by Rich Bregitzer
(St. Louis, MO)
Matthew 21:1-11
Mt 21:1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
Mt 21:2 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.
Mt 21:3 If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
Mt 21:4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
Mt 21:5 “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”
Mt 21:6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.
Mt 21:7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.
Mt 21:8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Mt 21:9 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!”
Mt 21:10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
Mt 21:11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
In the Apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees 10:7 it says, “Therefore, carrying ivy-wreathed wands and beautiful branches and also fronds of palm, they offered hymns of thanksgiving to him (God) who had given success to the purifying of his own holy place.”
Earlier than this in 1 Maccabees 13:51 the Jews used palm branches to celebrate a victory over a “great enemy”. The use of palm branches in Jewish tradition had become, by Jesus’ time, an emblem associated with celebrations of national triumph and victory.
The use of the palm branches in our Gospel lesson would seem to suggest that perhaps the very large crowd mentioned in verse 8 was somewhat confused as to what role Jesus would play in their future.
Many were looking for a political leader to right the wrongs of their Roman oppressors and to re-establish Israel to its former glory. And undoubtedly some were holding onto the hope that this rumored healer and teacher that had stumped the Pharisees and that had preached in such an unheard of fashion may be the very person to come in and be their political deliverer.
And to sort of set the scene it is believed that Jerusalem, the epicenter of the Passover celebration may have had in it as many as 100,000 pilgrims in it. In John’s gospel it is believed that this number is what it is referred to by the term “great crowd” as found in John 12:12.
We do that sometimes don’t we? I don’t mean we look for a political answer to our problems, but we do look for quick fixes sometimes or for what is the absolute most practical answer.
I find it interesting that these pilgrim Jews the ones not all that close to Jesus were concerned with a political answer to their problems, but that those Jews that were closer to Jesus, such as his own disciples were beginning to see that the answer to
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