One thing is evident in the accounts of Jesus ‘Triumphal Entry’ into Jerusalem: no one knows what is actually happening except Jesus. Some cheered as though the deliverer had finally come, others jeered insinuating he was a fraud. By the end of the week, all will join in demanding his crucifixion. This melding of disparate voices reveals that neither grasped the truth of who Jesus was and what he had come to do. But that he knew is clear from how Matthew recounts and interprets the scene for us.
Jesus gives direction to two disciples to collect an animal that he had arranged for his use. It was a very deliberate choice and one designed to declare precisely who he was. The prophet Zechariah had foreseen the coming of the Righteous One and pictured the manner and demeanor of his arrival: “Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (9:9) Jesus’ choice of a colt was no coincidence. He was making a statement and everyone got it, those who cheered and those who jeered.
What they didn’t grasp was the nature of his messiahship. Both parties thought he was claiming to be the one who would ride ahead of a victorious army, but such was not the case. That Jesus understood this is evident in the interpretation Matthew offers of the events. In quoting the framing passage from Zechariah he makes two changes to the text. The first is a substitution of language from Isaiah that turns the opening line into an evangelistic call. While the original called for rejoicing in a completed work, the substitution called people to pay attention to what was about to happen. The second is the elimination of a line from Zechariah: “righteous and having salvation is he.” Many translations offer an alternative translation for “having salvation” -- “victorious.” Both intend to communicate that the arriving king is to be celebrated for a finished work, his having been victorious, his having saved. Matthew’s deletion is a subtle redirecting of the offered praise. It is not for what Jesus as messiah has done, but what he will do. By the end of the week, the humble and lowly demeanor will find full expression as he yields himself to the conniving and cries of the crowd. It’s his death that will establish the prophesied peace, a peace that cannot be undone.
What is remarkable, and reveals the grace and mercy of God, is that in a few short weeks many of those who cried for Jesus’ crucifixion will be brought to faith and repentance. With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit the Good News is preached with power and conviction soon follows. The same thing can happen now. I think it safe to say that few know what actually happened on Palm Sunday, and many are they who deny the messiahship of Jesus. But through the power of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the Good News others can be “cut to the heart,” and say, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37)
