With these words,Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
As they came close, as near as Bethany and Bethphage, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent he sent two of the disciples on ahead. 'Go into the village over there,' he said,'and as you arrive you'll find a colt tied up, one that nobody has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, 'Why are you untying it?' you should say,"Because the Master needs it."'
The two who where sent went off and found it as Jesus had said to them. They untied the colt, and its owner said to them,"Why are you untying the colt?"
"Because the Master needs it," they replied.
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and mounted Jesus on it. As he was going along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.
When he came to the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began to celebrate and praise God at the top of their voices for all the powerful deeds they had seen.
'Welcome, welcome, welcome with a blessing,' they sang. 'Welcome to the king in the name of the Lord!''Peace in heaven, and glory on high!'
Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Jesus, 'Teacher, tell your disciples to stop that.'
'Let me tell you,' replied Jesus,'if they stayed silent, the stones would be shouting out!'
This has been a long and treacherous pilgrimage and as they ascend from the dusty roads and through the poverty stricken towns of Bethany and Bethphage and find themselves upon the lush green terrain of the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem herself finally comes into view. Jesus has got everything worked out and soon the disciples catch on...they know the Messianic prophecy of Zechariah 9v9...so they break into jubilant celebration singing parts of that great hymn of praise-psalm 118. (read the psalm in its entirety if you want to get into their heads a bit). But here are the Pharisees, following along with the crowd until the stakes go up...then they want Jesus to silence them...they foreshadow all the forces of evil that are mounting against Jesus in Jerusalem...this is the point of no return and Jesus knows it...he can't stop it now...he is walking right into the eye of the storm, but this is how God's Kingdom comes...God's great Passover...the New Exodus that would lead God's faithful out of their slavery to sin...to the place where Pilate crucifies Galileans...he is headed to the cross...it makes one wonder...if Jesus disciples had known Jesus had his mind set on a cross...would they had been singing the same tune? or would they have listened to the Pharisees? Surely they would have been confused and scared and utterly befuddled...as they soon will be...
The question for us is the same...do we celebrate with Jesus only when he does what we expect the way we expect it...or can he trust us to be faithful with the deeper things? Trusting that our Father truly works all things together for our good? What happens when we have to follow Him into controversy or subversive action or insurrection?...Well, I guess that depends on your belief about the Resurrection doesn't it.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
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