The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY
Golden Text: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee” (Zech. 9:9).
Lesson Plan:
1. Introduction (Matt. 21:1-11; Mk. 11:1-11; Lk. 19:29-34; Jn. 12:17-19)
2. Preparations for the Public Announcement (Mk. 11:1-7)
3. The Triumphal Procession of the Prince of Peace (Mk. 11:8-10)
4. A Discordant Note in the Hosannas (Lk. 19:40)
5. Jesus Weeping Over Jerusalem (Lk. 19:41, 42)
6. In the City (Matt. 21:10-11; Mk. 11:11)
7. The Children’s Echo of the Hosannas (Matt. 21:15, 16)
Lesson Setting:
Time: Sunday, April 2, A.D. 30, two or three days after the last lesson. This was Palm Sunday.
Intervening Events: Friday, March 31 – arrival at Bethany, from Jericho. Saturday, April 1 – Supper
at Bethany with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Places: Bethany, down the slopes of Olivet, through the gates of Jerusalem, into the court of the
Temple.
Research and Discussion: Consider triumphal processions of Roman emperors into Rome. Consider the reasons for such pageants. Consider the four accounts in this lesson. The purpose of this mode of entering Jerusalem. What effect would it have on the people? What had Jesus done that was kingly? To what extent has Jesus been marching victoriously down the ages? The value of enthusiasm, and of those things that awaken it. A vision of His final triumph. The children’s Hosannas.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-34; John 12:17-19
1. Introduction
The text of this lesson is printed all together below, so the whole story from the four Gospels can be read in one complete story. In this way it will hopefully pass before us in a moving panorama of living pictures of real events taking place before our eyes. When they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, He sendeth two of His disciples, and saith unto them, ‘Go your way into the village that is over against you: and straightway as ye enter into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon no man ever yet sat; loose him, and bring him. And if any one say unto you, ‘Why do ye this?’ say ye, ‘The Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him back hither.’ Now this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken through the prophet, saying, ‘Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, Meek, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass.’ And they went away, and found a colt tied at the door without in the open street: and they loose him. And certain of them that stood there said unto them, ‘What do ye, loosing the colt?’ And they said unto them even as Jesus had said: and they let them go. And they bring the colt unto Jesus, and cast on Him their garments; and He sat upon him. And the most part of the multitude spread their garments upon the way; and others branches, which they had cut from the fields. And as He was drawing nigh, even at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen. And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Blessed is the kingdom that cometh, the kingdom of our father David: Hosanna in the highest.’ The multitude, therefore, that was with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him from the dead, bare witness. For this cause also the multitude went and met Him, for that they heard that He had done this sign. And some of the Pharisees from the multitude said unto Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke thy disciples.’ And He answered and said, “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.’ And when He drew nigh, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the things which belong unto peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast up a bank about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.’ And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, ‘Who is this?’ And the multitude said, ‘This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.’ The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, ‘Behold, how ye prevail nothing; lo, the world is gone after Him.’ And He entered into Jerusalem, into the temple; and when He had looked round about upon all things, it being now eventide, He went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
Scripture Reading: Mark 11:1-7
2. Preparations for the Public Announcement
Scene I: Sunday morning. Near the villages on the summit of Mount Olivet, the suburbs of Jerusalem, much of it an open park or pleasure-ground for the city. Jesus and His disciples, gathering crowds of pilgrims.
v 1 ... “And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage.” This is a condensed statement, meaning that on His journey from Jericho Jesus had arrived as near His journeys end at Jerusalem.
v 1 ... “Bethphage” (house of figs, or fig-town) was a small village not far from “Bethany” (house of dates) which was a village nearly two miles east from Jerusalem, the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. They were on the eastern slope of “the mount of Olives,” so called because of its ample orchards of olive trees. “It was their open ground for pleasure, for worship; the ‘Park’ of Jerusalem; the thoroughfare of any going or coming in the direction of the great Jordan valley” (Stanley). Mark omits a number of events recorded in the other Gospels, such as the arrival at Bethany (probably on Friday), the entertainment at the home of Lazarus and his sisters, and the supper on Saturday evening just after the close of the Jewish Sabbath day at sunset, and the anointing of Jesus by Mary. In his account we find Jesus early the next morning, our Sunday “sending forth two of his disciples” to make arrangements for His royal entry into Jerusalem.
v 2 ... “Go your way into the village over against you,” in sight across the ravine around which the regular road ran.
v 2 ... “Ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat.” In their eyes this was probably significant, demonstrating that Jesus would use a colt never before used. This showed that He who used the colt did so in His own right, not filling a place others had filled before Him. Matthew tells us that the mother of the colt was with it. Jesus rode on the colt, and the mother accompanied it, because an untrained colt cold be more easily led and ridden with its mother near it.
