The Sunday of HosannasOn Sunday our Lord is received by large and tumultuous crowds as he approaches the city, and they escort him into town all the way to the Temple. There he finds money-changers in the Court of the Gentiles. These men were there to exchange the currency of people who traveled from distant lands so that they would be able to do business in Jerusalem--particularly in the Temple. There they had to purchase doves or pigeons for use in sacrifice. Jesus exercises his authority as Lord of the Temple by driving out the money-changers and the sellers of pigeons who cluttered up the Court of the Gentiles, and he quotes from the prophet Isaiah in support of his actions. The Scripture he uses is from a larger statement which explains, at least in part, our Lord's anger: "And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant--these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." (Isa. 56:6-7) The action of Jesus is a rebuke of the leaders  of the Temple who permitted this interference with the prayer of those Gentiles who desired to worship the God of Israel.
The leaders of the Jews, who have been conspiring together to get rid of Jesus, become angry--especially at the way the crowds are receiving the Lord as if he were a king. They ask him to rebuke the children who are shouting "Hosanna" in the streets, but he only replies by quoting a passage from the Psalms: "Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have perfected your praise because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger." (Ps. 8:2) Though he only quotes the first part of this verse, the entire passage is all too familiar to the Jewish leaders, who would be able to complete the verse in their own minds. It would alert them to the fact that Jesus was aware of their plots to do away with him. It would also be a further rebuke to them and heighten the tension between him and them. Jesus then leaves the city and goes to the nearby town of Bethany where he spends the night.  In the morning our Lord rises and returns to Jerusalem where preparations for the Feast of the Passover are going on. On the way in to the city he becomes hungry and sees a fig tree. He expects to find fruit on the tree, but instead finds it barren. In anger he curses the tree that it might never again bear fruit. The fig tree, an important symbol of the nation of Israel (Jer. 8:13; Hos. 9:10), withers, and Jesus, in a symbolic way, judges the nation for its barrenness. (It is important to remember that the judgment is on the nation, not on individual Jews, many of whom were his followers.)
The disciples who were with Jesus reacted with amazement at this sign of power, but Jesus answers them by turning and pointing at Mount Zion in the distance. He says, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, `Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will be done." (Mat. 21:21) Here Jesus was not talking about uprooting mountains, but about the power of faith and prayer. The disciples would need both in plentiful supply if they were to persevere through the coming days.  Thus our celebration of the Lord's entry into Jerusalem sets the stage for the coming week. The tension between him and the Jewish leaders has reached a very high point, leading to his betrayal by Judas on Wednesday, his last Passover meal with his disciples on Thursday, his arrest, condemnation, and crucifixion on Friday.
A day that began with joy and promise ends with rebuke and judgment. Like the fig tree, which outwardly looked fruitful, Jerusalem had all the outward signs of religious piety, but was inwardly hostile to the purposes of Israel's Lord. Palm Sunday may be seen to be a warning to us as well. Behind the show of our piety must be the substance of good works and faithfulness. Previous | Table of Contents | Next |
