Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-august-18-2023
Mark 11:1-11
The Triumphal Entry
1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples,2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
This reading, Mark’s account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, might be only account of this event that actually comes from an eyewitness. But having said that, I feel like we should stop and remind ourselves of what the New Testament scholars tell us about the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Mark’s account of Jesus’ triumphal procession is a little different than Matthew and Luke’s versions of the story. In both of those gospels Jesus enters the city through the cheering throngs of people, and then goes to the temple and drives out the corrupt merchants there.
But Mark tells the story a little differently. He reports that it was in fact the day after the triumphal entry that Jesus cleansed the temple, because it was late in the day when he arrived at the temple. That doesn’t really make much theological difference, but it gives us pause to think about why Mark’s account is different. We understand the Gospel of Mark to be the remembrances of Peter, as he more-or-less dictated them to a man named John Mark. So when you are reading and studying a story in either Matthew or Luke, it’s worth flipping to Mark to see how the story is told there, because you might get a little additional eyewitness insight.
Anyway, there’s a lot to think about in this story of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and a lot of important theological themes.
First of all, in the story Jesus enters the city riding a donkey. The donkey was a symbol of humility. And it had been foretold in ancient prophesies that the Messiah would enter the city riding a donkey, unlike kings and generals, who rode in on war horses or in chariots.
Next, it’s important to note that the crowd lining the roadway was crying out words of praise and lines from scripture that showed they recognized that Jesus had come with divine authority. We always remember that the people were yelling, “Hosanna!” But it’s important to remember that “Hosanna” is Hebrew for “Save us, please!” The people in the crowd were also shouting about their hopes for the restoration of King David’s kingdom. We know the ancient prophesies said the Messiah would be born into David’s family, and that Jesus was considered to fulfill that prophesy because his earthly father Joseph was a descendant of David. But the fact that the crowds were calling for the restoration of David’s kingdom sort of illustrates that they expected the Messiah to be a military hero as David had been.
(And the palms, by the way, were a Hebrew symbol of victory. The individual leaves on the palm fronds were thought to look like swords.)
And the one part of this story that always kind of grabs me is that the people in the crowd started spontaneously taking off their cloaks and laying them on the road for Jesus to ride over. In the ancient Middle east, this gesture was a way of symbolically laying one’s very life at the feet of the person passing by. So even though these people didn’t quite grasp the full significance of what was happening before their eyes, they still somehow knew in their hearts that Jesus was a figure of highest spiritual power. It was revealed to them that this humble servant-rabbi deserved the greatest reverence. So the gesture with the cloaks was a deep emotional and spiritual response.
Those of us from the Reformed part of the church, as Presbyterians are, tend to be very rational in our faith. We think of following Jesus as a process of learning doctrines – of coming to understand and accept ideas like salvation by grace through faith, the authority of scripture, substitutionary atonement, and even (God help us) predestination. But we tend to miss out on the part of the life of faith that involves encountering Jesus in deep and profound spiritual experiences that touch and warm our hearts. And that’s a shame, because the scriptures make it clear that those who actually did encounter Jesus personally found themselves powerfully moved by the experience. Even those who just saw him riding by on a colt felt a desire to lay their very lives at his feet. And in the centuries since, many of his followers who have engaged deeply in prayer and meditation have encountered Jesus in similarly life-changing ways.
So maybe having this reading come up on our list provides us all with a chance to invite Jesus to make a ‘triumphal entry’ into our hearts and minds right now. Maybe it reminds us of the power of a genuine encounter with Jesus, one that still tends to make us cry out what they cried out on the road outside of Jerusalem that day: “Save us, please!”
Let’s pray. Lord, we remember that when Jesus entered the city, he came differently than other kings – on a donkey instead of a warhorse, in humility instead of self-glorification. And we remember that encountering him touched the hearts of those who saw him. By your Spirit, let us encounter him in new and personal ways, in ways that will move us to lay our lives at his feet, too. Amen.
Have a great weekend, and worship God joyfully on Sunday!
Henry
(The listed readings for today are Psalm 119:89-104; II Samuel 15:19-37; Acts 21:37 – -22:16; and Mark 10:46-52. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)
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