22 Mar. John 12:12-19

22 Mar. Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey

"A great crowd who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast heard that Jesus was coming there. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus, shouting, 'Praise God! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the King of Israel'." (Psalm 118:25-26)

"Jesus found a colt and sat on it. This was as the Scripture says, 'Don't be afraid, people of Jerusalem! Your king is coming, sitting on the colt of a donkey'." (Zechariah 9:9)

"The followers of Jesus did not understand this at first. But after Jesus was raised to glory, they remembered that this had been written about him and that they had done these things to him."

"There had been many people with Jesus when he raised Lazarus from the dead and told him to come out of the tomb. [see John 11:38-44] Now they were telling others about what Jesus did. Many people went out to meet Jesus, because they had heard about this miracle."

"So the Pharisees said to each other, 'You can see that nothing is going right for us. Look! The whole world is following him.'"

          (John 12:12-19)

 

 

Jesus entered the old city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey – a symbol of meekness – to fulfil the Old Testament prophesies about the Jewish Messiah – the Christ or "anointed one" (see Zechariah 9:9). Unlike the kings and emperors of his day - who entered their capital city for a triumphal display mounted on a warhorse after a bloody victory - Jesus entered the capital of the Jewish people on a donkey, just like a humble servant of the King.

The Jewish pilgrims laid palm branches on the road to greet a visiting dignitary (to stop the dust blowing in their faces), and they sang joyfully as they approached the old city and the Temple Mount.

As well as singing “This is the LORD's gate; only those who are good may enter through it … This is the day that the LORD has made. Let us rejoice and be glad today… Praise God! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the King of Israel" (Psalm 118:25-26), they probably sang other "songs of ascent" such as “Come into his city with songs of thanksgiving and into his courtyards with songs of praise. Thank him and praise his name” (Psalm 100:4), and “LORD All-powerful, how lovely is your Temple! I want more than anything to be in the courtyards of the LORD's Temple. My whole being wants to be with the living God.” (Psalm 84:1-2)

After a brief visit to the courtyards of the Temple, Jesus and the twelve disciples returned to spend the night at Bethany, probably at Mary, Martha and Lazarus's home.

Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem on 2nd April 30AD has been commemorated by Christians for over two thousand years as 'Palm Sunday'.

The photo (by Herwig Reidlinger) shows an entrance to the old city of Jerusalem.

You can read more about Jesus's entry into Jerusalem @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/jesuss-entry-into-jerusa…/

Powered by Church Edit