Going into Jerusalem
Jesus and the apostles arrived in Bethany a few minutes after four o’clock on Friday afternoon, March 31, A.D. 30. Lazarus, his sisters, and their friends were expecting them, but since so many people came every day to talk with Lazarus about his resurrection Jesus was told that he was going to stay with a neighbor, a believer in the gospel named Simon who had become the leading citizen of Bethany since Lazarus’ father had died.
That evening many people came to visit Jesus, and the common folk in Bethany and Bethpage did their best to make him feel welcome. Although many of them thought Jesus was now going into Jerusalem in utter defiance of the Sanhedrin’s death sentence to announce himself king of the Jews, the Bethany family—Lazarus, Mary and Martha—knew that Jesus was not that kind of a king; they dimly felt this may be his last visit to Bethany and Jerusalem.
The Sanhedrin had been told that Jesus was staying in Bethany, but they thought it best not to seize him among his friends and instead wait until he went into Jerusalem. Jesus knew about this but he was majestically calm: his friends had never seen him more composed and good natured. Even the apostles were astounded that he was so unconcerned that the Sanhedrin had called on all of the Jews to deliver him into their hands. While Jesus slept that night the apostles watched over him in twos and many of them were armed with swords. Even though it was the Sabbath, in the morning they woke up early to hundreds of pilgrims who had come out from Jerusalem to see Jesus and Lazarus.
Sabbath at Bethany
Everyone, from the pilgrims outside of Judea to the Jewish authorities, had all been asking “What do you think? Will Jesus come up to the feast?” So when the people heard that Jesus was in Bethany they were happy, but the Pharisees and Sanhedrin were baffled. They were glad to have him under their jurisdiction but they were confused by his boldness. They remembered that the last time Jesus was in Bethany he had raised Lazarus from the dead, and Lazarus was becoming a major problem for Jesus’ enemies.
On Sunday evening six days before the Passover, all of Bethany and Bethpage joined in celebrating Jesus’ arrival with a public banquet at Simon’s house. This supper was in honor of both Jesus and Lazarus, and it was held in defiance of the Sanhedrin. Martha was in charge of serving of the food; her sister Mary was seated with the women onlookers because it was against Jewish custom for women to sit with the men at a public banquet. The Sanhedrin’s agents were present but they were afraid to arrest Jesus in the middle of his friends.
Jesus and Simon talked about Joshua of old, Jesus’ namesake, and Jesus recited how Joshua and the Israelites had come up to Jerusalem through Jericho. When he spoke about the legend of the walls of Jericho falling down, Jesus said “I am not concerned with such walls of brick and stone, but I would cause the walls of hate, prejudice, and self-righteousness to crumble before the preaching of the Father’s love for all humanity.”
The banquet proceeded as normal and everyone was enjoying themselves except for the apostles, who were unusually sober. Jesus was more cheerful than normal, and had been playing with the children up to the time he was called to the table to eat.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened until the end of the dinner. Lazarus’ sister, Mary, left her place with the women’s group and walked over to where Jesus was sitting as the guest of honor. She then opened a large alabaster pitcher filled with a rare and expensive lotion, and after rubbing some of it in Jesus’ hair she sat down on the floor and poured some on his feet, taking down her own hair so she could wipe them dry.
The whole house smelled of this valuable ointment, and everyone was amazed at how Mary had honored Jesus. Lazarus said nothing but some of the people grumbled under their breath, upset that such an expensive lotion was, they thought, being squandered. Judas Iscariot heard these comments and went over to where Andrew was sitting and said “Why was this ointment not sold and the money given to feed the poor? You should speak to the Master so that he criticizes such waste.”
Jesus knew what the guests were thinking, and after their mutterings he put his hand on Mary’s and with a kind expression said “Leave her alone, every one of you. Why do you trouble her about this seeing that she has done a good thing in her heart? To you who gripe under your breath that this lotion should have been sold and the money given to the poor, let me say that you always have the poor with you so that you can care for them at any time that seems good to you. But I will not always be with you: I will soon go to my Father. This woman has saved this lotion to put on my body when I am dead, but now that she wants to give it to me before my death she will not be denied such joy. In doing this for me Mary has scolded all of you, because this act shows her faith in what I have said about my death and my ascension to the Father in heaven. This woman will not be criticized for what she has done tonight. Instead, I am telling you that in the ages to come wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world what she has done will be spoken of in memory of her.”
