Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey

 

 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 covers the events of what we commemorate as Palm Sunday; it is known as Christ's Triumphal Entry into the Holy City of Jerusalem.  My study Bible explains 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 David's kingdom.  In humility, Jesus shows that He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom through His deliberate instructions to the disciples here.  Rather than riding into Jerusalem on a horse or chariot, as earthly kings would do to show their power and glory, Jesus rides on a donkey, which is a sign of humility and peace, as shown in St. Matthew's quotation of Zechariah 9:9.  My study Bible notes also that St. Matthew reports a colt as well as a donkey.  In the writings of Church Fathers, these two animals are seen as representing the faithful Jews and Gentiles who are brought together in the Kingdom.  At Orthodox Vespers of Palm Sunday, 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.  These people who spread their clothes before Jesus 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 very lives, for Christ. 

 

 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 people's cry comes from Psalm 118:25-26, a refrain associated with messianic expectation.  It as recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles (which is also known as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom), and seven times on the seventh day as ranches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!" an appropriate prayer to one known as Deliverer, or Savior. 

 

As Jesus rides into Jerusalem, we are given a few things to think about.  First of all, let us consider how many times Jesus has avoided this particular day.  For until now the Christ's identity as Messiah has been kept secret in some sense (this is referred to as the Messianic Secret).  He has not openly declared it in a public way, as a king would.  But this entrance into the Holy City proclaims that day, and He boldly lives that claim, as we will see in particular in the reading that follows, when His first act is to cleanse the temple.  He is openly living, and therefore, declaring that identity.  His entrance into Jerusalem, as He has also warned the disciples three times, means that His open and final confrontation with the religious authorities will now take place, and it will culminate in the Cross (and thereafter Resurrection on the third day).  But before now, there have been times when His life was threatened through confrontation of one sort or another, but He avoided this outcome, and eluded those who were after Him, such as when He went into Gentile territory (in this reading) after one such confrontation.  This entrance into Jerusalem is deliberately meant for this time, after an estimated three years of public ministry and preparation for it in the teaching of His disciples, now apostles, and all the signs and teaching of His ministry.  In St. John's Gospel Jesus repeatedly speaks of this time as "His hour," such as when He told His mother, "My hour has not yet come," and said to His brothers, "My time has not yet come but your time is always ready."  St. John also writes before Christ's washing of the disciples' feet at the Last Supper, "Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end."  (See John 2:4; 7:6; 13:1.)   While this event of the Triumphal Entry is also understood to us as imaging God's eternal kingdom, and Christ's rule as Lord, prefiguring the fullness of Christ's wedding as Bridegroom to His Bride the Church in the heavenly Jerusalem, so we must also understand on earthly terms how important timing and boundaries are to the living of our spiritual lives in this world.  There is a discreet time and place for all that Jesus does, as He follows the Father in all that He does.  In other words, although the event we read of in today's reading is publicly declaring who He is, and speaks to us of true eternal realities, so we must also realize that Jesus does things in His earthly ministry for a particular purpose, at particular and deliberate times.  It helps us to think about our own need for discernment and prudence in our own spiritual lives, as we seek to follow Christ in the living of our faith as well.  Most of all, it helps us to consider what a prayerful approach to life looks like.  It is not one in which we rush in as fools who rush in "where angels fear to tread," so to speak.  Rather, we look to our spiritual lives, and our growth in such, as those things which unfold in God's sight, as the work of faith, engaging us in our choices at particular times and in particular ways.  Spiritual struggle is not that of bold declarations and hasty choices, but rather prayerful discernment.  Before sending out the disciples in their first apostolic mission, Jesus taught them, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.  Therefore be wise as serpents and gentle as doves" (Matthew 10:16).  We also are to remember that we live in this world that is still a battleground.  Just as in Jesus' life He led the way for us in a world beset by the influence of spiritual evil and its outcomes (see Matthew 4:1-11), so we enter into this battleground with Him as our Lord, our King who enters into Jerusalem on this day we read about in today's reading.  His words still stand for us, and we remain as spiritual sheep in midst of wolves.  Let us remember as we are impatient for outcomes or signs that God's timing is not our timing, God's ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8), and we need prayer and discernment to guide us, and all the collective experience of the Church which we are a part of.  Jesus boldly proceeds to the Cross, but does so fully knowing what He is doing, and with all prudence and wisdom, and the power of God.  For this also is a lesson in humility and service to God.  Let us take His yoke and learn from Him (Matthew 11:29-30).

