I Come to Jerusalem!

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 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. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, 'The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately." This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,

"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."

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,

"Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name
of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?" (Matthew 21:1–10)

I Come to Jerusalem

I come not to destroy the law
I come to fulfill the scriptures
To proclaim the acceptable day of the Lord.

I have come to free the captives
To feed the hungry, clothe the naked
I have come to bring long-delayed justice to the poor.

I come to Jerusalem
He comes to Jerusalem
Go tell the daughter of Zion
Look, your king is coming to you
Humble, mounted as foretold,
Upon a colt — a donkey's foal.
Hosanna to the King,
Hosanna to the House of David
Hail the Messiah
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

O my Jerusalem, I weep for thee
City that kills the prophets
and stones the messengers of our God.

Hosanna to the King,
Hosanna to the House of David
Hail the Messiah
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

Even rocks and stones shall sing Hosanna to the King

I come to Jerusalem!

Becca

I learned in seminary that there are five kinds of prayer: lament, praise, adoration, intercession, and confession. I also learned that all five of those forms of prayers can be found throughout the one hundred fifty Psalms. Each psalm can be divided into one of those themes and it is a way of seeing the whole range of emotions the psalmists experienced. Sometimes they were writing from the mountaintop and experiencing God in the holy dwelling place. Sometimes they were in the valley feeling the loss of love. Other times they were in the fields teaching the wisdom of the ages to the next generation. Marcus's composition based on Jesus's entry into Jerusalem reminds me that those five types of prayers can also be found bundled together in one event. That we can wail as lamenters over the state of violence, injustice, and cruelty at the same time we are singing in adoration over the sunrise. We can praise God in worship with hands held high while we plead for mercy on behalf of a sister who is suffering. We can beat our chests and beg for mercy as we weep, grateful that we feel Love so close. All of those prayers live together in our hearts and when we allow ourselves the gift of faith, they come out together in words and deeds and even songs. We feel it all. We rejoice, we grieve, we hope. Faith cannot always be dissected into five distinct parts. It's a living entity that imbues our experiences with a multitude of feelings.

The passages in Matthew record the humble and glorious entry into Jerusalem and hold those prayers in perfect tension. Jesus explains his instructions for how it will unfold at the beginning of the twenty-first chapter. He is fulfilling an old prophecy and instructing his disciples on how to carry it out. Marcus's melodies and orchestration add drama and power to the spoken word. The music helps conjure up for me the vision of how costly and lonely it can be to live into our truth. The disciples knew the cost of entering Jerusalem and what was coming. The occupied nation was one that killed its prophets and shut down rebellions. They must have felt both great anticipation and fear at the same time. They were participating in watching Jesus begin that humble journey on a donkey that would usher in the events that would lead to his violent murder. But along with those divergent feelings was this overwhelming joy and adoration as the crowd sings "Hosanna in the highest" and lays down the branches. The Scriptures record that the whole city was in turmoil, so the praise must have been almost at a frenzied level. The entry into Jerusalem is filled with layers and layers of feelings and it is only in song that such depth and breadth of emotions can be expressed. We wail and sing, lay branches and raise our arms as we feel the adoration and longing that live within all of us.

Beyond that, the music invites us to contemplate how we are living into our truth. In other words, where are we in this passage? Are we laying down branches we have cut and joining the crowds? Are we singing praise in the streets for all the mercy we have known? Are we ready to stake our lives for the sake of truth as well? Do we even know what we believe or what we would sing? We are called through the Passion narrative to ask the question again, "Who is this man?" Such a question is central to our lives of faith and how we will live into our faith. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and received a king's welcome. He was a force that inspired men and women to lay down their lives. It was a radical act that leaves us — no matter how many times we have heard the story — wondering again, "Who is this man?" How can we worship him with our whole hearts?

Jesus has been making his way to Jerusalem for three years. His whole ministry happened as he and his friends made their way to the Holy City. It begins after his baptism by John and his retreat to the wilderness. There he learns about his strengths and temptations. There he wrestles with the beasts and is tended by angels. In the wilderness he begins his journey to Jerusalem. What could have been a two-week trek for him and his disciples took him his whole life as a rabbi to make. He was sidetracked by the suffering he encountered "on the way." He was delayed by the needs of a community that entreated him. He was backtracking for friends who were ill and imprisoned. Along the way he is teaching and preaching about the acts of mercy required and what to expect when he gets to the gates of Jerusalem. It's a journey that prepares the community and the disciples' hearts for what love requires. He teaches the disciples that healing is possible, and then he keeps walking toward the city that will kill him. It is a beautifully sad and dramatic story of what love looks like in flesh and bone.

The question...