Judas Iscariot took this reprimand as a personal scolding and he finally made up his mind to look for revenge. Many times he had thought about such ideas subconsciously, but now he dared to think such wicked thoughts in his open and conscious mind. Many of the other people present encouraged his attitude because the lotion cost one man’s earnings for a full year, which was enough to provide bread for five thousand people. But Mary loved Jesus; she had saved this precious lotion to embalm his body in death because she believed him when he had said that he must die, and she was not going to be denied her right to instead give Jesus this gift while he lived.
Both Lazarus and Martha knew that Mary had saved the money to buy this bottle of perfumed lotion, called spikenard, and they enthusiastically approved of her following her heart’s desire: they were well to do and could easily afford to make such an offering. When the Sanhedrin learned about the banquet they realized that something had to be done about Lazarus, and soon after they decided that he also must die. They rightly concluded that it would be useless to put Jesus to death if they permitted Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead, to live.
Sunday Morning with the Apostles
Jesus, in Simon’s ornate garden, called his twelve apostles around him that bright Sunday morning and gave them their final instructions before entering Jerusalem. Jesus told them that he would probably deliver many sermons before returning to the Father, but that they, the apostles, were not do any public work during this Passover in Jerusalem. He asked them to stay nearby him and to watch and pray. Jesus knew that many of his apostles were carrying swords under their cloaks but he said nothing about it.
This morning’s instructions included a brief review of their ministry from the day of their ordination near Capernaum up to this day when they were preparing to enter Jerusalem. The apostles listened in silence: they asked no questions. Earlier that morning David Zebedee had given Judas the money they made from selling the equipment at the Pella camp, and Judas had in turn given most of this money to Simon, their host, for safekeeping in anticipation of what they were going to need when they went into Jerusalem.
After meeting with the apostles Jesus talked with Lazarus and told him to avoid sacrificing his life to the Sanhedrin’s vengeance. A few days later Lazarus obeyed this order and fled to Philadelphia after he heard that the Sanhedrin had sent men to arrest him. All of Jesus’ followers sensed the coming crisis, but they did not realize how serious it was because Jesus was in exceptionally good humor.
The Start for Jerusalem
Jesus left for Jerusalem at one-thirty in the afternoon: Bethany was about two miles from the temple. Jesus was fond of Bethany and its simple people. He had been rejected by Nazareth, Capernaum, and Jerusalem but Bethany had accepted him: they had believed in him. It was in this small village where almost every man, woman, and child were believers that he chose to perform the mightiest work of his time on Earth, resurrecting Lazarus. He did not raise Lazarus so that the villagers might believe, but because they already believed.
All morning Jesus had been pondering his entrance into Jerusalem. Up until this point he had always tried to suppress public praise of him being the Messiah, but now it was different. He was nearing the end of his life, the Sanhedrin had ordered his death, and no harm could come from allowing his disciples to freely express their feelings—just like they might do if he decided to make a formal public entrance into the city.
Jesus was not making a show of entering into Jerusalem as a last bid for popular favor, or as a final grasp for power. Neither did he do it to satisfy the human hopes of his apostles and disciples. Jesus had none of the illusions of a fantastic dreamer; he well knew what was going to result from this visit.
Having decided to make his entrance into Jerusalem a public event, Jesus then had to decide how. He thought over all of the more or less contradictory and so-called Messianic prophecies, but there only seemed to be one that was at all appropriate to follow. Most of these prophecies spoke of a king—the son and successor of David—a bold and aggressive temporal deliverer of all Israel from the yoke of foreign domination. But there was one scripture found in Zechariah that offered a more spiritual view of the Messiah: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king comes to you. He is just and he brings salvation. He comes as the lowly one, riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass.” A warrior king always entered a city riding on a horse; a king on a mission of peace and friendship always entered riding on an ass. Jesus would not enter Jerusalem as a man on horseback, but he was willing to enter peacefully and with good will as the Son of Man on a donkey.
