated by the Church on Palm Sunday (as the people used palm branches in welcome).  This is the entry into Jerusalem as Messiah, even as a king would be welcomed, "the Lord" as His disciples tell the people when they loose the donkey's colt.  At this time in Israel's history, nationalism ran very high in expectation of a liberating Messiah, one who would throw off the Roman occupation and rule as a king of Israel, more powerful than Caesar's forces.    It is in the face of such popular and hoped-for expectation that Jesus rides into Jerusalem -- but His specific preparation to the disciples is for a donkey's colt to ride in on, not a chariot nor a powerful horse.  Coming in from Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, was from the East, as the Messiah was expected to enter into Jerusalem.

 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.   Zechariah 9:9 declares,  “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your King is coming to you;  He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey."  The donkey is an animal signifying the humility of Christ, as opposed to the might of a great horse or chariot -- or accompanying army.  The people who spread their clothes on the road do so as paying reverence to a king.  My study bible says that this is spiritually interpreted as our need to lay down our flesh -- even our lives -- for Christ.  Spiritually, Christ rides into His Kingdom established in the world -- and the promise of the heavenly Jerusalem "with all believers and of His accepting the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride," says my study bible (see Revelation 21:2).

"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.  My study bible tells us that this cry of the people comes from Psalm 118, which was associated with messianic expectation.  It was recited daily at the Feast of Tabernacles (the Feast of the Coming Kingdom) for six days, and then seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means "Save, we pray!"  Jesus, of course, enters the temple as His first act in Jerusalem.  But, telling of the reality of this King and Kingdom, He goes to stay at Bethany on the Mount of Olives, with the other pilgrims who stay on the Mount of Olives for the Passover.  Bethany is also the home of His friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.

Expectations have a strange way to trip us up in life.  Jesus' entry into Jerusalem is probably the most key example of the difference between our own expectations and the promises of God -- what it means to think and live in a way that is truly spiritual, in accordance with the understanding God gives us.  Our worldly expectations always seem to have to do with fame or notoriety, with great power and its effects in a purely material sense.  Naturally, the people of Israel were awaiting a deliverer, a political deliverer, a political liberator with military power and might.  But the holy Kingdom of God inaugurated in and represented by Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey is a far different entity from their expectations.  Despite His displays of holy power, His communication of great righteousness and healing, there is no triumphal entry of troops or of impressive military might.  There is nothing here to suggest a kind of victory that has to do with worldly kings and with emperors.  Jesus enters into Jerusalem on a donkey, truly portraying Himself as the humble servant, the human Jesus, the Son who came to be given to save the world -- and who will be the sacrifice for all on the Cross.  This is the "set-up" for what will be called foolishness to the Greeks or Gentiles, and a stumbling block to the Jews.  If we really follow Him, we may find that in our own lives such patterns may manifest themselves, "fooling" inadvertently, the expectations of others and even, indeed, our own expectations of what God has in mind for us.  Humility will always be emphasized in the life of service to this particular King, bringing us home to what He desires of us, to a heart that loves God without reservation.  In the life of that discipline, those "reservations" will always come to light for us to recognize and to discard in exchange for what God has in mind.  Sometimes we may find that victory doesn't look like what we thought it would, when the victory is in reality a contrite heart, a realization of our own limitations, and a great love of God we can't really explain in ways that suit others or reveal all there is to say within us.  Sometimes "victory" sneaks up on us, in a life that is unexpected, in a position of responsibility we didn't expect at all.  Sometimes victory comes with its price tag of envy and loss of those whom we considered our friends, and even our loved ones.  Whatever it is, God's gifts come in their own way, opening up new doors of understanding, deepening our relationship to what is good, disappointing "worldly" expectations but giving us a better and greater faith in the paradoxical way this Kingdom reveals its truths.  And, true to His word, a greater position requires a greater commitment to our own humility.  Are we there with Him?  Can we go the way forward?  Who can be prepared for what is to come at Jerusalem, for what is to come even after the Passover, and at Pentecost?