The colt was tied near the owner’s house, in “a place where two ways met” (v 4), making an open square, and the disciples finding the colt there, began to loose him and lead him away, when ...
v 5 ... “certain of them that stood there [interfered and said] What do ye, loosing the colt?”
They replied, as Jesus had said “they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded,” (v 6), “The Lord hath need of him” (Lk. 19:34). In other words, Jesus, or, as we often say, God, needs him for His service. Let us take him for the good of the cause. To this they added that they would as soon as possible return the colt to the owners; for in the clause ...
Matt. 21:3 ... “And straightway he will send them” [‘will send him back hither’ R.V.). “Hither” in the R.V. refers to the place where they were getting the colt, not to Bethany. This is made clear in the R.V. which reads, He (Jesus) “straightway will send him back hither.”
v 7 ... “And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him,” instead of a saddle, as frequently done by riders themselves. For those in the company to do it for Jesus was an act of high and honorable regard. Note: Matthew adds that this was done in fulfillment of a prophecy, which he reports from Isaiah 62:11, and Zechariah 9:9. The expression, ‘That it might be fulfilled,’ points to the fulfillment of a divine providential purpose, not to the purpose of the prophet. Nor does it imply a conscious purpose in those active in the fulfillment. The words were familiar to the Jews, who therefore expected that their Messiah would enter Jerusalem, riding on an ass. By fulfilling this prophecy, Jesus presented Himself as the Messiah, the long-expected Deliverer King. Note: Riding on an ass instead of a horse presented Him as the Prince of Peace, not a hero of war. The horse was used especially for war, for dignity, and for display; the ass for the common uses of peace. His kingdom will be one of peace through righteousness. Also, the ass is the common beast for everybody to ride, and has been so from the days of the patriarchs and prophets. The Lord had true kingly spirit – pure, noble, holy; a spirit, not of pride, but lowliness; not of exultation, but daily service and helpfulness; sanctifying and exalting common things; not afar off in seclusion, but near the people; a king full of compassion, “the King of Love.” Note: “This colt was borrowed. Christ went upon the water in a borrowed boat, ate the Passover in a borrowed chamber, was buried in a borrowed sepulcher, and here rode on a borrowed ass” (Matthew Henry). But He blessed and transfigured them all, returning them a hundredfold better than when He took them. This is the only known instance when Jesus rode.
Scripture Reading: Mark 11:8-10
3. The Triumphal Procession of the Prince of Peace
Scene II: A Royal Welcome; A Hallelujah Chorus – The Eastern slopes Olivet, Jerusalem not yet visible. The highway from Jericho to the city crowded with men and women waling from Galilee and Perea to celebrate the Passover. Jesus riding on the colt, accompanied by His disciples as escort, joins the moving procession.
The Crowds ... “And many” (v 8) [Matthew (R.V.) says, ‘the most part of the multitude’] spread their garments in the way.” It was near the Passover time, and great multitudes from Galilee and Perea, and many foreign Jews from every quarter – Babylon, Arabia, Egypt, Asia Minor, Greece, Italy; perhaps even Gaul and Spain – both men and women in Oriental colors, thronging the road that led across the fords of the Jordan through Jericho and up the steep ascent over Olivet towards Jerusalem. By a census taken at the time of Nero, it was ascertained that probably over 2,700,000 Jews were present at the Passover. Being visitors, they surely had suitable leisure for any procession or excitement. From verse 9 (and Jn. 12:12) we learn there were two streams of people: when the Galileans and other visitors who had already reached the city heard shouts and hallelujahs on Olivet, they streamed out to meet the incoming procession, joining those marching inward. So that from Bethany to Jerusalem there was one thronging mass of people. Strewing the way with garments and palm branches The garments were their outer abbas, loose blankets or cloaks, worn over the tunic or shirt. These acts were somewhat on the principle that actuated the heart of young Sir Walter Raleigh, when, on Queen Elizabeth coming to a miry part of the road, and hesitating for an instant how to step across, he took off his new plush mantle, and spread it on the ground. Her majesty trod gently over the fair foot-cloth.