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hosanna in the highest!

 

 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 

 

On Saturday we read that Jesus and the disciples came to Jericho, on their way toward Jerusalem.  As Jesus went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blilnd 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 events described in today's reading are understood as Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  It is celebrated by 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.  Let's note Jesus' careful preparation for this event, and the specific directions given, making them very significant in the Scripture.  Jesus specifies a young colt, on which no one has sat.  Note also that He has allowed His disciples to refer publicly to Himself as the Lord.  

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.  Jesus rides into Jerusalem in His Triumphal Entry on a donkey's colt, a sign which my study Bible calls one of humility and peace (Zechariah 9:9).  The people spread their clothes in such a way as to pay reverence to a King.  My study Bible says that this is spiritually interpreted as our need to lay down our flesh, and even our 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 quote from Psalm 118:25-26, which was associated with messianic expectation.  It was recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles (the Feast of the Coming Kingdom), and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"  

My study Bible comments on today's reading that this entrance into the Holy City is a declaration of the establishment of the Kingdom of God, and this is the way we, as followers of Christ, should view it.  It's 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).  Jesus walking into the temple as His first act after the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem is an act of the Messiah, surveilling His heavenly Kingdom.  As we will see, this will be followed by acts which could only be done by the Messiah, in response to which Jesus will continually be questioned as to His authority to do so by the religious leaders.  Tradition asks us to understand the acts of Jesus on many levels at once, as whatever He does is both temporally and eternally true.  That is, as Jesus goes triumphally into Jerusalem, we must also see this -- as my study Bible noted -- as parallel to the promise of entry into the heavenly Jerusalem, and the fullness of the wedding feast unified to His pure Bride, the Church.  Not only do we read about events that happened two thousand years ago in today's text, but we must also understand the promise of this event (which is ongoing, and whose signs are with us, such as the continual growth of the Church around the world), its fulfillment through time, and its ultimate fulfillment at the end of the age which is yet to come. So, therefore, this event exists and is fulfilled at many levels, and its promise ongoing, which is our hope.  Moreover, we know that the events of Christ's eventual suffering, death on the Cross, and Resurrection will also be a part of His experience at Jerusalem, the response of the religious leaders, and even His glory.  For His time on the Cross, paradoxically in worldly terms, will be what He calls His hour of glory, when He will glorify His Father's name (see John 12:30-36).   In Hebrews 13:8, we read, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."  In Revelation 1:8, we read, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."  Revelation 4:8 tells us the four living creatures, the seraphim around the Lord's throne, continually praise, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!"  Taking all of these things together means that should we choose to dispute whether or not we should look at this event as only something that historically happened once in the past, or as an event of promise continually unfolding, or even as one with an eternal horizon of fulfillment (whose time we don't know), the correct answer to this question is that all of these things are true at once.  And this is our reality as believers, we hold all of these things at once, for they are all true of our Lord, who was and is and is to come. 

 

 

 

 

 

My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a 'den of thieves

 

 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"

 

Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do you hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read,

'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants

You have perfected praise'?" 

Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.  

Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea, it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

 

- Matthew 21:12-22 

 

Yesterday we read that 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."   

 

 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"   My study Bible tells us that those who bought and sold were trading in live animals to be used for sacrifices.  The money changers were a necessary part of these transactions, as they traded Roman coins for Jewish coins.  This is because Roman coins bore the image of Caesar (portrayed as a god) and were therefore considered to be defiling in the temple.  The cleansing of the temple, my study Bible notes, also points to the necessity of keeping the Church free from earthly pursuits.  Each person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), and so this also presents to us a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of earthly matters.  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7, Jeremiah 7:11.  

Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do you hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"  Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.   My study Bible cites a verse from the Orthodox Vespers service of Palm Sunday:  "Keep the feast with the children, and holding branches in your hands, sing 'Hosanna.'"  It notes that there are many liturgical hymns of this day (Palm Sunday, the day in which we celebrate Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem -- see yesterday's reading, above), which emphasize the perfect praise of the children, which my study Bible says was unlike that of the adults; the praise of the children was innocent, fitting, unashamed, and from hearts of pure love.  It notes that we are called to glorify Christ in the same spirit (see Matthew 18:1-4).  In contrast, the praise of the adults carried earthly expectations and agendas which, when left unfulfilled, led them to rebel against Christ just five days later (Matthew 27:20-23).  Jesus quotes from Psalm 8:2.

Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.   The fig tree, my study Bible explains, is a symbol of prosperity and peace.  But here it withers as it is fruitless; this is a prophetic act by Jesus, directed at the nation, for after three years of Christ's preaching, teaching, and healing, both the leaders and the crowds were destitute of spiritual fruit.  Jesus curses this tree also as a warning to each generation of what will befall anyone who fails to listen to His message.  

And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea, it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."  My study Bible comments here that while it is not recorded that an apostle literally moved a mountain, in patristic commentary it's clear that they had this authority if the need had arisen (certain saints did make crevices appear in mountains).  Moreover, not all things come by the apostles was written down.  Beyond this literal meaning, Christ's promise is also an illustration of the power of faith and prayer in all areas of life.  My study Bible quotes Theophylact:  "Whatever we ask, without hesitation and believing in God's power, we shall receive" when we ask for spiritually profitable things.

Jesus cleanses the temple in today's reading.  In the commentary on this passage, my study Bible reminds us of St. Paul's teaching in (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), that we are each, in fact, a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in each one.  Effectively, since this is so, we are reminded that we also need to be aware of our own need for either regular "cleansing" ourselves, or to be on our guard against the kinds of things that would necessitate such cleansing.  In the case of ourselves as a temple of God, this practice is often called guarding the heart, and what it indicates is that we need our own vigilance regarding the things we take in from the world and allow to grow to become a part of ourselves.  In Galatians 5, St. Paul speaks of a kind of battle going on between the desires of the flesh and those of the Spirit.  He says, "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish" (Galatians 5:17).  He then lists the works of the flesh:  "adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like" (Galatians 5:19-21).  We note that these are things that begin within us, as Jesus has explicitly taught in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:21-30).  There, as well as in chapter 18, Jesus has taught about taking decisive action to "cleanse" ourselves (He likened it to amputation of a diseased body part), in order to save the whole of ourselves (Matthew 18:6-9).  Here in today's reading, Jesus cleanses the temple of those who profit from the people's need for pilgrimage and sacrifice, we presume particularly at the expense of the poor.  Matthew tells us that Jesus overturned the seats of those who sold doves.  Doves were the small sacrifice affordable to the poor.  But we might note that what remains necessary to get at the root of the things that defile temple is simply repentance -- and remind ourselves that from the beginning of the Gospel, John the Baptist comes preaching the same message in preparation for the coming of Christ, and Christ echoes His teaching (Matthew 3:1-2; 4:17).  The same is true of the impulses we take on from the world around ourselves that lead to such outcomes.  In a "fallen" world that abounds with sin, we know about all the passions and desires that come from lusting after wealth, or another person's property, or envy, or myriad other impulses that can lead to what St. Paul calls the "works of the flesh."  These are things that cross the line of sin and trespass.  To guard the heart, then, is to be aware of our own mind and heart and the impulses we nurture and indulge ourselves in, fanning the flame of the desires that lead to such works.  We are meant to be rational sheep, obedient to Christ, but highly aware of ourselves and our capacity for failure, especially our own personal weaknesses.  So the elements of our own cleansing as temples of God may take on forms of repentance or "change of mind" that involve guarding our own thinking and correcting ourselves when necessary, or making more formal amends once the indulgence of such patterns of thought result in bad works, things that ultimately cause harm.  It's easy to be confused in the modern world we inhabit, especially now through the pervasive and ubiquitous influence of social media that works like a worldwide machine to make all kinds of harmful behaviors, and personal attitudes that lead to such behaviors, seem, in fact, "normal."  The need for this ongoing awareness, and work within ourselves and our hearts and minds, actually highlights Christ's later teaching on the power of prayer and faith.  This is because the only way to make our prayer truly effective is through hearts that are pure in the sense that we work at what kind of persons we are, that we develop the kind of discipline that makes our prayer life strong and clear -- so that we may nurture desire in prayer for what Theophylact calls "spiritually profitable" things.  The cleansing and guarding of our hearts and minds therefore is linked to the effectiveness and power of our prayer lives, even to the insights we may gain from prayer.  For, without cultivating the regular practice of such personal spiritual discipline, how to we come to the clarity we want in prayer, to discern the ways God wants us to go forward in life, from the ways that we're called to go by "the flesh" as St. Paul calls it?  That is, the endless desires for all kinds of things cultivated in us by the influence of the world around us, such as the competition for the best car or house, the things we envy that others have, a certain circle of friends or influence or power, for vengeance, for exploitation of others, and so on; the list can go on ad infinitum and extends into the future until the seemingly inexhaustible fantasies and imaginings of the wider web of the internet or any form of public dissemination crowd out the message of the gospel within us.  In this sense, our lives of worship -- whether in the personal and unique temple that each of us are, or in our public forms of worship in Churches -- really depend upon Christ's examples and teachings to us.  To be aware of what we tolerate in one sense or another that we should not, then, becomes essential to the effectiveness of prayer and the quality of our faith.  Let us endeavor to adopt His discipline for ourselves, asking God for guidance and direction, and the wisdom for what we need to let go, as well as the wisdom to know what to pray for and what we truly need. 

