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.

 

 

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls

 At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father.  Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.  Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

- Matthew 11:25-30

In Friday's reading, John the Baptist's disciples had come to Jesus with a message from John (who is in prison).  After John's disciples had departed, Jesus spoke to the crowds about John, vigorously defending him (Saturday's reading).  In yesterday's reading, He continued His criticism, both against those who now judge John and those who fail to acknowledge Jesus' ministry, particularly among the leadership:   "But to what shall I liken this generation?  It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:  'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not lament.'  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by her children."  Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:  "Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.  But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."

 At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes."  My study bible cites Blessed Theophylact, who comments that God has hidden the mysteries from the wise of the world, not out of malice toward God's creatures, but because of their own unworthiness.  It was they who chose to trust their own fallen wisdom and judgment rather than God.  Moreover, it is out of love, my study bible says, that God withholds this revelation from those who would scorn it so that they do not receive an even greater condemnation.  (See yesterday's reading, above, and Jesus' pronouncement about judgment upon those who witnessed mighty works and still rejected His ministry.)  

"Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father.  Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Jesus attributes all things in the surprising unfolding of this ministry to God the Father.  There is a particular relationship here that expresses our faith and that which will infuse the Creed and Councils to come in the centuries that follow.  Jesus states His direct relationship to the Father, but also how revelation works to human beings. 

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  My study bible notes that Jesus' yoke is submission to the Kingdom of God.  A yoke could be seen as a sign of hardship, burdens, and responsibilities, it notes (1 Kings 12:1-11, Jeremiah 27:1-15).  But in Christ, the yoke is easy, because the power of God works in each person.  Moreover, the reward is infinitely greater than any effort human beings make.  The Greek word translated as gentle means power or strength under control, without undue harshness.  To be lowly in heart means to have a humble heart.  The same word is also translated as "meek" in 5:5:  "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." 

 It's my belief that notions of courtesy and "gentleness" (as in a gentleman or gentle lady) come to us from the life of Christ and His teachings.  Or perhaps one might say that He sets an example to aspire to imitate.  This word in Greek that is translated as "gentle" or "meek" means, as noted above, a type of strength under control, one who does not lose his temper nor act with undue harshness.  This is in great contrast to the examples of power or "lordship" in Jesus' time, particularly in the great kings and rulers of the world.  He Himself notes the contrast between the power and authority of His Kingdom and that of worldly kingdoms, when He tells the disciples, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (20:25-28).   Throughout the reading of the Gospels, and over the time of His ministry and preaching, Jesus "fleshes out" for us what it means to be meek and lowly of heart, to be gentle on His terms, to possess the kind of authority and strength that is of the Kingdom.  He lives the life He wishes to show us, from the beginning and to His death on the Cross.  He gives us an image of what that means.  To be humble and meek ultimately means that one serves God just as Jesus sets the example of total loyalty to the Father, a complete and powerful faith -- where even in the midst of rejection and what He knows is coming in His ministry, He accepts it all as given by the Father.  His is a "strength under control."  While He criticizes deeply those who reject both John the Baptist and Himself, and indicates the depth of judgment to come (especially regarding those who know better), His is the type of image we endeavor to follow, of strength under control.  He will do what He is commanded to do, to the death that awaits Him, for the greater good and the salvation of all.  The paradox here is that this understanding is given to the meek and humble, to "babes" rather than those given titles of understanding and education and knowledge of the Scriptures.  The wise and prudent have failed to grasp this ministry, and the knowledge they would possess is revealed to those who are like "little children" in their lack of formal education.  The Kingdom reaches where it will reach, and all is in the hand of the Father, and the Son who knows the Father, and those to whom the Son desires to reveal His Kingdom and His work.  The depth here is in the revelation of humility as the key to this Kingdom.  He seeks those who have the humility to serve His authority,  those who are like Him, "lowly of heart" and willing to live the kind of meekness He teaches.  This will inform the monastics to come, those whose discipline (as "disciples" or "learners") is to attain the heart that is capable of receiving Christ and that which Christ wishes to reveal to His children.  Let us remember, in this world of vast social media and the pressures it brings to us, what true strength is in Christ's sight, and how far humility goes to take us into the Kingdom.  Those proclaimed the "wise and prudent" of the age remain with us, and His easy yoke remains for those who know the value of the One who is gentle and lowly of heart.