v 8 ... “And others ... branches.” The Greek word is used for any layer of leaves, twigs, bushes, and the like, used for bedding, or to make a road easy to travel.
v 8 ... “Off the trees,” by the roadside. John adds “branches of the palm trees.” Hence the anniversary of this event is called Palm Sunday. All this was a royal honor to the King.
Illustration: Herodotus records that when Xerxes was passing over the bridge of the Hellespont, the way before him was strewed with branches of myrtle, while burning perfumes filled the air. Quintius Curtius tells of the scattering of flowers in the way before Alexander the Great when he entered Babylon.
Illustration: One Palm Sunday in 1898, the Palestine explorer Frederick J. Bliss saw what he described as an event similar to that described in the Gospels. He noticed that as the procession approached, the crowd grew immense. Sturdy fellaheen, women in colored sheets, dark-faced Bedouin, Jews in holiday attire, white-helmeted tourists, sellers of sweets and lemonade, Turkish soldiers, Russian peasants, ecclesiastics of all sorts, mingled in an ever-changing kaleidoscopic patter.
Illustration: Consider the magnificent 1912 Durbar at Delhi, India, in honor of King George V. No Roman triumph was ever as magnificent. The whole empire was awakened; princes of India and premiers of the eleven self-governed colonies, with their attendants and soldiers, brought brilliancy to the show, demonstrating the extent of the empire’s military resources. And yet far greater was the “choir invisible;” far more glorious the religious, moral, literary, and scientific improvements made to bless the people, which invisibly accompanied the Lord’s procession.
Hallelujahs to the Prince of Peace: “They that went before” (v 9) Jesus “And they that followed, cried,” chanted responsively with a rhythmic swing.
v 9 ... “Hosanna” is the Greek word for “Save, we pray.” It is equivalent to “God save the King,” “Hail,” “Hallelujah,” the French Vive le roi, and Italian Viva. We get a better idea of the scene by putting together the manifold words of praise as reported by the different evangelists. “Hosanna,” “Hosanna to the son of David,” “Blessed is He ... Blessed is the King ... Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.” “Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that cometh in the name of the Lord.” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” “Hosanna in the highest.”
A new note of praise: Luke tells us that when the procession reached the brow of Olivet where Jerusalem was in its glory and beauty; where the shining marble and gold of the Temple first broke upon their sight in the morning sun, “the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen.” Many from Galilee had seen how He had healed the sick, the lame, the blind, lepers, and demoniacs. Perhaps many in the crowd had been healed by Jesus. John records that many of the people of the city had been present at the raising of Lazarus from the dead, and bore witness to the miracle. There is no greater praise of Jesus than those who bear witness to His healing power, to redemption from sin.
The invisible choir: If the eyes of this multitude had been opened, like those of Elisha’s servant at Dothan, so that they could see the invisible and hear the inaudible, no pen could picture the real triumphal procession. They would have seen the vast multitude of those whom Jesus had healed, comforted and saved from sin, i.e., Lazarus, Bartimaeus, the ten lepers, the widow of Nain’s son, the ruler’s daughter, Peter’s mother-in-law, a host of those whom He had raised from the dead, those from whom He had cast out devils, the blind He had made to see, and the lame that now walked, the lepers He had cleansed, those who had been delivered from the bondage of their sings and brought into the light of His love and mercy. The angel choir who sang at His birth joined them singing, “blessings, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.”
The Prince of Peace: What a picture this would make for an artist who would fill the air around and above the actual procession with these persons, as the space around Raphael’s picture of the infant Jesus is filled with a cloud of angel faces. Great triumphal processions throughout history have been in honor of deeds of war, carnage, destruction of life, and ruin of every kind. Yet it is often said by generals that “war is hell.” What a sea of woe surges behind armies! So many dead fill the way. So many homes, towns and cities burned marking their progress. So many widows and orphans are the consequence of that march. So much poverty and distress bears witness to the dreadful progress of armies. Armies hailed and cheered in triumphant marches. But Jesus was a Prince of Peace, everything He did was to help and cheer and make better, turning deserts into gardens, making the dead in sin live. It was well for the people to realize that Jesus’ kingdom was a kingdom of righteousness gained by peaceful methods and new hearts, not by war.