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 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus (and the disciples) went out of Jericho, 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 concerns the events of Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, which is celebrated by 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.  But in humility, Jesus shows that He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom.  Here He tells His disciples to bring Him not a horse nor a chariot, but a donkey to ride into Jerusalem, which is a sign of humility and peace (Zechariah 9:9, quoted here in the text).  My study Bible notes here that Matthew reports a colt as well as a donkey.  It notes that in patristic commentary these two animals are seen as representing the faithful Jews and the Gentiles who are brought together in the Kingdom.  At Vespers of Palm Sunday, an Orthodox hymn declares, "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.  My study Bible explains that the people who spread their clothes before Jesus do so as paying reverence to a King.  There is also a spiritual interpretation to this, that it shows also our need to lay down our flesh, and our very lives -- as we are called to in ways small and great -- for Christ.

 

 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 people's cry comes from Psalm 118:25-26, associated with messianic expectation.  This was recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot, or the Feast of the Coming Kingdom), and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"   My study Bible further explains that Christ's entrance into the Holy City declares the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  It is, additionally, 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).  

There is a sense in which we are mistaken if we understand the events recorded in the Bible as simply things that happened once upon a time in history, for which we need to search to find relevance to our own lives today.  But the events of Christ's life are not given to us as a mere history book or story of the past, or of "once upon a time."  Neither are they in the realm purely of imagination.  Scripture overlaps in many ways many types of literature, but it is its own unique form of literature, which also borders on what we might call the poetic.  Its meanings echo through many other events, through the times of our own lives, and perhaps most importantly, they have a timeless quality.  Christ coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday has historically been understood in the Church in the terms my study Bible describes, as parallel to, and overlapping in a sense, Christ's final entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem with all believers and of His accepting the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride.  So, in a sense, this is always happening, and He is always with us.  Just as His Crucifixion, Passion, and Resurrection are not merely one-time events in history, but realities that are present to us in our lives of faith, so is this entrance into the Holy City, which is also an entrance into our hearts as well, where these spiritual realities may be perceived and dwell, and through which we take and live our faith.  Are we, like the people, going to accept or reject Him?  Do we welcome Him as Savior, as they do, shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David!"  And if we do so, how do we understand what "Savior" means to us?  Is He saving us one time in our lives, or is this an ongoing kind of plan of salvation, living with us and dwelling within our hearts as we seek daily to live our faith?  The mysteries of Christ and His life, His public ministry for us, are those things that are lived sacramentally in our lives.  They take the substance of our experience right now and live within us as we are called to account to understand how we are to "work" within our faith, and how these events have meaning for us now.  Will we be like those who seemingly accept Christ one day as a hailed hero, and a week later will cheer for His conviction and death, riled up by the religious leaders who wish to rid themselves of Him?  And how does He live in our hearts, as a heavenly King, who asks of us a spiritual loyalty that is comprised of all our heart, and soul, and mind?  Christ's ministry was not simply private or personal, nor are the events of His life given for us purely historical events.  They are imbued with a kind of timeless property that means they live in us and for us, they are present to us, and through faith we can always experience them for ourselves.  The Triumphal Entry in this sense is always happening, just as Christ is always gathering His Bride to Himself, to live in the New and heavenly Jerusalem.

