Third Presbyterian Sunday Morning Bible Study - March 28, 2021

Below is the Bible Study written by Jim Rudiger for his Sunday School Class which meets at Third Presbyterian Church, Norfolk, Virginia. It's based on Matthew 21:1-16.

“Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!”  

That was a controversial song sung during the Second World War.  Controversial because some pacifist churches felt it implied that God sanctioned the war. Of course, that is what churches do - praise the Lord.  What does “praise” mean?  Saying that a thing or person is good.  Words that describe the worth of a good person.  Praise as used in church is a song or words describing the glory and goodness of God.  Can you praise somebody for doing something bad?  Even if the person has a special talent for doing bad things, he doesn’t rise to the point of getting our praise.

Did you know that the word “praise” is derived from the Latin word for prize?  If you think about it, the two do go together.  Praise results from good works, so it stands to reason that we praise people who we value.  In other words, we praise what we prize.  Isn’t this particularly true when we praise Jesus?  If we don’t know Jesus personally even if we prize that relationship, we can’t adequately praise him.

In today’s study, a whole city turns out to praise Jesus.  Why did they turn out?  They all knew or had heard about the healings he had performed and some had sat and listened to his teachings.  He had proven his worth to his followers.- and a relationship with Jesus was something they prized.

Let's go back in time to that day.  It was Sunday, and people were  pushing their way through the crowds to get home and prepare for the celebration of  Passover.  The sun was shining bright and everybody was feeling good.  On a scale of 1 to 10, it was a 10 celebration.  The city was packed with Jews from all over the world.  The pilgrims to Jerusalem had overwhelmed the housings in the city, so they had spilled over into the neighboring towns. How many Jews do you think were in Jerusalem that Sunday?   Thirty years later a Roman governor made a count of the number of lambs sacrificed for Passover that year and it came to about 250,000.  There was a Passover rule that there had to be at least ten people for each slain lamb.  That meant that there was over two and a half million people packed into Jerusalem.  There was another Passover law that said that every male living within twenty miles of Jerusalem had to come to Jerusalem for Passover every year.  If you lived further away, you had to come at least once in your life time.  Jesus lived outside the twenty mile limit, but he was there. 

Jesus chose to enter Jerusalem on Sunday, four days before the Passover Feast.  Why Sunday?  Why not Wednesday which was closer to the time of the feast?  What was the main thing that happened during the first Passover?  A lamb was slain.  It's blood was applied to the door posts so that the Angel of Death would not stop at that house.  So, the blood of the lamb saved the people from death.  Do you know when the people selected the lamb and prepared it for sacrifice?  Four days before Passover.  You see, Jesus is the lamb sacrificed to save the whole world.  Jesus is calling that to everyone’s attention by offering himself as the sacrifice four days before Passover and that happens to be Palm Sunday.

Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was the beginning of the last week of his earthly life.  The things that happened in this week are referred to as the Passion of Christ.  We usually think of passion in terms of love.  “I’m passionately in love with - you know who.”  Or we might think of passion as extreme devotion to a project like “he approaches his work with a passion.” When this week is called “The Passion of Christ”, what do you think “passion” means?  It actually means suffering.  His heart is aching.  So, the Passion of Christ means the suffering of Christ. 

But, even before this final week, things had been set in motion preparing the way for his passion.  A few days before, there was the Transfiguration.  What happen there?  Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah about what was going to happen.  After that, Jesus started to moving from Galilee toward Jerusalem.  It was only seventy miles which usually could take about three days, but, it took Jesus longer as he took care of unfinished business along the way.  There weren’t as many teaching events with large crowds, so, the crowds were beginning to get smaller and contributing to the smaller crowds was that there were fewer miracles being done.  More and more the conversations Jesus was having with his disciples dealt with his death. 

With that background, let’s look at our scripture for today.

