Is 50:4-7; Phil 2: 6-11; Luke 23:1-49.
The royal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem echoes many details from
the life of the ancient kings of Israel and contemporary history.
The crowd around Jesus was aware of King Solomon’s royal
procession on David’s royal mule as he was taken to be anointed as king.
After he rode the royal mule to be anointed, the crowd followed with
shouts of “Long live King Solomon!” and they blew the trumpets and played music
on pipes and sang and rejoiced in the royal procession. Riding the royal mule,
and then later being seated on David’s royal throne, were both acts that
confirmed that David’s kingship was legitimately being transferred to Solomon.
Other narrations are found in the book of Jeremiah (13:1-11) and Ezekiel
(4:1-4).
William Shakespeare gives a vivid account of the Roman triumphal
procession. When Julius Caesar was returning after the victory over the sons of
Pompey, the common people took a holiday, decorated the streets and shouted
slogans for Caesar.
The Jews who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem that day were aware of the connections
to Israel’s past kings and practices in the contemporary empires.
His entry on a donkey, the spreading of cloaks beneath Him, and palm branches
waving—these all were acts for royalty.
The Jews were eagerly waiting for the fulfilment of the Prophecy made by
Zechariah, about 500 years ago. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout
aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; humble
and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey….. He shall speak
peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea and from the River to
the ends of the earth” (Zech. 9:9-10).
They had lived under foreign rule for hundreds of years, with no son of
David to rule on the throne. Finally, it seemed, here was the one to reclaim
the throne! Just as in the royal parade for Solomon, now nearly ten centuries
later the Jewish crowds in the same royal city raised their voices in the
royal procession. They rejoiced and praised God for the mighty works Jesus had
done, and said “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
There was a great difference between the imperial processions and
the triumphant entry of Jesus. In the Roman Imperial Processions, the
picture bearers went ahead; the standard bearers moved ahead of the king;
the crosslets lined before the king. Unlike the Roman imperial processions Jesus
did not have any picture bearers. There were no bearers of standards,
trophies or crosslets. Jesus was in front and He led the
procession. Because Jesus came as the king of peace. He was no ordinary
king. He required no special anointing from the priests, for He had been
anointed with the Holy Spirit in His baptism. He needed no officials to
transfer authority, no borrowed mule from the previous king to establish His
legitimacy. He wore no finery or royal robes, and marched with no other army
than a small band of fisherman. He carried no sword. He made no political
promises.
But Jesus gave kingly orders. He ordered his disciples, “Go off to
the nearby village, you will find a tethered colt, untie it and bring it here.”
These words reflected the power of authority. So the disciples did not
dare to question him.
Jesus made kingly demands too. In case anyone questioned them,
they were to answer “the master needs it.” The master needed a service from the
owner of the donkey. And he had the right to demand that service. As
Jesus required the service of the owner of the donkey he needs the service of
each and every one of us today. He keeps on sending a variety of
messages to us with the impression, “the master needs it.”
The master’s demands come to us through our neighbours. When
we place our Lenten sacrifices remember that the master needs it. The master
needs to extend support to an ailing brother. The master needs it
to quench the thirst of someone. The master needs it to satisfy the
hunger of a needy. The master needs it to provide shelter for a homeless. And
the master needs it to alleviate the pain of the suffering.
Let us remember the words of Alice Cary, "True worth is in
being, not seeming: in doing, each day that goes by some good.” During this
Holy week let us ask him, “Lord what do you want from me.”