 

 

Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise

 

 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be a called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'" 

Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.   But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read, 

    'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants

    You have perfected praise'?"

Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.

Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.  

 

And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

 

- Matthew 21:12-22 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus and the disciples 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."

 

  Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be a called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  We recollect that it is the beginning of Holy Week as we celebrate it; the time is just before the Passover when pilgrims arrived in Jerusalem for the feast.   Those who bought and sold were the ones who traded in live animals used for sacrifices.  The money changers were those who traded Roman coins for Jewish coins.  This was because Roman coins bore the image of Caesar, who was worshiped as a god, and therefore were considered to be defiling in the temple.  My study Bible says that the cleansing of the temple is also indicative of the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  Moreover, each person is considered a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19), it's also a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of earthly matters.  Christ quotes from Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11, putting the two prophecies together to castigate what is happening in the temple at this time.

Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.   But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read,  'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"  Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.  My study Bible quotes from the Vespers of Palm Sunday, "Keep the feast with the children, and holding branches in your hands, sing 'Hosanna."  It notes that many liturgical hymns of this day emphasize the perfect praise of the children, which unlike that of the adults, was innocent, fitting, unashamed, and from hearts of pure love.  So we also are called to glorify Christ in this same spirit (see Matthew 18:1-4).  By contrast, my study Bible says, the adults' praise carried earthly expectations and agendas, which, when left unfulfilled, led them to rebel against Jesus just five days later (Matthew 27:20-23).

Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.  The fig tree is described by my study Bible as a symbol of prosperity and peace, and it withers because it is fruitless.  This is a prophetic act, it says, directed toward those among both the leaders and the crowds who, after three years of Christ's preaching, teaching, and healing, are destitute of spiritual fruit.  Jesus curses the tree also as a warning to those in each generation of what will befall anyone who fails to listen and take His message to heart.

And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."  We don't have any recorded stories of an apostle literally moving a mountain, but patristic commentary is clear that they had this authority if the need had arisen, says my study Bible.  (There are stories of certain saints who made crevices appear in mountains.)  Moreover, my study Bible notes, not everything accomplished by the apostles was written down.  But in addition to its literal meaning, this is a promise given as an illustration of the power of faith and prayer in all areas of life.  My study Bible quotes Theophylact, who writes, "Whatever we ask, without hesitation and believing in God's power, we shall receive" when we ask for things which are spiritually profitable.

 