Matthew 21:1 And when they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples 2 saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this “The Lord Needs them.” and he will send them immediately.” 4 This tool place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet saying, 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

We are coming to the last days of Christ’s human journey.  As we start the lesson, where was Jesus?  At Bethphage.  Where in the world is Bethphage?  This village was on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, a mile east of Jerusalem.  It was more like ta suburb of Jerusalem.  Bethphage was an agricultural center known for it’s figs.  In fact, Bethphage meant city of figs.  It absorbed out-of-towners who were unable to find rooms in Jerusalem during feast days.  To the Jews of that day, the Mount of Olives had a special meaning.  It was their belief that the Messiah would appear there in the last days.  So, just the mention of the Mount of Olives always brought up thoughts of the awaited for Messiah.  A mile down the road east of Bethphage was Bethany.  Who lived there?  Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus.  Jesus will spend his last four nights in these two towns.  The first two nights in Bethphage and the last two nights in Bethany.

Jesus and his Apostles are approaching Jerusalem.  At the same time as Jesus is approaching Jerusalem from the east, Pilate, the Roman governor, was approaching from the west.  Pilate had with him a large company of soldiers to insure that there wouldn’t be any trouble with the large crowds that they were expecting.  What does Jesus tell two of his disciples to do?  To go to the village ahead of them. Who were the two disciples?  We don’t know, but some scholars believe they might have been John and Peter.  A lot of time we get the idea that the village Jesus was talking about was Jerusalem, but, he wasn’t.  He was at least a mile from Jerusalem and, besides, even by today’s standards, Jerusalem wasn’t a village - it was more like a city.  We don’t know which village this was.  

When they enter the village, what will they find?  A donkey tied to a post and a colt with her.  What were the disciples to do?  They were to untie both the donkey and her colt and bring them to Jesus.  What if someone confronts them when they take the donkey and her colt?  What will they say?  “Oops, sorry.  My mistake.”  What does Jesus tells them to say to the owner? “The Lord needs them and he will send them back as soon as he can.”  Why was it necessary to say the donkey and colt would be returned as soon as possible?  In those days, a Roman soldier could demand an animal from a Jew to perform a service he needed and many times the animal wasn’t returned to it’s owner.  Jesus wants the owner to know that he’ll get his animals back.

Why a donkey?  Why not a magnificent prancing white stallion?  In those days, if a king entered a town and wanted the people to know that he was there to start a war, he rode in on a horse.  However, if he wanted to let the people know that he came in peace, he rode a donkey.  Also, the prophet Zechariah had said that the promised king who would restore Israel’s glory would enter Jerusalem humbly riding on a donkey.  So, Christ will enter Jerusalem letting the people know that he isn’t the kind of  king who is going to raise up an army to chase Rome out of the land, but, is the king prophesied by Zechariah - a king of peace.  His mission is to be spiritual and not political.  The fact that he will be riding a donkey into Jerusalem through the gate leading to the Mount of Olives fulfills another of the people’s expectation - that the Messiah would appear on the Mount of Olives again prophesied by Zechariah.  In this one act, Jesus is revealing to the people in Jerusalem that he is both the expected Messiah and the promised king described by Zechariah. 

Matthew 21:6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7 they brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from trees and spread them on the road.

The disciples went into the village and, what do you know, there is a donkey and her colt tied near a door just like Jesus had said.  All they had to do now was to go up and untie it and take it back to Jesus.  Coincidence or not?  Don’t you think this is a pretty risky thing to do?  Donkeys were valuable property then.  They were necessary for travel as well as moving products to the stores in Jerusalem.  You don’t just go up and take a donkey that doesn’t belong to you.  It would be like standing on your front porch and watching as someone opens your car door, slips behind the wheel and drives it off.  What is taking something that doesn’t belong to you?  Stealing!  Is Christ encouraging them to steal a donkey?  Was this just a coincidence or not? In all likelihood, what happened was that Christ probably knew the owner.  The owner may have even been a disciple.  Or, he might have been a friend of Lazarus who Jesus had met at Lazarus’ home in Bethany.  Evidently, Jesus had arranged in advance that he would borrow a donkey from this man who he knew in this little village.  Jesus wasn’t the kind of person who left things to the last minute like some of us men are accused of doing today.  This was a planned event and Jesus was the master planner.  In fact his whole life had been planning for this very special moment.  This was not a time for slapping something together at the last minute.  How would the owner know that these men were really sent by Jesus?  The men would have a password.  What would that password be? “The Lord needs them.”  When the owner heard this password, he would let them take the donkey and colt

