Welcoming the Real Jesus
Lenten Devotional Series Day 40. Today’s meditation is on Jesus’ Triumphal Entry in John 12:12-19.
As Jesus entered Jerusalem, John tells us that the crowd met him waving palm branches and singing Psalm 118. Palm Sunday traditions have conditioned us to see this as a Christian worship service. For people in Jesus’ day, however, this was the equivalent of waving flags and singing the national anthem.
The people were reenacting a famous scene from their revolutionary war against Syrian invaders 180 years earlier. At that time, after purging the region of the infidels, the Jewish victor returned to Jerusalem to be welcomed by crowds in the identical way, waving palm branches and singing psalms. The commemoration of this victory eventually became part of the annual Feast of Dedication, mentioned in John 10:22. In Jesus’ Day, this patriotic festival was similar to our annual Independence Day, except that the Jews weren’t independent. They had been annexed by the Roman empire, and they weren’t happy about it. So they celebrated the Feast of Dedication every year as a way of fueling public unrest and making the occupying forces nervous.
Why did the crowds greet Jesus in this way? After all, it was completely the wrong season for celebrating the Feast of Dedication. In fact, there were only four days until the greatest Jewish feast, Passover (John 12:1, 12). Here’s why: the crowd’s welcome was highly symbolic, portraying just what the people expected Jesus to do if he were to become their king. They wanted another revolution. They wanted Jesus to overthrow the Romans.
How did Jesus respond? He “found” a donkey (12:14) and rode it, not because he was tired, but because he wanted to emphasize the very different nature of his kingship. While the crowd was acting out the Jewish victory over Syria, Jesus was acting out Zechariah 9:9-12. In that passage, the king brought an end to the exile, but he did so without military violence. Rather, he came in humility riding a donkey, a righteous savior bringing peace. Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem to show the people the humble, peaceful savior he intended to be.
As the rest of the story unfolds, the crowd at first doesn’t understand (12:34) and eventually they just don’t agree. The same people who sang “Hosanna” on Palm Sunday were among those who shouted “Crucify” on Good Friday. They wanted a deliverer, but when God gave him to them, they rejected him because he wasn’t what they wanted.
Let’s be honest. We’re members of that crowd, too. If Jesus had first come to us, we would have rejected him as well. In fact, we do it all the time. The irony of Palm Sunday is the irony of the Christian life. We worship Jesus as we want him to be, and then reject him when he doesn’t fit our expectations.
Holy Week begins today. It’s a time for putting our faith in the real Jesus. He comes to us in humility, and invites us to become like him.
Today in prayer, begin with the Collect of the Day (below). Then welcome Jesus into your life as the humble, peaceful savior. Commit your life to him today, and ask that he fill you with his Spirit, so that you might take up your cross and follow him. Then finish with the Lord’s Prayer.
The Collect of the Day. Almighty and everlasting God, in your tender love towards mankind, you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our human nature and to suffer death upon the cross, so that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility; mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of his patient suffering and also be made partners in his resurrection, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.