Psalm 118:1,2,9-24, Mark 1:1-11, Philippians 2:5-11
The people cheered Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem. Back in those days a victorious military leader would return to his home city riding on a horse with his army marching behind him. Many kings and emperors have done this but Jesus rode a donkey. Two reasons. One: he wasn’t a military leader and he hadn’t just won a battle. Two: he was king of Israel and Israel’s kings were to be humble and ride a donkey. This is one of the stipulations that God made when he allowed Israel to have a king – to make sure that the king didn’t get arrogant as kings, presidents and prime ministers are prone to do.
So Jesus found himself a young donkey that no one had ridden and he rode into Jerusalem as if to say, “I am in charge here. This is my city that I rule.” He was acting as a victorious king, except the donkey was not exactly what people expected. Still, many believed he was the Messiah they were all waiting for.
At the time of the Romans, the success of athletes and victorious army commanders was recognised by the waving of date palm branches. Whose idea was it for the crowd to wave such branches as Jesus rode into Jerusalem? We don’t know, but the Romans, seeing Jesus caught up in this, might have thought he was challenging their authority. Judea was the hardest province in the Roman Empire to keep under control. The Jews had self-rule from 166BC to 37BC under the Maccabees, and they wanted it again. They were hoping that Jesus would get it for them.
The excitement spread, more people joined in the cheering, the crowd got bigger, and the Jewish leaders got more worried. The leaders of the Jews did not like Jesus. They thought he was challenging their authority. They weren’t cheering Jesus. They were out to get him.
As the excitement increased Jesus’ disciples must have wondered if this was the time they had all been waiting for. But it all ended quietly. What do people who are being applauded by a crowd usually do and say? (Smile, wave, make a speech, get big heads!) Jesus gave no explanation and said nothing. He sat on the donkey and then, as Mark’s gospel tells us, he went into the Temple in Jerusalem. Then he went to a village nearby to stay at his friend’s home. That’s all. What an anti-climax!
When Jesus and his followers and all those people shouting Hosanna, Save us! reached Jerusalem and got to the Temple, you would really expect someone to greet them, wouldn’t you? To have someone greet the famous Rabbi from the outlying villages would seem appropriate, I’m sure they’d heard about him. Yet there is this curious let down. No one is there, Jesus goes into the Temple, looks around and goes away. It feels almost rude – and I expect it was supposed to be exactly that. Let’s not give him any reason to suppose we like him, or want to listen to him – ignoring him is best. We’ll all go hide. What a slap in the face. Of course we still do it – ignore him, that is – especially when he’s asking us to do something we don’t want to do!
I’ve heard this procession described as a protest march. If that is accurate (and I personally see no reason why it should not be seen that way), it makes complete sense that his arrival would be ignored by the powers that be. He was (and continues to be!) a threat to the status quo, and the powers who are benefiting from the status quo would obviously not be too eager to give him any credence. Reminds me of a quote from Gandhi – “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.”
We see that whole process played out in Holy Week.
And this is the start.
For Jesus, this is the start of his final journey to the cross. This is what he had ultimately come to earth to do – to die.
The crowd was excited at being part of a celebration. They didn’t know, but Jesus knew he was going to die.
The crowd was thrilled to cheer for their new king. Jesus knew they were not cheering him as God the king.
The crowd did not think at that time that Jesus’ enemies were plotting his death. (We’re gonna get you – finger pointing at Jesus.) Jesus knew he was going to die.
He also knew he would come back to life – and nobody was expecting that!