The Lord has need of it

 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 and 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

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples came to Jericho.  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 received 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 and 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.   Today's reading marks the event known as the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  It is celebrated in the Church on Palm Sunday.  My study bible notes that by Christ's time, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah, who would deliver them from Roman control, and reestablish the kingdom of David.  But Christ's ministry has throughout its three year duration always expressed a surprising nature, expressive in His mission of God's loving and saving nature.  Additionally, Jesus has been teaching the disciples all about how power and authority are to be used in His Church, emphasizing humility and service -- and occasions for these teachings have been found throughout the readings that deal with Jesus' travels as He left Galilee for the last time and began what is now understood as His approach to Jerusalem.  The expectations for a political Messiah who would become a great king would be for one with a vast army of horses and chariots, himself riding atop one or the other, symbolic of military might.  But Jesus chooses a the colt of a donkey, humblest of animals, on which to ride into Jerusalem.  My study bible says that this shows He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom.  The donkey is a sign of humility and peace (see Zechariah 9:9).  It is an animal used for every day work and for common travel.  My study bible says that this entrance into the Holy City is a declaration of the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  Moreover it is a promise of Christ's final entry into the heavenly Jerusalem with all believers, and of His accepting the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride (Revelation 21:2).  

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.   My study bible notes that the people spread their clothes before Jesus as paying reverence to a King.  The spiritual interpretation of these acts is that it expresses our need to lay down our flesh, and even the whole of our lives, for Christ.  See also yesterday's reading (above), in which Bartimaeus throws off his garment as he approaches Christ. 

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!"  The shout of the people is taken from Psalm 118:25-26, and was associated with messianic expectation.  At the Feast of Tabernacles (or Feast of the Coming Kingdom) it was recited daily for six days, and then seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  So, we can easily see all the symbolism the people understand in what they do.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"

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.  The first thing Jesus does is to go into Jerusalem and directly into the temple.   Like a king and heir who has ascended a throne entering His Father's house, He looked around at all things.  

What are we to make of Jesus' humility, entering in Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey?   It's a very humble travel or pack animal, used for daily tasks and the travel of the common people.  It's as if He is truly going to work, and is being about His Father's business (Luke 2:49).  This is Jesus' outward show, just as He appears to the world as a humbly born human being, when His true nature we know is also divine, as the Son of God.  Nothing about Jesus is a declaration of human greatness.  And yet, His manner is always one of the greatest authority.  So much so, that it always astonishes people when He teaches.  The scribes don't dare assume that authority or primary voice when they teach about Scripture (Mark 1:21-22).  When Jesus opens His mouth, He speaks with authority, His voice issues forth commands of authority, as when, in yesterday's reading (above), He commanded that Bartimaeus be called.  This voice of authority is the unmistakable Logos that Christ is.  It is "the Word" (see John 1:1-5, 14-16).  It is this Word (or Logos in the Greek) that spoke all of creation into existence, this voice of whom we read in Genesis that "God said" (see, for example, Genesis 1:3).  Christ is the Word, and His commands are unmistakable.  What He utters even with His human voice is the call and command of authority, the voice that teaches us what is what: what is good, and what is not good.   He is the Teacher, and those who can recognize what is uttered with His voice hear the voice of God and will eventually recognize Him as Lord, the Son of God, the Christ (Matthew 16:13-20, Mark 8:27-30).  Perhaps there is a clue to our own lives when we come to understand how appearances can fool us and things can be not as they seem, and that we have to listen with particular ears to hear God speaking to us, and to recognize God's intervention in our lives.  Why does God come disguised as a humble human?  Moreover, He instructs those who will be His servants that theirs, too, is a mission of humility, obedience, servitude.  They are not to "lord it over" others as do the "great ones" of the Gentiles.  And yet, it is His Church against which the gates of Hades will not prevail (Matthew 16:17-19).   2,000 years later, despite heresy of every king, division, corruption, foolishness of all sorts, the Church still stands and still contains her truth.  We can read it in the Scripture, and the holy things still dwell among us, His Kingdom present.  The Holy Trinity is present to us, and the Spirit still "blows where it wishes" in newborn saints and martyrs, and in the conversion of believers, even in each of us as in the disciples, an ongoing process of salvation (John 3:5-8).  Let us consider God's great mystery, hidden behind human flesh, hidden in the presence of believers (Matthew 18:20), hidden among us and within us (Luke 17:21), hidden in our worship services, and in and among those objects through which we may find a contact with this Presence that is yet with us and the holiness of prayer -- even of everyday saints of whom we have no knowledge.  This life continues to live among us and within us -- but it is here in the Triumphal Entry that He reveals His presence most clearly and explicitly.  It is up to us, as believers, to know and recognize the truth He offers, the authority He purveys, the commands we must follow.  And that is the deepest mystery of all, hidden in us, where even the Father reveals truths in our hearts (Matthew 16:17).