April. 10 - A Triumphal Entry?
Contributed by
Malcolm Sedaca, a senior psychology major from Buenos Aires, Argentina on Thursday April 10
Scripture
Mark 11:1-11
The Triumphal Entry
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' "
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway.
As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
"Hosanna!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
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Devotion
Jesus approaches the city of Jerusalem, the Jewish religious and political center. He can probably imagine that he will encounter great opposition there, as he resolves to unmask the powers of this world, which are at work within human institutions and mindsets.
His “triumphal entry” is a special one. The colt he rides is not even his own. He borrows it from someone else, and returns it to that person after using it. Many people expect him to become the military leader that will “kick the Romans out of the Holy Land.” So they gather around him and bless him. “Hosanna!” “Save us, Jesus son of David!”
Indeed, Jesus has a kingdom in mind. In a sense, Jesus enters human history to establish the long-awaited peace. We look at this humble and poor man and wonder if he can actually save anything. Christians confess Jesus the Christ is Lord, King of the universe. But he is not the kind of lord and king that the world imagines. Jesus was not served as a king on earth. He had no palace, army, or territory.
It is quite possible that most of the people cheering Jesus as he entered Jerusalem later felt quite disappointed. A couple of days after the “triumphal entry,” the king hung on a cross and many may have said, “Oops, I thought he came to do something else…”
Once Jesus is raised from the dead by God, his life on earth revealed its value. May the Spirit of the risen Lord grant us the certainty of the ultimate value of Jesus’ life.
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