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

 

 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 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 on the road 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 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.'"  Today's reading describes the events of what is called Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  This day is celebrated by the Church on Palm Sunday.  By Christ's time, my study Bible explains, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah to deliver them from Roman control and to reestablish David's kingdom.  In humility, Christ shows that He hasn't come to establish an earthly kingdom.  He does not ride on a horse nor in a chariot, but on a donkey, which is a sign of humility and peace, as in Zechariah 9:9, which is quoted here by Matthew.  My study Bible teaches that this entrance into the Holy City declares the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  It is also a promise of Christ's final entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem with all believers and of His accepting the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride (Revelation 21:2).   Let us note that in contrast to the other Gospels, Matthew reports both a colt and a donkey.  In Patristic commentary, the two animals are viewed as representing the faithful Jews and Gentiles who are brought together in the Kingdom.  In the Palm Sunday Vespers of the Orthodox Church, it is sung, "Your riding on a foal prefigured how the untamed and uninstructed Gentiles would pass from unbelief to faith."

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.  The people who spread their clothes on the road do so before Jesus as paying reverence to a King.  My study Bible says that it is spiritually interpreted as our need to lay down our flesh, even our very lives, for Christ.  As His faithful, we seek His will in all that we do.

 

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 cry of the people comes from Psalm 118:25-26, which was associated with messianic expectation.  At the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), also understood as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom, it was recited daily for six days and seven times on the seventh day, as branches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"

The story of Palm Sunday, or Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, is really almost a sadly strange, paradoxical story.  This is because we all know that this is the start of a week in which Christ will meet His death by crucifixion, the method of punishment by the Roman state reserved for the worst criminals.  Even as He is welcomed by the people into Jerusalem, and hailed as what they expect will be a worldly king, the Messiah who will deliver them from Roman rule, the religious leaders had already begun to plot against Him and will continue to do so this week.  It is they who will, instead, deliver Him to the Romans with an accusation that demands His death as penalty.  There are many themes and ironies here.  Possibly first and foremost, as Christians, our concern is with the misunderstanding of the role of the Messiah.  Christ did not come into the world to be a worldly or earthly Messiah which the people are expecting.  His Kingdom is something entirely different from what they believe will manifest.  His will not be the restored kingdom of Israel of King David, but it will be a kingdom, nevertheless, that exists among us and within us.  He has taught us to pray to Our Father in heaven, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  At Pentecost He will send the Holy Spirit, and Christ's disciples will go out to all the world.  But for now, we witness the people who receive Him into Jerusalem, and we can read in the words of my study Bible that the Church understands this image of the Triumphal Entry as one that is fulfilled in the heavenly Jerusalem and at the same time announces the fullness of His earthly ministry and its manifestation in the Kingdom of God in the Church, the living Body of Christ.  The people, both ironically and correctly, cry out the verses of the Feast of Tabernacles, commemorating the time when the Israelites dwelt in tents (or tabernacles) and God was present to them and dwelt among them, for Christ has brought a kingdom into the world which we understand as believers and in which we also participate in His life, sacrifice, and Resurrection through the Church and through our prayer lives as believers in communion with Him.  But for today, as we are in the midst of a world seemingly ever more complex, permeated with problems, in need of a Reconciler like Christ, we remain suspended in this place where He has come into the world, His Kingdom has been declared, and yet we await His ultimate return and reconciliation in what is to come.  And as we await in faith, and it is now Advent and we anticipate the season and commemoration of Christ's birth into the world as incarnate human being, we have a chance today to contemplate what it means spiritually for each one of us to think of Christ riding triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey, and especially the emphasis on the peacefulness of a donkey's colt.  For this is how Christ rides into our hearts, not as conqueror with weapons that simply strike down anything that gets in His way or compels obedience through force and domination or slavery, but as the Lord God who is love, and it is through love that we really become citizens of this His kingdom.  For it is His love that really conquers us, it is His love that compels us to love Him, and it is His love that makes of us the type of citizens of this Kingdom that He seeks.  It is love that transforms and has patience with our failings and nevertheless meets us at every turn to teach, to shape us, to guide us into the fullness of what is possible in us through Him.  It is love that asks our cooperation and synergy in order to manifest this process of transformation.  When we think about the Triumphal Entry, we need to think about the Christ who enters into our hearts, who will come in and live with us and dine with us and be with us, making us His disciples just like the Twelve.  Let us contemplate what it is that is happening here, both the misunderstandings and wrong expectations, and the true fulfillment of His promise, which takes place first in us and among us (Luke 17:21, Revelation 3:20).  He is truly the Son of David the psalmist, prophet, deliverer, and good shepherd who so loved God; He is truly the one who comes in the name of the LORD.  He is the One for whom we lay down our lives, even in the deepest spiritual sense, as He makes us into His own through love and grace and mercy.