Matthew 21:1-17, Mark 11:8-10, Luke 19:37-44, John 12:12-16, Psalm 118:25-26 (NIV) (KJV)
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“‘From the lips of children and infants
you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
Mark 11:8-10
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!”
Luke 19:37-44
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
John 12:12-16
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 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.
Psalm 118:25-26
25 LORD, save us!
LORD, grant us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you.
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My Notes:
I've been thinking a lot about our popular perception of Jesus.
There's an airy and religious sort of "untouchable" Jesus in my kids "Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes" book.
What these old pictures represent seems to inform the oldest films made of Jesus. "The Greatest Story Ever Told" shows a Jesus character that pronounces his lines more than just saying them.
There is a recording of Larry Norman from his album "bootleg" where he makes fun of this portrayal of Jesus. But Larry Norman is a child of the hippy era, and the hippies and boomers suffered just as much in their portrayal of Jesus.
I'm reminded mostly of Godspell first. Truthfully, I love this movie. It's a musical, and Jesus is a clown, along with the rest of his disciples. This product of the hippy era reflects a strong desire to see Jesus become more personal and friendly and real.
Decades later, the hippies grew up and produced a movie called "Matthew - The Visual Bible". Like Godspell and like Larry Norman's complaints in the seventies, this movie once again casts Jesus as the more personal, friendly, and fun Saviour. And like Godspell, I love this movie as well.
But upon reading through Matthew carefully, prayerfully, and honestly, I sense a widening gap between Jesus as I perceive him in scripture, and these Buddy Christ representations that I see coming from the boomers. These differences of perception definitely change my interpretation of the scriptures I'm reading.
If Jesus is the humourless icon of stained glass windows and religious paintings, then his entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey becomes a clinical retelling of a fulfillment of prophesy. I may recognize that the event was first prophesied of the Messiah in the Old Testament. I may ascend to the understanding that the donkey was the royal animal of the line of King David, and therefore probably reminds the people that this King is the Son of David, the promised Messiah.
But I don't feel it. I'm just playing mathematics with scripture.
If Jesus is the funny rascal of the Jesus People, the clown of Godspell, the Buddy Christ of Matthew, then this whole scene of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey strikes me as a colossal practical joke. He's making a display of the people and places of power. He's a hero of the masses. He's a rebel and a punk.
But as much as I like this Jesus, and as much as I want him to be real, I cannot make this Jesus compatible with the dangerous, powerful, mysterious, and beautiful man that I see in the book of Matthew. I like a Jesus that will ruffle the hair of his disciples. I like a Jesus who will tell a joke, or hug a friend.
But he has to be more than this. The book of Matthew doesn't leave him there.Yes, he is personal and gentle, humorous and kind. But the profundity of this is in the recognition that this same man is the one who by his word spoke time and space into existence. When Jesus gently bends down to pick up a child into his arms and speak kindly to him, we are in awe to realize that these same arms will swing sickles of Judgment over the world at the end of time.
This same gentle man will return in fire and blood and power.
Shocking.
I think this is why the boomers had such a hard time portraying Jesus in the temple when he was overturning tables. Jesus Christ Superstar shows Jesus as a whiny little rebel who just loses his temper.
I think we need a new image of Jesus. Our perception and portrayal of our Saviour can be seen in the way we express our faith. It isn't difficult to see how our Buddy Christ misperceptions may be manifest in our big comfortable churches and our sanitized and suburbanized religion. I long to see a faith emerge that flows from a true worship of a true Saviour in all of his fearsome power and gentle beauty. I long to see a church uncomfortable, a church unsatisfied, a church of powerful grace and fearsome beauty.
I want to know Jesus as he is, and never feel like I've gotten there.
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