Book Sixth: Holy Week
Chapter I: The Triumph of Jesus
I: The Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem
John xi. 55-57; xii. 12-19; Mark xi. 1-11; Luke xix. 29-44; xxi. 37-38; Matt. xxi. 1-11.
The Sanhedrin Councillors had indeed compelled Jesus to fly from the Holy City, but they had not been able to blot out either the memory of His prodigies, or the authority of His language, or His Name now famous throughout the length and breadth of Judaea. While the Lord retired to spend His last few days in the Desert of Ephrem, very many Jews had gone up to the Temple in order to purify themselves before the Passover, and ever since their arrival they had been on the lookout for Jesus. Their disappointment was lively on learning that He was no longer to be seen in Jerusalem, and that no one knew where He was.
In the porches, where the numerous ablutions and sacrifices necessitated longer hours of standing about for these crowds of visitors, the only topic of discussion was the young Prophet.
"What do you think?" They asked among themselves; "is it really true that He will not come?"
The Councillors could overhear them speaking such words, could note the agitation of the first comers, and so must have congratulated themselves for having avoided the disturbances with which the Festival was threatened, by thus getting rid of Jesus.
Their satisfaction was destined to be of short duration; for just six days before the Pasch news reached their ears that the Saviour was approaching. The Sabbath prevented the people from hurrying out immediately from the town, but as soon as sunset signalled the end of the hallowed repose, many went out as far as Bethany. "They went thither, not only for the sake of Jesus, but for Lazarus also,"bent upon seeing this man once dead but now called back from the tomb. They gazed at him, were thrilled at the thought, and, finally, overborne by the power of Jesus' words, great numbers re-entered Jerusalem, that same night, believing in the Saviour. Now among them were certain princes of the people, a fact which was exceedingly irritating to the excited members of the Sanhedrin. The Pontiffs especially, Sadducees for the most part, with no belief in the Resurrection of the dead, where indignant that these nobles should be the cause of such a commotion. To their way of thinking, there was only one means of putting an end to the things, and that was to kill the resuscitated man; this they resolved to do. But other cares weighed upon their minds, for now the rumour came (as already noise about in Bethany) that on the following day Jesus would enter the town. This news stirred up the entire populace, and all were making preparations to receive the Lord.
And accordingly, on the Morrow, Jesus quitted the home of His friends to make His way Jerusalemward. He did not follow the usual high road for caravans but took the footpath, which crosses over the ridge connecting the Mountain of Olives with Bethany. On passing out from under the long rows of palm trees which shade the village streets, then, just a little to His right, among the stony fields planted here and there with fig trees, the Saviour came in sight of Bethpagë (The House of Figs) surrounded by vineyards bearing a plentiful load of fruit.
Bringing the company about Him to a halt, Jesus sent to disciples on ahead.
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| The ass and the colt at Bethpagë. J-J Tissot. |
"Go into yonder village lying before us," He said. "Upon your entrance you shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her, on which no man has never yet mounted. Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone say to you, 'What are you doing?' Say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and straightway he will let them go."
Everything took place as Jesus had foretold them: in a byway of the town they found a she-ass, tied with her foal outside the gateway; and they unfastened them.
"What are you doing?" enquired some of the bystanders; whereupon they made answer just as the Lord had commanded them, and they let them go.
The Apostles were impatiently awaiting their return; since now, for the first time, they beheld the Master making ready something which might be likened to a Triumph, by preparing to mount the very animal of old devoted to the service of the Royal House of Israel, the ass of Eastern lands, of solemn gait and noble carriage. Jewish traditions had proclaimed that the Messiah would choose no other equipage on the day of His manifestation.
"And so," thought they, "at last the hour has come when the Master, after so long persisting in concealing Himself, will appear and establish His kingdom."
The delight and enthusiasm of the Galileans was so great that they tore off their mantles and with them decked the ass has a richly as they might; then making Jesus sit thereon, they thronged about Him with shouts of great joy. "They knew not," adds Saint John, "the Mystery contained in that which they were doing, but after Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that all these things had been written of Him, and that they had fulfilled them." For it was long ago recorded, in the words of Zachary:—
" Rejoice greatly, thou daughter of Sion! Lift up a shout of gladness, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold thy King cometh to thee: lonely and gentle, He bringeth thee salvation; poor, He rideth upon an ass and upon an ass's colt."
Meanwhile the retinue was advancing toward a Jerusalem,— Lazarus and the Apostles nearest to the Lord's side, while the ass walked slowly alongside her foal. The multitude, hastening out from Bethany, shared the disciples' wild transports. Some cast their garments on the ground, to beautify the road before Him; others, stripping the fig and the olive trees of their leafy boughs, covered the way with green branches; all vied with one another in celebrating the wondrous deeds of the Christ and Lazarus whom He had brought back alive from the tomb.
