Chapter Eleven PALM SUNDAY There was no turning back now, and nothing would deter Jesus from going to the City of G-d, there to initiate the new age. Whether or not he had a definite plan of action for his mission in Jerusalem, or whether he was convinced that G-d would reveal to him what he must do there, is not certain, but he displays now a confidence in his own success (and probably that of the Jewish people as well) so that nothing could stand in his way. The probability is that he DID have at least some germ of a plan of action formulated, and may even have been in contact with sympathizers or followers in Jerusalem who were to help him execute that plan. His triumphant attitude is expressed in the incident of the warning he had received as he began his journey to the Holy City. "The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected." Luke 13:31-32 This is no longer the Jesus who retreats into the wilderness or the mountains to avoid contact with the governing authorities. This is the man confident of his messianic identity, on a mission to save his people from the Roman oppressor, and from Rome's Jewish collaborators. And now the danger is no longer veiled and no longer intimated. The threat is overt! "... for Herod will kill thee." His reply is a challenge to all those who threaten him; it is a daring crescendo of determination, and complete faith in G-d: today he heals the nation and cleanses it of impurities ("devils"); tomorrow he will accomplish yet more; and on the day following he will be PERFECTED! And although he does not delineate, in any detailed way, the nature of this perfection, the word TELEYOMAI does not in itself imply martyrdom, altough in retrospect, many Christians would like to read such an interpretation into it. More likely, by this perfection is meant the completion of his task as messianic deliverer of Israel, champion of his people in the Final Battle, and coronation as king of the Jews, G-d's viceroy on earth in the Kingdom of Heaven. He gathers his followers together and speaks words of encourage- ment to them: "Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished." Luke 18:31 The excitement and the confidence rise as they draw closer and closer to the City: "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. And as they heard these things, he added and spake a par- able, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of G-d should immediately appear." Luke 19:11 Now it appears that Jesus had planned to make his messianic ap- pearence in Jerusalem co-incide with the Passover holiday. He probably thought this appropriate since Passover is the time PAR EXCELLENCE of Jewish redemption from oppression. Passover looks back at the redemption from Egyptian bondage, but also ahead to the great Final Redemption by the power of the King Messiah. It is, after all, at the Passover Seder that Jews call for Elijah the prophet, herald of the messiah, to appear, and in the darkest hours of Jewish history messianic expectations always were pronouced. Passover falls in the month of Nissan, the first month of the year at a season of hope. Practically the first words of the Seder service are: "Now we are slaves; In this coming year, may we be free." Six days before the on-set of Passover, Jesus and his Jewish followers arrived in Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem, located approxi- mately 1 3/4 miles to the southeast of the Holy City (known in Hebrew as Bet Chananyah). Since Passover fell on a Friday that year, it would mean that their arrival in Bethany was on the eve of the Sabbath, and it was here, in the home of Martha and Lazarus (whom later tradition claimed was raised from the dead by Jesus) that they spent the Sabbath, resting in preparation for the anticipated grand entrance into Jerusalem on the following day. Jewish tradition says that the messiah will appear and reveal himself to Israel on the first day of the week. That is why, during the prayer, at the departure of the Sabbath, known as HAVDALAH in Hebrew, Jews pray: Oh Elijah the Prophet! Oh Elijah the Tishbite! Oh Elijah the Gileadite! Oh speedily - in our time May he come to us, Bringing Messiah, the Son David!" And so it was on the first day of the week that Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem with hope and good tidings of a new day. When they approached the suburb of Bethphage, Jesus sent two of his disciples ahead into the town, telling them that at a certain place they would find a tethered donkey which they were to bring to him, upon which he would ride into Jerusalem in in fullfillemnt of the messianic prophecy of Zechariah (9:9). This detail intimates that indeed Jesus' journey to Jerusalem was not just something completely spontaneous, but rather a thought-out and planned event, and that he had been in contact all along with various collaborators in and around Jerusalem who fully believed that the Kingdom of Heaven was to be immediately initiated, and who wished to assist in its materialization. It is the first hint that is given of a general widespread, planned revolt against the Satanic Roman kingdom of Arrogance by the various factions of the faithfull of Jerusalem. The moment that they had been waiting for arrived! Jesus, mounted upon the ass, entered the Holy City, and his followers "spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way" (Mark 118), and they "took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him" (John 12:13). Mark and Matthew note that branches of trees were strewn in his path, as well as clothing. Luke only mentions clothing. John, the least reliable evangelist, in terms of historical accuracy, is the only gospel