Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Belated Easter Week: Palm Sunday

Jesus came into Jerusalem with fanfare and recognition as the king. But I read a historical commentary a few years ago that added a dimension to Jesus' motives, and I found a small clip from Googling the triumphal entry that echoes it. Apparently, Jesus not only entered Jerusalem to show His kingship, according to these authors He did so in a calculated way to make an enormous political statement. He entered at the same time that Herod did, in full mockery of Herod's kingship. Herod, as king of Judea and knowledgeable in the Jewish religion, would have entered the city for the great feast. Kings did such things with fanfare, pomp and circumstance.

Jesus spent much of His time in the stories of the four gospels "in the face" of authority. He rebuked the religious leaders of His day quite often to their faces, mocked them in His actions, and openly defied their traditions in front of them. He rebuked Pontius Pilate to his face. It doesn't surprise me to read of His triumphal entry in the same way. (Read blog post here).

1 comment:

  1. Sure, Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem triumphantly. The whole process to the city Jerusalem expresses 'the process of us God's people to the Heaven spiritually. So, here, 'Jesus Christ' has the meaning of 'God's children' and 'Jerusalem' 'the heaven'
    Accordingly, we can see that the saved people will enter the heaven in triumph.

    ReplyDelete