Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
There are so many ways to categorize people. Some do it based on personality: introvert, extrovert, ambivert; others base it on weight: slim, slightly-overweight, obese. But, there’s another category: the either you love them, or you hate them category. And, Jesus fit into that one. People either loved him, and were willing to follow Him, or they hated him with all their guts.
Actually, at this point, they hate even Lazarus, because he presents a risk (Not a flight risk.They wished he was gone.) Because of him and his testimony, people believed in Jesus. So, now they have to kill two innocent lives.
In order to prepare for Passover, the Hebrew family had to take a lamb, without defects, five days prior to be slaughtered. Here is the paschal Lamb, welcomed home (in Jerusalem) to be set aside for the Passover that is to come. Up until now the lamb was clueless that he was chosen as special for 5 days, in order to be killed for the washing of their sins. This time only the Lamb understands that His blood will wash their sins, while the overall family thinks this is happy hour.
Let’s read John 12:12-17
* In red are my comments.
“The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. (The crowd was made up mainly of visitors, not residents of Jerusalem. People from all over the country came up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, a yearly mandatory festival. )
They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, (They didn’t have much to offer. They gave what they had, palm branches. Had Jesus been in Romania, we would have waved willow branches, or some spring flowers. But, palm branches symbolised victory. John mentions this in Revelation 7:9)
“Hosanna! (In Hebrew it means ‘please save’ or ‘save now’. It sounds similar to the words in 1 King 1:39, the way the crowd welcomed king Solomon.)
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! (They are reciting Ps. 118:25-26)
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: (A horse would’ve been more royal. He didn’t ride a war horse, just like the Egyptians when chasing the Israelites. He came on a donkey. Donkeys wouldn’t do great in wars because they lack speed. It’s a symbol of peace. The king doesn’t come to judge and kill, but to save.)
“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; (Jerusalem is built on mount Zion. I looked up this phrase to see where else it was used. We find it mostly in the Old Testament in prophesies to give hope, in warnings aimed at God’s chosen nation not to depart from God, etc. Yet, I noticed that it is last used in the New Testament in this verse, telling them not to be afraid anymore. It is finished. The king has arrived. You’re safe now. I’ll take care of that sin once and for all. No more lambs, doves and goats have to die. I’m coming to save, not judge, Daughter of Zion.)
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. (Of course they don’t get it yet. We are looking in hindsight, knowing what was to come at the cross. It’s easy for us. They thought there was going to be an actual kingdom, freedom from the Roman Empire. James and John, sons of Zebedee wanted so bad to have honourable positions in that kingdom, to the point that their mom has to have a chat with Jesus. Nothing more manly than to have a mother intervene for her two grown sons to be part of a leadership of the country.)
Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. (They didn’t need Facebook. They used the old-fashioned way, word-of- mouth).
Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!'” (The Pharisees were hoping to kill Jesus after the crowd went back to their home towns, not to start a revolt. But, timing is in God’s hands. The paschal lamb was to be slaughtered at twilight for Passover, not sooner, not later.)
Things I need to work on:
- Read this story in the four Gospels to get an even better understanding of all the details. It was such a crucial story that all four gospels write about it. Mt.21:1-11, Mk.11:1-11, Lk 19:28-44, Jn. 12:12-19. Just click on the passage.
- Can I wave palm branches in my life, saying I’m letting Christ have victory over aspects of my life that I struggle with?