Jesus had tried many times using direct language to impress on his apostles that his kingdom was not of this world—that it was a purely spiritual matter—but without success. Now what he had failed to do through plain, direct, and personal teaching he would try to do with a symbolic appeal. Right after lunch Jesus summoned John and Peter and told them to go to Bethpage, the neighboring village just off the main road and a short distance northwest of Bethany. He said “Go to Bethpage, and when you come to the junction in the road you will find the colt of an ass tied there. Untie the colt and bring it back with you. If anyone asks you why you are doing this just say ‘The Master has need of him.’” When the two apostles went to Bethpage they found the colt tied nearby his mother in the open street. As Peter began to untie the colt the owner came over to him and asked why they were doing this, and Peter replied just like Jesus had told him to. Then the man said “If your Master is Jesus from Galilee, let him have the colt.”
By about ten-thirty in the morning several hundred pilgrims had gathered around Jesus and his apostles, including the twelve women of the original women’s corps who had just arrived. The Alpheus twins put their cloaks on the donkey and held him while Jesus mounted. Meanwhile, David Zebedee and some of his former messengers went into Jerusalem where they were successful spreading the news that Jesus of Nazareth was making a triumphal entry into the city; several thousands of these visitors went to greet this much talked about prophet and wonder worker that some people believed to be the Messiah. This crowd coming out from Jerusalem met Jesus and the crowd going into the city just after they had passed over the brow of Olivet and started down the hill into the Jerusalem.
As the procession moved toward the Olivet summit the festive crowd threw their robes on the ground and brought branches from the nearby trees to make a carpet of honor for the donkey bearing the royal Son, the promised Messiah. As the merry crowd moved on toward Jerusalem they began to sing, or rather shout, the Psalm “Hosanna to the son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed be the kingdom that comes down from heaven.”
Jesus was cheerful up until the brow of Olivet where the city and the temple towers came into full view. There Jesus stopped the parade, and silence fell over the people as they saw him weeping. Looking down on the huge crowd that had come out from the city to greet him, Jesus—tearful and with his voice edged with deep feeling—said “O Jerusalem if you had only known in this your day the things that belong to your peace and that could have so freely been yours! But now these glories are about to be hidden from your eyes. You are about to reject the Son of Peace and turn your backs on the gospel of salvation. The days will soon come to you where your enemies will cast a trench around you and lay siege to you on every side; they will utterly destroy you to the point that not one stone will be left on another. All of this will happen to you because you did not know the time of your divine visitation. You are about to reject the gift of God, and all of humanity will reject you.”
When Jesus finished speaking they began the descent down Olivet joined by the crowds that had come from Jerusalem waving palm branches, shouting hosannas, and otherwise expressing their joy. Jesus had not planned on these crowds coming out from Jerusalem to meet them: that was the work of others. Jesus never premeditated anything that was dramatic. Along with the crowd that poured out to welcome Jesus were many of the Pharisees and his other enemies. They were so uneasy by this sudden and unexpected outburst of popular acclaim that they feared to arrest Jesus in case it caused an open revolt.
As they neared Jerusalem the crowd became unruly, so much so that some of the Pharisees made their way up alongside Jesus and said “Teacher, you should scold your disciples and order them to behave themselves.”
Jesus replied “It is only fitting that these children should welcome the Son of Peace whom the chief priests have rejected. It would be useless to stop them, unless these stones on the side of the road cry out to them.”
The Pharisees rushed ahead of the procession to rejoin the Sanhedrin, which was in session at the temple, and they reported to their associates “See, all that we do does not work; we are confused by this Galilean. The people have gone mad over him, and if we do not stop these ignorant ones all the world will follow him.”
There was no deep meaning to this superficial and spontaneous outburst of popular enthusiasm: although it was joyous and sincere it did not show any real or deep-seated conviction in the hearts of the masses. These same crowds were equally willing to reject Jesus later in the week when they became disillusioned and when the Sanhedrin finally took a firm stand against him. But right then the whole city was mightily stirred up, and everyone asked “Who is this man?”
And the crowd replied “This is the prophet of Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth.”