author to add the detail of the palms. Yet in this instance, we may trust his word as shall presently be explained. "And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, say- ing, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the L--d: Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the L--d: Hosanna in the highest." Mark 11:9-10 "And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the L--d; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." Matthew 21:9-11 "And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise G-d with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the L--d: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest." Luke 19:37-38 "... much people that were come to the feast ... went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the L--d." John 12:12-13 These are the descriptions of what is called the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as told by each of the evangelists. The telling of each gospel has significant deviations from which we hope we can glean some semblence of historical sense. Both Mark and Luke state that those who hailed his entry were his disciples or followers, which is probably more of an historical fact than that it was an amorphous "multitude" of pilgrims or citizens of Jerusalem. As a matter of fact, Matthew reports that the people of Jerusalem did not knwo who he was, and had to be told that he "is the prophet of Nazareth", that is, the multitudes still only know him as the PROPHET of the Kingdom, not as its messianic King. Yet even the presence of the Kingdom's prophet is sufficient to arouse excitement. It is as though he himself is likened to Elijah announcing glad tidings! The words with which they praise him are as significant as the air of excitement which they generate around him, for their expressions of joy are LITURGICAL. "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the L--d" is from Psalm 118; as such it is part of the series of psalms known as HALLEL (lierally "Praise") intoned in the synagogue on the various Jewish holidays. Actually, the Hallel is supposed to be recited on those occaisions when the Jewish people feels itself to be, or have been, experiencing the salvation of G-d from danger or from oppression. Among the days that it is recited are Passover and Tabernacles, the former commemorating the Divine deliverance from Egypt, and the latter commemorating G-d's protection of Israel in the wilderness. Morover, it is the holiday of Tabernacles that palm branches are carried and waved while the Hallel is being recited. Towards the end of the synagogue service, the worshippers walk in procession around the synagogue reciting a series of prayers known as HOSHANOT! They are called this because their major refrain is HASHEM HOSHA NA!, Oh L--d, Save us now we beseech thee! Tabernacles is part of the Rosh HaShannah holiday cycle, comprising Rosh HaShannah (New Year Day), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (Tabernacles). There is a correspondence between the Passover season and the Rosh HaShannah season. Both celebrate a new beginning for Israel. Passover falls in the first month of the Jewish year. It is a time of introspection and repentance, anticipating the redemption. Rosh HaShannah falls in the seventh month of the Jewish year but it is also a New Year celebration; it is the RELIGIOUS New Year, and also a time of reflection, repentance, and redemption. Thus, on the culminating holiday of the latter cycle, Israel holds aloft the palm branch as a symbol of hope and joy (see Leviticus 23:40), and cries out to G-d, HOSHA NA! Oh Save us please! Whatever sort of salvation is being prayed for, it is ultimately a prayer for MESSIANIC salvation, a plea that Israel may at last be saved from the domination and persecution of the nations, and that the Final Age may begin. Just as John the Baptist had used the ritual imersion symbolism of Rosh HaShannah - Yom Kippur to espress repentance, so now the disciples of Jesus used the psalm - Hallel symbolism of Sukkot to express anticipated redemption. (Note Luke's use of the expression "PRAISE G-d with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen"). When Jesus entered Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, there was an air of anticipation abroad. Events were taking shape in the Holy City that week which were to find expression in an open rebellion against the Roman oppressor, an insurrection which no other subject nation of the Empire would dare attempt. It was the pre-cursor of the great Jewish-Roman War of 66-70 CE. The sight of the prophet from Galilee, healer and preacher, hightened the excitement generated by the inpouring of pilgrims from the four corners of the earth, a fore-shadow ing of the messianic ingathering of Israel. The disciples of Jesus, seeing their master riding upon the messiah's donkey on this first day of a new week, expressed their hope and joy in a form familiar to Jews, the lifting of the palm branch, thesinging of Hallel, and the recitation of the HOSHA NA. Yet in all of this, there seems to be some sort of confusion in the minds of the evangelists or their editors as to what exactly happened at the Entry. The expressions, "Hosanna in the highest", "Hosanna to the son of David" make absolutely no sense whatsoever. It is as though the Hebrew expression were misunderstood to mean "praise" or "glory" by the non-Hebrew speaking authors or editors. As a matter of fact, the entire episode of the Triumpal Entry, and especially its Jewish references, has been misunderstood and distorted in the minds of its Christian readers, as has the the entire series of events cumulatively known