The disciples take the donkey back to Jesus and what do they do?  Place their cloaks on the back of the donkey and colt in a make-shift saddle and Jesus mounts the donkey.  I know.  The scripture says Jesus sat on “them”.  The “them” refers to the coats not the animals.  This meant that the Apostles were probably left bare chested.  It is Sunday, the first day of the week.  As Jesus rides along the path up the slope of  the Mount of Olives, followers place their cloaks on the ground to make the ride more gentle for Jesus.  Placing their cloaks on the ground was a big sacrifice for these people.  For many who were there, it was the only cloak they owned.  They used it to wrap around themselves as they worked in the cold.  At night it served as their bed.  How do you think those cloaks looked after being trampled by a donkey?  I am sure many were no longer worth keeping.  By laying down their cloaks, they were showing Jesus respect.  They were literally giving Jesus the coat off of their backs. You might say, they were rolling out the red carpet for Jesus.  

When kings or Roman generals traveled along a road, banners were hung to spruce up the houses to make a more pleasing sight for the rulers and to show respect for the rulers.  In a sense, these robes represent the colorful banners hung for a king.

Not everybody had a cloak to lay down on the path.  What did they lay down?  The guys without cloaks, went up on the Mount of Olives and broke branches off of the trees to place on the road. Why aren't they using palm branches like we carry into church every Palm Sunday?  To be honest, palm branches are more a tradition than a fact.  Palms are associated with royalty so maybe saying palms were laid on the road ahead of Jesus was confirming that Jesus was the king prophesied.  These branches may well have been olive branches. Aren’t you glad you don’t have to pin a tree branch onto your shirt or dress on Palm Sunday?   

Matthew 21:9 the crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”  10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” 11 the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” 

Remember that the laying of the cloaks and branches occurred on the one mile of road leading to Jerusalem.  It isn’t likely that there were enough people with Jesus at Bethphage to lay their cloaks for the full mile, but, news had spread all the way to Jerusalem that something very special had just happened at the Mount of Olives.  The word quickly spread through the city. Ever go to a parade?  You’re standing there and what is the first thing you hear?  A band approaching.  You hear cheers and drums and horns and what do you do?  You step out on the street and look to see what’s coming.  That is what the people in Jerusalem did.  They crowded at the city gate just below the rear of the Temple complex and looked down the road coming from the Mount of Olives and what did they see?  Jesus riding on a donkey. Some rushed to put their cloaks and branches on the round.

Before he even entered the gate, what were people shouting?  “Hosanna to the Son of David..  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”  We sing hymns about “Hosanna,” but what does “Hosanna” mean?  We usually think that hosanna was a spirited shout of praise that was yelled all of the time, even back before Christ.  Actually, hosanna is used only six times in the Bible and all of those in the New Testament and all connected with Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.  You see, hosanna actually means “Save now”.  The people weren’t really praising Jesus, but were asking him to save them right now.  Save them from what? The people were saying, “We have been promised in our scriptures that a king will arise who will save us from Rome.  Don’t wait another minute.  Get off that donkey and get on a white horse and lead the charge to victory over the Roman soldiers.”  Remember, they believed that the Messiah would appear on the Mount of Olives and lo and behold, there is Jesus coming down from the Mount of Olives.  And not only that, he is riding on a donkey just like Zechariah said the king would do.  Everything was coming together for all of those shouting people.  Tears running down their cheeks.  Hands raised and waving.  They were actually pleading for Jesus to lead an uprising against Rome.  They had no idea of what this king was really sent to do.

Even their greeting of “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” tells us what they are actually feeling.  When they say “the one who comes”, who are they talking about? The words “the one who comes” were code words for the Messiah.  When they spoke of the Messiah it was always spoken of in terms of the One who is coming.  These words are taken from Psalm 118 which was written to commemorate a special event.  In 167 B.C. There was a king of Syria named Antiocheius.  He believed in Greek mythology and considered it his mission in life to bring the Greek religion to everybody.  When he conquered Palestine, he attempted to stamp out the Hebrew religion and substitute the Greek religion. He decreed that it was against the law to own a copy of the Hebrew law or to even circumcise a child.  The punishment for having the law or circumcising a child was death.  He even had a statue of Zeus erected in the Holy of Holies in the Temple and encouraged the people to worship Zeus there.  To make matters worse, he sacrificed pigs on the altar knowing pigs were considered unclean by the Jews.  The rooms of the courts surrounding the Temple, were turned into brothels.