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| The Procession on the Mount of Olives. J-J Tissot. |
The route along which Jesus was advancing climbs over the crest of the Mount of Olives and speedily reaches its summit. From this point the Holy City suddenly arises in full view, its snowy ramparts towering over the dark ravines. Surprising as this scene is, even nowadays, to the traveller who climbs up this way from the Jordan, the spectacle was still more thrilling then, when in gazing upon Jerusalem they beheld one of the wonders of the Oriental world. Girdled with towers and battlements, crowned with palaces, the brilliant town reached out to the east and to the west, as if bent upon marshalling all her splendours before the beholder. In a southerly direction especially, when the sunlight would beat upon the white marbles and golden roofs of the Temple, the dazzled sight was unable to endure such a blaze of fire. So soon as this beloved vision unrolled itself before them, the Apostles burst forth into songs of triumph:—
"Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed be the King of Israel,
Who cometh in the Name of the Lord,
and blessed be the Kingdom
of our Father move David, which is come!
Hosanna, peace, Glory
in the highest off the Heavens!"
Amidst these cries of gladness Jesus alone was silent. He had stopped and was looking down upon the city wherein He was about to die. At last Sion had heaped up the full measure of ungratefulness, and the Saviour wept aloud over her.
"If thou hadst known," He mourned, "if thou hadst known — if only in this day which is still granted thee — that which might bring the Peace! But now all this is hidden from the thine eyes. There will come a time when thine enemies shall compass thee about with trenches, and shall destroy thee and thy children, all beaten down to the ground in thy midst, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou hast not known the time wherein God hath visited thee."
No one else besides Jesus foresaw this catastrophe at that moment. His disciples indeed saw Him weeping, they heard His predictions, and felt a momentary thrill of disquiet, but the impression was effaced shortly. So many times hadst the Lord’s brow grown sad, and His tears had flowed freely before them so often, that they no longer felt much amazement at the spectacle!
Meanwhile joyous acclamations, re-echoing from afar, had published on every hand the progress of the Son of David. And now, from the houses down in the valley and from the Pilgrims' tents, pitched in every available spot in that neighbourhood, there came out a great multitude to meet Him, advancing, having all palm branches in their hands. Then straightway the two great companies joined forces and together descended to Jerusalem,— one throng going before the Master, the other following after, all waving their green branches and filling the air with Hosannas.
"Hosanna!" they cried, while at every step the concourse swelled in number; loud plaudits, shouts of praise, triumphal chants, nothing was wanting which could lend majesty to this long-locked-for entry of their King.
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| The Procession in Jerusalem. J-J T |
Some of the Pharisees took alarm at all this. For who would be able to set any bounds to this emotion of the people? Would the Romans look with a favourable eye upon this public proclamation of a Messiah, Son of David, – a royalty which certainly promised nothing better than new and interminable seditions? However, as they had dared venture nothing openly against these crowds now enraptured with great joy, they only managed to approach Jesus.
"Master," they said, "restrain your disciples'."
"If they hold their peace," responded Jesus, "the very stones will cry out!"
Then He entered into the city. Here all was excitement.
"Who is this?" asked some; and those around them were crying:—
"It is Jesus, the Prophet of Nazareth!"
The while "all this great multitude with Him gave testimony that He it was Who had recalled Lazarus from the grave and raised him from the dead. It was for this that they flocked about Him, because they heard that He had wrought that Miracle."
Then indeed the Pharisees began to say to each other, —
" You see, we are gaining nothing. All the world is running after him!"
In this royal state the Saviour was conducted the length of Jerusalem as far as the Mountain of the Temple; there, doubtless, the great procession dispersed, for Jewish customs did not permit Pilgrims to approach the Sanctuary in travelling attire, their feet stained with dust.
And so, entering alone into the House of God, Jesus found it once more just as it had been three years back. Again avarice and greed had broken the bounds of respect; cages of doves, herds of cattle and sheep, tables for money-changers, these all blocked up the porches, stretching along beneath the galleries even to the confines of The Holy. Moreover, just at this moment the marketing seemed to wax more shrill and tumultuous than ever, since somewhere about the tenth day of Nisan the lamb had to be selected, so that every one was hurrying to buy the Paschal victim.
Jesus "scanned it all and on all sides." But perhaps he did nothing further on this day; for evening was drawing on, and he must needs make haste to depart from the city. In fact the Sanhedrin people, who were the more infuriated at losing Him as they saw He was gaining greater power daily, now had dogged His every step. Obliged to smother their hatred during this triumphal day, they looked to find facilities for avenging themselves upon Him, come nightfall. In the midst of the sleeping city nothing could be easier than suddenly to seize the Nazarene. Jesus foresaw the danger, and with His Apostles withdrew in the direction of Bethany.
Did He go as far as that village? We fancy not; for on this night as on the three following the Saviour would no longer have been safe in Lazarus' house, marked out as it was for the watchful spies. Wandering over the lonely and desolate sides of the Mount of Olives He made His bed up on the bare ground, surrounded by His disciples. According to His own words the Son of Man had no longer "where to lay His head."
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