Jesus is so close to Jerusalem. In John’s Gospel, we see that he stopped in Bethany. Luke mentions Bethphage, which, more than likely, was a district of Jerusalem extending beyond the walls of the city. The Talmud is really the only historical document that tells much of Bethphage. It was there that sacred bread was prepared and it was there that much of the overflow from Jerusalem, during times of celebrations and feasts resided. It was on the side of the Mount of Olives and the name itself means ‘place of figs.’
Jesus sent two of his disciples on while he stayed in Bethany. They were to retrieve a colt which had never been ridden … had never been broken. Jesus knew that his death awaited him and it was now time to publicly claim the title of the Kingly Messiah.
Because of who he was, the colt was made available to him and the disciples placed Jesus on the colt … as servants of the King. He comes in, though, not on a warrior’s steed, but a young colt … in humility as was prophesied by Zechariah: “Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).
In 2 Kings 9:13, the custom of setting cloaks out to honor the way of the king is written: “Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, ‘Jehu is king.’”
As Jesus came down the Mount of Olives, the disciples and his followers were singing praises and shouting to God, but the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke them. Jerusalem still refuses to receive its king.
Before Jesus enters the city, he began to weep. From the moment of Jesus’ birth, when peace was declared for all mankind, the world has come to know that peace will not happen as we assume. Even Jerusalem … whose name means ‘peace,’ does not recognize it when peace stands in its midst.
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