Dr Paul Allen

English: Description: Left Apsis: Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Fresco in the Parish Church of Zirl, Austria. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.” ( Psalm 118:26 ) This is the climactic verse of Psalm 118 , one of the great Messianic psalms. It was fulfilled, at least in a preliminary way, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a small donkey just one week before His resurrection, thereby acknowledging that He was fulfilling Zechariah ’s prophecy: “. . . behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding . . . upon a colt the foal of an ass” ( Zechariah 9:9 ). As He rode into the city, many “took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna : Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord” ( John 12:13 ). Many Christians even today still commemorate that occasion on what they call Palm Sunday , one we...

English: Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 21:1–11 “And the crowds…were shouting, ‘ Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” ( v. 9 ). Until the last week of His life, Jesus warned people not to disclose His identity ( Matt. 8:1–4 ; 9:27–31 ; 16:20 ). Any talk of His being a king would have aroused Rome ’s ire and put His life at risk before the appropriate time. The emperor did not look kindly on potential rivals and would move quickly to crush any threat to his power. Jesus’ approach to establishing His kingdom, however, was radically different than the many others who tried to overthrow Rome. On the outskirts of Jerusalem , Jesus orders two disciples to retrieve a donkey and her young colt ( Matt. 21:1–3 ) from a nearby village (Bethany, see John 12:1–15 ). The colt will be His mount ( Matt. 21:7 ) and has never been ridden before ( Mark 11:1–2 ). This is probably why our Sa...