in Christian tradition as Holy Week (or Passion Week). Hopefully this essay may help to shed some new light of understanding for its readers. "The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him." John 12:19 The correct reading should be "The Sadducees therefore said". All along, the Herodian party, close allies of the Sadducees, had placed Jesus and his followersunder survellience on suspicion of rousing the people to revolt. Now, seeing the popular excited reaction to his mounted entrance into the City at this season of high messianic expectation, and observing the interaction between him and the people, the Sadducees take uneasy notice. Here, they understand, is someone more dangerous than the Baptist, for while the Baptist called the people out to the wilderness, Jesus whom the people call "prophet", brings his mission into the heart of the Quisling establishment domain. Here in the City is the seat of the Roman government in the Land of Israel. Jesus appears to be defying the power of Rome itself. "The world is gone after him" - 'world' is a common euphemism for the Jewish people in rabbinic literature, especially the Talmud. "And there were certain Greeks among them, that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified ... Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." John 12:20-23,32 Only John records this incident. "Greeks" - the word HELLENES should not be understood as referring to gentiles. It means Jews of the Greek speaking diaspora. There were many such living in the Land of Israel who had emigrated there. They had their own neighborhoods and synagogues and associations much as the Eastern European Jewish immigrants had their "FAREINS" here in this country at the start of the twentieth century. For a reference to the synagogues of the resi- dent Hellenes in Jerusalem, see Acts 6:9. The "Greeks" referred to here however are NOT residents of Jerusalem. They are pilgrims who "came up to worship at the feast". Apparently the fame of Jesus had either spread to the diaspora or these visiting pilgrims just happened to be present at Jesus' entry into the City and were impressed or curious. The diaspora Jews of that time waited just as expectantly for the mes- siah as those of the Land of Israel, perhaps more so since they felt the "exile" more acutely. During their interview with Jesus, he tells them that their expectations are to bepresently realized. The "prince of this world", Caesar, is to be cast out and the messiah is to be immanently glorified! This interchange between Jesus and the Hellenic Jews was to have far reaching consequences regarding the spread of Christianity as we shall see later. "Came to Philip" - Philip is again mentioned together with Andrew. Why do the Greeks approach Philip? Although Philip and Andrew are said to be residents of Bethsaida, Philip's Jewish name is never given, a very strange thing since the Jewish names of most of the other disciples ARE given. If Philip bore only a Greek name, then it is possible that he or his parents came originally from the Greek diaspora and settled in Bethsaida. If that is so, and by virtue of the fact that he SPOKE Greek, then he would be the logical one for the Greek-speaking pilgrims to approach. As stated earlier, Philip and Andrew were responsible for providing food for the Nazarene group. As disciples who did the "shopping" for the group, they would come into contact with various kinds of strangers more often than the others. We can picture the scene of that Palm Sunday morning as Jesus walked (or rode) thorugh the streets of Jerusalem, followed by the crowd, until he came to the heart of City, and stood facing the Temple, the hub of the world, the place of the Dwelling Presence of the G-d of Israel. "Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." John 2:18-19 This was a bold statement for Jesus to make, and it is the charge that was brought up against him at his trial (Mark 14:59). Indeed, the messiah is to build the third and final Temple in the messianic age of the Kingdom. It will be a pure House of G-d to which all nations shall stream. The Temple that stood in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus was built by Herod the Great, and presided over by the pro-Roman Sadducees. There were many Jews of that day who felt that THAT Temple was defiled as it had been under the pro-Selucid Hellenists. They would not have been sorry to see it replaced by the Temple of the messiah as a fitting beginning of the new age. This, of all messianic tasks, is what Jesus promises "the Jews" in answer to their inquiry about his messiah-hood. "Then answered the Jews" - CERTAIN Jews. Use of the definite article in New Testament writings shows underlying resonances of anti-semitism which influenced subsequent Christian modes of generalized antipathetic thinking about Jews. The expression, "THE Jews", is over-worked in John's gospel. In the synoptic gospels, it is usually paralleled by "THE Pharisees". In relating that THE Jews asked Jesus for a sign, it lends a certain negativity to the question that probably was not intended. The majority of THE Jews was not present in Jerusalem at the time so only SOME Jews could have asked him for a sign from motives of expectant curiosity, not as a challenge "And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve." Mark 11:11 What does the phrase "looked round about upon all things" mean if not some sort of prepatory reconnosance? Mark, earliest of the evangelists, is the only one to report this detail. This verse sets the scene for what is to follow on the next day, the "Cleansing of the Temple."
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