I'm intrigued by the note in my study Bible regarding the rejection of Christ by the adults in contrast to the children (rejection both among the leadership and the common people).  It says that the adults' praise carried earthly expectations and agendas, which, when left unfulfilled, led them to rebel against Jesus just five days later.  This is because, at Christ's time, the expectation was that the Messiah would be an earthly ruler, delivering them from Roman rule, and re-establishing the throne of David.   But this sense of expectation, and the rejection based on the unfulfillment of such expectation, remains ever with us, and so is also a problem today.  We can see this for ourselves in modern day criticisms not simply of the Church, but for Christianity itself.  We can see distortions and misreading of Biblical texts used as an excuse for rejection, as if to say that Scripture is merely meant to be taken literally, and if it can't, then it must simply be rejected.  Sometimes popular heresies turn out to be just that, and so establish a broken expectation then used as an excuse for rejection.  We can see such rejection on the basis of an assumption that every wish must be granted, or that there is evil that exists in the world, and pain and suffering all the time.  But most of all these objections come from a sense of unrealistic and unpromised expectations that aren't based on faith in the first place.  Many popular assumptions run contrary to long-established Church tradition.  There is an assumption at work that those who were founders of the Church -- those early disciples and apostles and Church Fathers and faithful martyrs and saints from all manner of walks of life and cultures -- were simply superstitious, or perhaps not educated, or simplistic as they did not come from an age with the kinds of technological and scientific advances that we do now.  But this is again a rejection based on unrealistic assumptions and expectations.  The early Fathers of the Church were the best educated of their time, a time when the full flower of Hellenistic civilization was readily at hand and expected to be known by any such educated person, be that culture such as the literature of Homer, Euripides, and Sophocles or all the ancient philosophers such as Plato and Socrates, as well as science, medicine, mathematics, history, and the beauty of art and architecture which remains astonishing and sophisticated to us today.  The unrealistic expectations of moderns includes assumptions about ancient peoples and their lives which not only miss the mark in terms of knowledge, but even in terms of a pragmatic approach to what they must have known and not known, and how they lived their lives.   So often one hears unrealistic criticisms of a faith structured upon the care, understanding, and insight of centuries of brilliant thinkers by those who have not bothered to cultivate the least knowledge about them.  As such, we might fault the adults in this picture for being more childish than the children.  For children, with their more open minds, may be far more able to grasp what faith is about, what God is like, and how faith is offered to us, than adults who have limited their understanding to their own expectations.  But God does not come to us to fulfill our expectations -- and definitions -- of God.  God comes to us to lead us somewhere, to teach us something, and that "something" comes to us on a long -- even lifelong -- journey of discovery.  To come to know Christ, to come to know God, is a question of opening one's mind and heart so that it may be expanded, transformed, and given a shape that does not start merely with us and our desires or expectations.  It doesn't come from popular culture.  It really doesn't matter what we think we know from others, or our expectations and upbringing.  What matters is the approach, the understanding that there is a gift held before us, but that gift must be accepted, opened, and adjusted to as it leads us and informs us -- and not the other way around.  It's a question of the proper understanding of and approach to grace.  This is why we're told that one must be converted and become as little children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3).   This is an allusion to the open minds of children, that remarkable ability to absorb information in ways that seem extraordinary to adults, such as picking up a language by ear, or even using modern technology such as computer games or mobile software applications.  This is how we should be approaching God and approaching Scripture, and not as if it is meant to meet our own expectations or simply to fail, to be rejected.  Such an approach is actually immature and uninformed, especially when there is a treasure stored within the long history of the Church of understanding, insight, and depth of knowledge.  Let us consider the Lord's extended hand to us, and with what level of sophistication we respond to the grace in that offer.  So Christ says, in the words of the Psalmist, "Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise."

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.

 

 

 

 

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!

 

 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

"Hosanna!

'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'

 The King of Israel!"

Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

"Fear not, daughter of Zion;

Behold, your King is coming,

Sitting on a donkey's colt."

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"

 

- John 12:9-19 

 

 On Saturday, we completed the story of the raising of Lazarus, the seventh sign of seven in John's Gospel.  After Jesus had spoken with Martha, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you."  As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.  Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there."  Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."  Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.  And He said, "Where have you laid him?"  They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."  Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"  And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?"  Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb.  It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  Jesus said, "Take away the stone."  Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days."  Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"  Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.  And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.  And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me."  Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"  And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.  Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."

 

  Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.  Today the lectionary moves forward from yesterday's reading, skipping John 11:45-12:1-8.  Here the time is the beginning of what we know as Holy Week, and the Passover festival is about to begin.  These verses explain the setting.  "The Jews" we recall is used as a type of political term, to designate the religious rulers.  Many had come from among this class of people in Jerusalem to mourn with Mary and Martha, and had witnessed the raising of Lazarus.  Therefore, among the leadership of Israel many knew not only that Jesus was there, but they also want to see Lazarus.  Such is the effect, that those who plot to put Jesus to death also have plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because even among the ruling classes, many "went away and believed in Jesus."