Visiting Around the Temple
While the Alpheus twins returned the donkey to its owner, Jesus and the ten apostles broke away from their immediate associates and admired the preparations for the Passover. No attempt was made to molest Jesus because the Sanhedrin feared the crowds, which was after all one of the reasons Jesus had for letting the people praise him. The apostles did not understand that this was the only human thing that could have worked to prevent Jesus’ immediate arrest on entering the city. Jesus wanted to give the people of Jerusalem, as well as the tens of thousands of visitors, one more last chance to hear the gospel and to receive the Son of Peace.
As the evening drew on and the crowds went to look for food, Jesus and his immediate followers were left alone. What a strange day it had been! The apostles were thoughtful but speechless. Never in their years of knowing Jesus had they seen such a day. As they rested nearby the treasury watching people donate their money, a poor scantily attired widow put two mites, or small copper coins, into the trumpet. Jesus called his apostles’ attention to the widow and said “Heed well what you have just seen. This poor widow cast in more than all the others, because they who have so much extra money put in some trifle as a gift but this poor woman even though she is in want gave all that she had, even her living.”
As the evening passed they walked around the temple courts in silence, and after Jesus had seen these familiar scenes once more he said “Let us go up to Bethany to rest for the night.” Jesus, John, and Peter went to Simon’s house, while the other apostles stayed with their friends in the area.
The Apostles’ Attitude
When returning to Bethany Jesus walked in front of the apostles. They were silent until they all separated at Simon’s house. No twelve human beings had ever experienced such diverse and puzzling emotions as were now surging through the kingdom’s ambassadors. These sturdy Galileans were confused; they did not know what to expect next and they were too surprised to be afraid. They knew nothing about Jesus’ plans for the next day and did not ask.
Andrew was thoroughly bewildered. He was the one apostle who did not try to seriously evaluate the popular outburst of praise. Andrew was the chief apostle and more focused on his responsibilities than the crowd’s loud hosannas. He was concerned about some of the twelve’s attitudes, especially those that he knew were armed with swords, but he did not know that his own brother, Peter, also carried one. Andrew was troubled with serious doubts this day and those that immediately followed, but he never expressed any of these misgivings to the other apostles. For Andrew, the parade into Jerusalem made a comparatively superficial impression: he was too busy with the responsibilities of his office to be affected otherwise.
Simon Peter was at first almost swept off of his feet by the crowd’s enthusiasm, but he was well sobered by the time they returned to Bethany that night. Peter simply could not understand Jesus: he was terribly disappointed that Jesus did not follow up this wave of popular favor with some kind of announcement when they reached the temple. Peter was a fantastic preacher, and he disliked seeing such a large, receptive, and enthusiastic audience go to waste. He wanted to preach the gospel of the kingdom to the crowd right there in the temple, but Jesus had specifically ordered them to not teach this week while in Jerusalem. In the end, the spectacular procession into Jerusalem was disastrous for Simon Peter.
James Zebedee was just as bewildered as Simon Peter. He could not understand why Jesus let this wild show of approval happen, and then refuse to speak to the people when they arrived at the temple. As the crowd moved down Olivet toward Jerusalem, James was torn by conflicting emotions of delight on the one hand and deep fear on the other. Then when Jesus climbed off the donkey and just leisurely walked around the temple, James was overcome with disappointment: by nightfall he was distressed and dreadfully uncertain.
John Zebedee grasped more of the spiritual significance of this so-called triumphant entry into Jerusalem. As the crowd had proceeded toward the temple and John watched Jesus sitting on the colt, he recalled hearing him quote Zechariah and describe the coming messiah as a man of peace who rode into Jerusalem on an ass. As John reviewed this scripture and its symbolic meaning he understood enough to enjoy the parade and not become depressed by the apparent useless ending of the procession. John’s mind naturally tended toward symbolism.
Philip was unnerved by the suddenness of the crowd’s outburst. In a way he enjoyed the spectacle because it was honoring Jesus, but by the time they reached the temple he was worried that Jesus would ask him to feed the crowds. So when Jesus disappointed most of the other apostles by leisurely turning away from the mass of people, Philip was immensely relieved. He then joined Peter in expressing his disappointment that nothing had been done to teach the masses. Later that night Philip was tempted to doubt the whole idea of the kingdom. He honestly wondered what everything meant, but he told his doubts to no one: he loved Jesus too much.
