Jerusalem's Celebratory Welcome
- After a tough journey, the gang finally arrives in the suburbs of Jerusalem.
- Jesus instructs his disciples to enter the village, locate a colt, untie it, and tell anyone who asks what they're doing that "The Lord needs it" (11:2). These tasks are just getting weirder and weirder.
- Everything unfolds pretty much as Jesus said it would.
- Jesus sits upon the colt as he enters Jerusalem. This is an allusion to Zechariah 9:9.
- Many people throw their cloaks on the road before him, while others cut down branches from trees.
- People precede and follow him, acclaiming Jesus as "the one who comes in the name of Lord" (11:9), blessing the coming kingdom, and in general shouting language from the Psalms.
- Take a moment to enjoy a nice cool drink of irony. All this celebration clashes with Jesus's passion predictions and teachings about servitude while on the road.
- Jesus enters Jerusalem's temple, which is the holiest site in the world for Jews of this time. He anticlimactically looks around and returns to the suburbs.
- Here are a few historical tidbits for you to snack on. Normally, a dignitary arrives in a city, goes to the temple, and offers sacrifices, while the city's highest officials welcome and accompany him. Jesus just looks around, and the city's higher-ups are noticeably absent. This is a serious snub and surely indicative of what's about to go down in Jerusalem.