On this day of celebrating Christ’s Resurrection, we come back to the beginning of Jesus’ final week, when on this Sunday, we call Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey – a servant’s animal – and as he entered, people began to take palm branches and lay them down on the road, crying out “Hosanna! Blessed is He Who Comes In the Name of the Lord”. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read this:
“Now
when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives,
then Jesus sent two disciples,
saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you
will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.
If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and
he will send them at once.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble,
and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he
sat on them.
Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut
branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!”
And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying,
“Who is this?”
And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee”
(Matthew 21:1-11).
We might
ask, “Why did Matthew speak of the geography of Jesus’ journey from the east of
Jerusalem to enter into Jerusalem that day?”
I
believe the answer lies in a story from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel prophesied during the deportation of
Jews to Babylon in the 6th century B.C. During that time, Ezekiel saw the “Shekinah
– which is the glory of God” leave the Temple through the entrance of the Eastern
gate and then saw the Shekina move across the valley east of the city over the Mount
of Olives.
First, the
glory of God left the Temple: “Then the glory of the LORD went out from the
threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up
their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with
the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the
house of the LORD, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them” (Ezekiel
10:18-19).
Then
glory of God (Shekinah) moved across the valley over the Mount of Olives: “And
the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the
mountain that is on the east side of the city” (Ezekiel 11:23). This was Ezekiel’s way of saying that God’s glory
would not reside in Jerusalem because of its wickedness and lack of repentance
for their Sin.
Later,
in Ezekiel, something occurs that foretells a future hope – the Messiah will
come.
“Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. And behold, the
glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east...As the glory of the LORD
entered the temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up and
brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the
temple” (Ezekiel 3:1-5).
Ezekiel
saw a future time when the glory of the Lord would return to the Temple. When?
He prophesied a Prince, the Messiah would come and God’s glory would return.
“Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces
east. And it was shut.
And the LORD said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be
opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has
entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut.
Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD. He shall
enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way” (Ezekiel
44:1-3)
Jesus’
entry from the east is purposeful. Jesus comes riding a donkey as a humble
servant, but also as the nation’s Messiah, the one who God had promised would “come
in the name of the Lord”. Jesus enters Jerusalem in fulfillment of another Old
Testament prophecy in the book of Zechariah: “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of
Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and
having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a
donkey.”
Jesus rides into Jerusalem and is hailed by
the people as their King. The streets of Jerusalem, the royal city, are open to
Him, and like a king, he ascends to His palace, not a temporal palace but the
spiritual palace that is the temple, because His is a spiritual kingdom. He
receives the worship and praise of the people because He deserves it. No longer
does He tell His disciples to be quiet about Him but to shout His praises and
worship Him openly.
By
faith, we celebrate with the crowd from 2100 years ago. Jesus has come and blessed is He who comes in
the name of the Lord! For many, Jesus is
their Savior, their Lord, and today they will worship Him as God Incarnate –
Jesus Christ, our Lord. For others Jesus
is an interruption, a person who has captured the hearts of the world, but not
for them.
For five
weeks we have been on this Lenten Sojourn.
We have entered into a time of reflection, repentance, and renewal of
faith. This final week is a sobering
reminder of why this is necessary for us to do.
We are the crowd crying out “Hosanna…” and we are the crowd, just
five days later, crying out, “Crucify Him, Crucify Him”. Our joy of Christ becomes one that is turned
when we realize what Christ Jesus entered into Jerusalem to do – to die on the
cross for our Sin.
So, we
pause, and ask, “Who am I?” Am I one
with the crowd, singing His praise, welcoming him into my life, my home, my
family? Am I with him at times, and
turning away from Him when His commands become inconvenient? Am I a disciple who follows joyfully when all
is well, and flees when all is not?
Where is my heart? Let’s take
this week ahead to look within, and look by faith, and look to love, our Savior
and our Lord – Jesus Christ.
Peace
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