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:  "Hoseanna!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!"  This is what is called Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  It is celebrated in the Church on the day known as Palm Sunday, due to the branches of palm trees described in the text.  The people's cry is from Psalm 118:25-26, which was associated with messianic expectation.  It was recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles (also 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 said therefore to a Deliverer or Savior.  My study Bible explains that by this time, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah to deliver them from Roman control, and to reestablish the kingdom of David.  

 

Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:  "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."  In humility, my study Bible explains, Jesus shows that He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom.  He does not ride on a horse nor in a chariot, as a contemporary king or conqueror would do, but on a young donkey -- a sign of humility and peace.  This is reflected in the people's cry, from Zechariah 9:9.  My study Bible comments that this entrance into the Holy City declares the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  It notes also that it is 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).  

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"  Note how the understanding of the disciples became enlightened after Jesus was glorified; for then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  The people bore witness in their acclamation from Scripture, that prophecy is fulfilled in Christ -- as they were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead.  And others have also meet Christ with this proclamation, because they heard from those others from Jerusalem that He had done this sign.  As so many among their own in Jerusalem now go after Jesus due to the seventh sign of raising Lazarus (see Saturday's reading, above), the Pharisees conclude in exasperation that whatever they have done so far is accomplishing nothing, as their own world has gone after Him.

 

 Today begins Holy Week for most of the Churches in the West (also for the Armenian Apostolic Church).  Next week will begin Holy Week for most of the Orthodox.  So for my readers, from whichever denomination you are, Palm Sunday was either yesterday or is this coming Sunday.  Our reading for today gives us John's version of the events of that day, when Jesus was hailed as a king coming into Jerusalem.  Let us not forget the tone of John's Gospel, which is so important.  People -- including many from among the class of the leadership -- witnessed the seventh and final sign given in John's Gospel, the raising of Lazarus from the dead.  (See the readings from Friday and Saturday.)  Therefore the expectations in Jerusalem run high that the Messiah has, indeed, come among them.  This is true even among the classes of the rulers in the temple (and therefore of the Jewish people).  But Jesus will defy the expectations of an all-conquering king, someone who will rival Caesar as an earthly ruler, and make Israel's fortunes grow great in a similar manner.  This is because Jesus is a different kind of a King, a different kind of Deliverer or Savior.  Jesus issues in a Kingdom, but it is a different kind of kingdom, one in which spirit and truth will play a role, in which the spirit of the law must be upheld by the letter, and not the other way around.  There will be no "special charges" that God must deliver us in order to outmaneuver political opponents and rivals for power in this Kingdom.  There is only Christ and those whom the Father will give Him to remain with Him for an eternal kingdom, for a life in which abundance does not come through manipulation but through faith and trust and the power of the Holy Spirit to bless the meek and the poor in spirit.  So Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a young donkey, and all of this will be brought later to the remembrance of the disciples, and in the understanding of the fulfillment of the Scriptures in the proclamations of the people.  Of course, the people have no idea that they are truly proclaiming the fulfillment of prophecy -- but in a particular sense they would not have understood.  It is not the first time that prophecy is unwittingly proclaimed in John's Gospel (see also John 11:16; 11:49-50).  As we go through the readings of Holy Week in the churches, we will see the tide turn, and the effective manipulative power of those in high positions.  We can see false witnesses produced who contradict one another, who twist Christ's words, and who are brought only for the purpose of finding ways to get rid of Him.  The readings in John's Gospel that the lectionary gives us before moving on to Luke's Gospel will give us Jesus' perspective, His farewell words to His disciples, and His prayer to the Father.  Let us consider the realities we are given, for they are timeless and remain with us.  If we are true to Him and to the lessons of the Gospels, we remember that truth and righteous judgment always remain our duties -- and that we also will be witnesses to such events.  Let us remember the One who goes before us, and all that He asks of us also.