Judas Maccabaeus rose up and formed an army to fight against Syria.  In 163 B.C. he drove Antiocheius out of Jerusalem and re-purified and re-consecrated the Temple.  Jews today commemorate that event with the Feast of Hanukkah.  So, Psalm 118 is a conqueror’s psalm.  By using this greeting in connection with Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was to view Jesus as the new Judas Maccabaeus, a soldier ready to rid Jerusalem of another occupying army.

Before crossing the bridge to the city Gate, Jesus sent the donkey and her colt back to their owner.  Jesus enters Jerusalem and walks along the street toward the Temple Mount.  As he walks along the street, he is the center of attention.  Remember, Jesus knows that the religious leaders were planning to kill him.  Not once has he proclaimed to the crowd who he is - not even claiming to be the Messiah.  It is the people who recognize in his entry into Jerusalem that he must be the Messiah.  It may be that they recognized Lazarus walking with Jesus and knew that this was the man who had raised Lazarus from the tomb.  When Jews from countries far away questioned who this man was who had stirred up the city so much, it was the locals who proclaimed that Jesus was a prophet.

Matthew 21: 12 Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. 13 he said to them, “It is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer; but you are making it a den of robbers.”

The temple complex consisted of several courts and the Holy of Holies.  The first court was the Court of the Gentiles.  All people can enter this court including Gentiles.  This was followed by the Court of the Women, the Court of the Israelites and the Court of the Priests.  There was a sign by the gate separating the Court of the Gentiles from the Court of the Women, that any Gentile who went through that gate would be killed.  

As Jesus entered the Court of the Gentiles, a thriving business was being conducted by the priests, not for God’s glory, but for their own financial gain.  You could buy two doves for sacrifice from a city stall outside the temple for about $250.00.  The kicker was that in order for them to be sacrificed, they couldn’t have a blemish.  Who determined if there was a blemish?  The priests.  How often did a pair of $250.00 doves get accepted by the priests?  Zero times.  So, you bought the temple doves.  Guess how much they cost? $2,500.00.  The other kicker was that the doves could only be bought using temple money.  If you were from out of town, you had to exchange your money for temple money.  To exchange your money there was a standing cost of $30.00.  Suppose your money exchange came to $2,520.00, twenty dollars more than the purchase of the doves and you wanted your change of $20.00.  To get that twenty dollars change would cost you another thirty dollars. 

What did Jesus do about this?  Turned over the money exchange tables and let all of the birds go free.  We have all heard about Jesus cleansing the Temple.  Was this the only time he chased out the money changers?  Actually, the first time is covered in John 2:13 which happened as Jesus was just starting his ministry.  This cleansing happens at the end of his ministry.  It’s almost like Jesus is trying one last time to drain the swamp.

14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. 15 But when the priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did and heard the children crying out to the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became angry 16 and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself?" 

He’s through dealing with the money changers. Now, still in the Court of the Gentiles, the blind and lame came for help.  It would seem that knowing what lay ahead, Jesus would have been concerned to prepare for his final hours.  Instead, he paused to relieve their pain.  Even the priests and religious leaders saw that he was healing people who they had seen begging at the gates of the Temple for years.  Scripture says that what really pushed them over the edge was that children were crying in the Temple saying what?  "Hosanna to the Son of David."  This is the same thing the mob yelled as Jesus entered Jerusalem.  Maybe the religious leaders saw that they were losing when children who represented the next generation was acknowledging that Jesus was the messiah.  They confronted Jesus and asked why he doesn’t say something about what the kids said.  He was encouraging them to dismiss authority - their authority.  Jesus again had the perfect response.  “Haven’t you ever read that out of the mouth of babes you hear perfect praise not praise for your self.”

So, we started with praise and end with praise.  Why is a babe’s praise so good?  Maybe the answer is what we see praised in our culture today.  Before his exposure, Harvey Wienstien was praised as a great maker of movies.  His downfall came after people discovered he was messing around with young girls.  Our praise is better than that.  It should go to those who we know in our hearts reflect God’s glory.  Those are the ones we should prize - and praise.

Father, Hosanna!  Save us now from this evil world. Amen.