Nathaniel came the closest to understanding Jesus’ reason for enlisting the popular support of the Passover pilgrims. Before they had reached the temple he realized that without such a friendly entry into Jerusalem, Jesus would have been arrested by the Sanhedrin and cast into prison the moment he entered the city. He was not in the least surprised that Jesus then made no further use of the cheering crowds. Nathanial naturally followed along with more poise and was less upset by Jesus’ later conduct than were the other apostles.
Matthew was at first unnerved by the carnival atmosphere. He did not understand what he was seeing until, like with John Zebedee, he remembered the scripture in Zechariah about the king entering Jerusalem on the colt of an ass. As the crowd moved toward the city and closer to the temple Matthew became overjoyed; he was certain that something extraordinary would happen when Jesus arrived at the temple leading the shouting mass of people. When one of the Pharisees mocked Jesus and said “Look everybody, see who comes here, the king of the Jews riding on an ass!” it took all of Matthew’s restraint to keep his hands off of him. Next to Simon Peter and Simon Zelotes, Matthew experienced the most stress this day and he was exhausted by that night. But by morning Matthew was better; he was, after all, a cheerful loser.
Thomas was the most bewildered of them all. Most of the day he just followed along gazing at the spectacle and honestly wondering what Jesus’ reason was for participating in such a strange demonstration. Deep down in his heart Thomas felt the whole performance was a bit childish, if not downright foolish. But by the time they reached the temple Thomas realized that the purpose of this popular demonstration was to so frighten the Sanhedrin that they would not dare to immediately arrest Jesus. By bedtime he saw the humor in Jesus staging the wild entry into Jerusalem.
Simon Zelotes was ecstatic and saw visions of wonderful things happening in Jerusalem the next few days, and he was right. But Simon dreamed of establishing the national rule of the Jews with Jesus on the throne of David: he envisioned the nationalists springing into action as soon as the kingdom was announced with him as commander in chief of the gathering military forces of the new kingdom. On the way down Olivet he even dreamed of the Sanhedrin and all of their sympathizers being killed before sundown that very day. He believed something fantastic was going to happen and for a time he was the noisiest man in the crowd. But by five o’clock in the afternoon he was a silent, crushed, and disillusioned apostle. Simon Zelotes never recovered from the depression that overcame him from that day’s shock, at least not until long after Jesus’ resurrection.
For the Alpheus twins this was a perfect day. They enjoyed everything they saw and heard, and they could not understand why the other apostles were so downcast when they returned to Bethany that evening. In the twin’s memories this was always their day of being closest to heaven on Earth: it was the satisfying climax of their whole career as apostles. Remembering their joy this Sunday afternoon carried them through all of the tragedy later in the week right up to the crucifixion. It was the most befitting entry of the king the twins could conceive: they approved of everything they saw and long cherished the memory.
Judas Iscariot’s mind had started to rot because of Jesus’ scolding the day before at Simon’s dinner party. Judas was disgusted with the whole parade: it seemed childish if not ridiculous. As this vengeful apostle watched the proceedings, Jesus seemed to resemble a clown more than a king. Judas shared the Greeks and Romans’ disgust for anyone who would ride on an ass or the colt of an ass. By the time the triumphant parade had entered the city, Judas had about made up his mind to abandon the whole idea of such a kingdom. But then he remembered Lazarus’ resurrection and many other events, and decided to stay on with the twelve at least for another day. Besides, he carried the money bag and he would not desert with the apostles’ funds. On the way back to Bethany that night his conduct did not seem strange since all of the apostles were equally silent and downcast.
Judas was hurt by the ridicule he faced from the Sadducees, some of whom had been his friends. In his final decision to abandon Jesus and his fellow apostles, no other single factor influenced Judas so strongly as something that occurred just as Jesus reached the city gate. An important Sadducee who was a friend of Judas’ family rushed up and laughing and slapping him on the back said, “Why do you look so down and out, my good friend. Cheer up and join us as we hail this Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews as he rides through the gates of Jerusalem seated on an ass.” Judas had never shrunk from persecution, but he could not stand this sort of ridicule. With his long-nourished revenge there was now blended in this fatal fear of ridicule, that terrible and fearful feeling of being ashamed of Jesus and his fellow apostles. At heart this ordained ambassador of the kingdom was already a deserter: it only remained for him to find some plausible excuse for an open break with Jesus.