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 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 him 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 the 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 they traveled on the road toward 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 hard 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 him go.  The event described in today's reading is what is known as Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  It is celebrated in the Church on Palm Sunday.  My study Bible comments 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.  Here we are told of Christ's careful preparation and instruction for how He will make this entry.  It will be in humility on a donkey's colt.  My study Bible says this is a sign of humility and peace (Zechariah 9:9), as opposed to the way that conventional kings make an entry at Christ's time:  on a horse or in a chariot, displaying signs of military power.  

 

 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 the 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.  Christ's entrance into the Holy City declares the establishment of the kingdom of God, my study Bible says.  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).  The people who spread their clothes before Jesus 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 very lives, for Christ.  The cry of the people comes from Psalm 118:25-26, which was associated with messianic expectation (Hosanna! means "Save, we pray").  These verses were recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles, known as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom, and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Jesus enters the temple now in this spirit of messianic authority.  

 

The people wave branches and spread their clothes, reciting the verses repeated so often at the Feast of Tabernacles (Hebrew Sukkot).   There is a connection which runs as a thread between the Feast of Tabernacles, as suggested in these verses from Psalm 118, and the Transfiguration.  At the Transfiguration, St. Peter seemingly confusedly suggested that tabernacles (or booths, or tents) be made for the Lord, Moses, and Elijah, as was done at the Feast of Tabernacles.  The Feast of Tabernacles commemorated the time when Israel dwelt in tents as they wandered in the wilderness following the signs of the Lord toward the Promised Land.  It was the time when God moved with them, in the pillar of fire by night, and a cloud by day.  This showed that God is Spirit (John 4:24), and does not dwell in temples made with hands (Acts 17:24), but dwells with human beings and within them (Luke 17:20-21).  But where Christ is, there His kingdom is too, and He comes into the world as a human being to dwell with us, to be with us, and to bring this Kingdom and presence of God more fully to us.  The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, then, is a sign for all, not a fiat or a coup, not the establishment of a worldly kingdom, but rather -- as my study Bible says -- the image of the fullness of that Kingdom as a promise at the end of the age, and union with Christ's Bride, the Church.  This entrance into Jerusalem is a kind of promise and image to be fulfilled, but it initiates the true events that define Christ's mission for us and our salvation.  This is the beginning of Holy Week, in which Christ will suffer and die, and rise again on the third day, defeating death for all of us.  In all of these things, He is the heavenly King whose kingdom will find its fullness through faith, and whose throne is in our hearts.  The people who welcome Jesus into Jerusalem do so with all expectation of the Messiah desired for Israel at the time, with faith and hope.  But Christ will preach, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36), explaining how the kingdom of God originates not from the worldly sense of what a kingdom is, but from God.  It operates on different rules, will manifest in different ways.  The Incarnation, at the same time, teaches us that the power and spirit of God can also work through material things, that holiness can permeate the material world, for holiness is what the world was made for.  When we take the Eucharist, we must understand this.  If we use holy water, we must understand this.  When we ask that our food may be blessed, or any other thing, we must understand this.  Christ's kingdom is not "of" the world, but it is for the world -- even for the life of the world.  Unlike an earthly king, He will give His life for all, and He will take it up again so that we may follow (John 10:17-18).  When we worship, when we pray, when we enter into any of the holy practices and sacraments of the Church, so we help to make manifest that Kingdom here, we work for its full realization, we work the work of God.  Let us recall His Triumphal Entry, and know that it is the icon of our hearts, its fullness to be manifest through His work and the faith that persists and endures.