“When my brothers and I were very small, our father took us just over the Texas boarder to a little Mexican village for a day trip. Dad had grown up in Chrystal City, Texas and he wanted us to see and do some of what he had experienced. We visited a little market and he purchased this small, carved donkey from marble for me. I have kept it ever since and if often finds its way on to our Easter dinner table.” Kathy Grimm
In the accounts of the four canonical Gospels, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem takes place about a week before his Resurrection.
According to the Gospels, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, and the celebrating people there lay down their cloaks in front of him, and also lay down small branches of trees. The people sang part of Psalms 118: 25–26 – … Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord ….
The symbolism of the donkey may refer to the Eastern tradition that it is an animal of peace, versus the horse, which is the animal of war. Therefore, a king came riding upon a horse when he was bent on war and rode upon a donkey when he wanted to point out he was coming in peace. Therefore, Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem symbolized his entry as the Prince of Peace, not as a war-waging king.
In many lands in the ancient Near East, it was customary to cover in some way the path of someone thought worthy of the highest honor. The Hebrew Bible (2Kings 9:13) reports that Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, was treated this way. Both the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John report that people gave Jesus this form of honor. However, in the Synoptic Gospels they are only reported as laying their garments and cut rushes on the street, whereas John more specifically mentions palm fronds. The palm branch was a symbol of triumph and victory in Jewish tradition, and is treated in other parts of the Bible as such (e.g., Leviticus 23:40 and Revelation 7:9). Because of this, the scene of the crowd greeting Jesus by waving palms and carpeting his path with them and their cloaks has become symbolic and important.
Related articles
- Palm/Passion Sunday: April 1 (prayerscapes.wordpress.com)
- Holy Week 2012 (ptl2010.com)
- Christ The King – He Rode a Donkey’s Colt – But Will Soon Ride a White Horse (christcenteredteaching.wordpress.com)
- A Lenten Journal: A Pursuit of the Doctrine of Christ (Sixth Saturday) (stsimonsorder.wordpress.com)
- Sermon For Palm Sunday: Where’s Wally? (bigcircumstance.com)
- Chesterton and the Donkey (apologus.wordpress.com)
- B. Palm Sunday (3) Jesus Declares His Kingship (rodiagnusdei.wordpress.com)
- Exhortation: Cross before Crown (apologus.wordpress.com)
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