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 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 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.    The event described in today's reading is called the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  It is celebrated in the Church on Palm Sunday.  My study Bible explains that by Christ's time, 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, it says, Jesus shows that He has not come to establish en earthly kingdom.  He doesn't ride on horse, nor in a chariot.  As we can see from the careful and specific preparations described here, Jesus chooses to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey.   (And not just a donkey, but a donkey's colt.)  This is a sign of humility and peace (Zechariah 9:9).  My study Bible further comments that this entrance into the Holy City is a declaration of 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). 

 

 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.  The people who spread their clothes before Jesus do so as paying reverence to a King.  It is perhaps reminiscent of blind Bartimaeus throwing aside his garment to run to Jesus in yesterday's reading (see above).  My study Bible comments that this spreading of their clothes before Him is spiritually interpreted as our need to lay down our flesh,  even our very lives, for 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!"  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 people's cry comes from Psalm 118:25-26.  These verses were associated with messianic expectation.  They were recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles (otherwise known as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom), and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!" and is therefore a plea meant for a deliverer, the Messiah.   We note that Jesus' first act is to go into Jerusalem and into the temple, a fitting act for Christ.  To look around at all things reminds us that He is declaring His kingdom, an act worthy of a king laying claim with authority.

Jesus seems to be full of contradictions by worldly standards.  Here He comes into Jerusalem in what is known as the Triumphal Entry.  He is greeted as Messiah and king, and the people lay down their clothing before Him, as if they are laying down their lives and loyalty to Him.  But Jesus rides into the city on a donkey, and not as a conquering king with chariots, horses, manpower, armies, and weapons of war.  He does not display any trophies or treasure He has captured from other lands.  Perhaps in this context, it's important to remember that at this time in the world, and particularly in the Roman Empire, slaves were an important part of the society and the economy.  Captured slaves would be paraded as part of the grandeur of emperor or other ruler; foreigners captured as slaves played a great role if they happened to be educated, or even -- relevant to today's reading -- skillful charioteers and horsemen.  But Jesus has none of that as part of His retinue coming into Jerusalem and hailed as a King and Deliverer.  He has only a donkey upon which He specifically and carefully has chosen to ride.  He has only His disciples as His court, and the people who shout and welcome Him into the city.  Jesus' first act is something the Messiah would do:  He comes into the city and the first thing is that He enters the temple, and surveys it for Himself, He looked around at all things.  So, in some sense, Jesus is full of contradictions.  Clearly the people expect a king, possibly one like David, who will re-establish the kingdom of Israel and throw off their Roman rulers.  He speaks with authority and He acts and commands with authority and even with power.  But He has no material power to back this up, and He uses no material might to display such authority and power as belong to worldly kings.  There are displays of this authority and power to be sure, in His casting out of demons, in healing sickness and ailment and affliction, and of course in the displays of the miraculous events such as turning water to wine at a wedding.  But nothing that Jesus does is about proving who He is.  He doesn't feel the need to convince through manipulative power, nor even to win hearts and minds through coercion of any kind, and this is what is anomalous to worldly kings and worldly forms of power.  What we could say about Jesus is that He is a king by faith; He is our King by faith.  By faith He is King in our hearts and souls.  And this is what He is looking for in His subjects.  This is the quality that qualifies those who would be a part of His Kingdom.  In the tradition of Orthodox theology -- and especially in hymnography -- one could say with the patristic tradition that our faith is, in effect, found in paradox.  If we want to see, or to attempt to derive any concept of our God, it would be only in the paradoxes we're given through revelation.  It is through paradox that we begin to grasp something of the nature of God.  In the Orthodox tradition, there is a name for Mary, Christ's human mother, which means "wider than the heavens" (Platytera/Πλατυτερα), because in her womb she held the Lord of the Universe.  This is paradox, that a woman could hold the universe in her womb.  The Incarnation might be said to be the ultimate paradox, for how could God become human?  The Crucifixion is so great a paradox that it is "a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks" (Corinthians 1:23).  The poetry of the Church (again, especially in its hymns) is found in the many expressions of such paradoxes, even found in the form of riddles that open our mind to what it is that makes the impossible possible (for example, how can a Virgin bear a Son?).  Christ presents us with paradoxes that beg us to ask who He is, for the answers found to such seeming contradictory realities are found in God, and in this story of God who became human.  Let us recover the wonder of paradox, and discover how that opens us to our faith, and the surprising qualities of God, whose strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).  Perhaps that is how we explain the Lord of the Universe laying claim to His Kingdom, which is both worldly and heavenly, riding on a donkey's colt upon which no one else had sat.