Peter is one of those characters that everyone knows. Parents name their children after him. The Catholic church has made him a saint. Yet every time I look at his story, something else pops out at me. That may be the reason I started out the series with him and attempting to tell the story of the Triumphant Entry of Jerusalem through his eyes.
Can you imagine what that atmosphere must have been like? Starting with Jesus telling them to go and fetch a donkey that is tied up in a nearby village. Initially this would sound like stealing if the second half of the request did not give them a way out if someone asks what they were doing. Simply tell them that “the Lord needs it” and they will give it to you. I’m not sure who was more surprised that the plan worked, those doing the fetching, or everyone else (excluding Jesus) when they returned with the donkey in tow.
Once Jesus gets on the donkey, I wonder how long it took for people to put two and two together. Here is a rabbi who can do miraculous things riding in on a donkey. Straight out of Zechariah 9:9
“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The passage there in Zechariah goes on to describe a militaristic king. One that will free Israel of battle chariots and warhorses for the land, destroying all battle weapons and setting up a kingdom stretching from Israel’s borders to the ends of the earth. To me, there is no wonder the crowd turned so quickly from the beginning of the week to the end. Jesus was simply not what they were expecting.
Yet here as Jesus begins the decent into Jerusalem the people begin to cheer and celebrate what they believe is the entry of their king. One to send the Romans back where they came from. The crowd gets so loud, that the religious leaders fear rebellion. They try to get Jesus to call off the crowd, only to get the reply of if they keep quiet, the praise will come from somewhere else, there is nothing either of them can do about it.
The final bit from the post yesterday dealt with Jesus’ morning over Jerusalem’s future. The gospel of Luke records this in chapter 19 verses 41 through 44
“41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
This day eventually comes about 40 years later, when Jerusalem is overtaken and destroyed by Rome. To those around Jesus as he spoke these words, it had to be troubling and confusing. Time would sort this out as the week’s events play out, but still in this time of celebration this prediction would not settle well.
As hinted yesterday, we will come back to Peter in a couple weeks to get more of his story, but for now enjoy the rest of your week and join me back here next week as we continue this series.
God Bless.
A Path of Living Stones 