Scripture Reading: Luke 19:40
4. A Discordant Note in the Hosannas
Scene III: Among the crowds, Luke tells us, there were some enemies, who objected to the whole proceeding, and they spoke to Jesus, asking Him to rebuke His disciples. Jesus answered “I tell you that if these should hold their peace the stones would immediately cry out” (v 40). Real stones as at the destruction of Jerusalem whose tongues have never ceased to speak; and hearts as hard as stones. Compare Antony in Julius Caesar, who would “put a tongue In every wound of Caesar that should move The stones of Rome to rise in mutiny.” Stones of Nineveh, Babylon, Egypt, tombs and temples, still cry out the truth of God’s Word. Compare Robert Browning’s poem, “The Patriot,” with whom at first It was roses, roses all the way, With myrtle mixed in my path like mad: The house roofs seemed to heave and sway, The church spires flamed, such flags they had. But in one year all this was changed for binding ropes, stones, and a scaffold.
Scripture Reading: Luke 19:41, 42
5. Jesus Weeping Over Jerusalem
Scene IV: “And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it” (v 41). As Jesus began to descend the slopes of Olivet, the city of Jerusalem suddenly burst upon His vision in all its magnificence and glory. He was on the very ground “on which, a generation later, the tenth Roman legion would be encamped, as part of the besieging force destined to lay all the splendors before Him in ashes.” Jesus saw this as in a vision, and knew that if only they would repent, and accept Him as king and become part of the kingdom of heaven, all these terrible things could be avoided. But they would not. And Jesus wept in pitying love, saying ...
v 42 ... “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.”
Scripture Reading: Matthew 21:10-11; Mark 11:11
6. In the City
Scene V: “All the city was moved” (Matt. 21:10) [stirred]. The Greek word for stirred, means shaken as by an earthquake or a storm. Used by Matthew (8:24) to express the effect of a violent tempest upon the waters of the Sea of Galilee. See description in Revelations 6:12-14. Waves of excited feeling swept over the multitude. They did not know what was coming next. The promised redemption, deliverance from Rome, the reign of the Messiah, so that citizen after citizen began to inquire of the newcomers “Who is this?”
The multitudes who had accompanied Jesus replied “This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee” (Matt. 21:11).
Jesus then went “into the temple of God ... looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, He went out unto Bethany with the twelve” (Mk. 11:11).
Scripture Reading: Matthew 21:15, 16
7. The Children’s Echo of the Hosannas
Scene VI: The next day Jesus returned to the Temple as we shall see in our next lesson. But one event on that occasion completes the picture of this Sunday’s event in the Life of Christ. The children took up the chant-songs of the day before, and in the Temple court were crying “Hosanna to the son of David” (v 15) so that ...
v 16 ... “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise.” It is a great thing for the church to have children join in worship services. Children and young people should be first in care, arrangements, training, and planning of the church.
Enthusiasm for Christ: This multitude who shouted Hosanna on Sunday, cried, “Crucify Him!” on the following Friday. The whole enthusiasm of the multitude at the end is nothing more than the last up-streaming brilliancy of an evening sun before it vanishes beneath the horizon. Richard Glover is no doubt near the truth when he wrote, “The whole of that enthusiasm was not excitement. If most of the gladsome voices were silenced by the cross, very few, if any of them, took up the other cry, ‘Crucify Him!’ Doubtless many of those who sang hosanna that day asked at Pentecost, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ and were among the first believers (Acts 2). The scene proves Christ’s fitness to evoke religious enthusiasm. It is a frightful mistake to suppose, and a willful perversion to assert, that Christianity, as a scheme of faith, is tame, insipid, and lifeless. There never has been anything on God’s earth so adapted to kindle all the enthusiasm of the soul, and to make it an enduring flame. Blessed are they who have felt and continue to feel a deep, abiding, glowing enthusiasm for Christ and His Gospel.
