JESUS AGAIN FORTELLS HIS DEATH and RESURRECTION. The deep solemnity of the developments now so near at hand so affected Jesus that even the apostles were amazed at His absorption and evident sadness. Then He paused, called the Twelve about Him, and in language of absolute plainness, without metaphor or simile, He said: "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished"
Luke unqualifiedly affirms: "And they understood none of these things" This avouchment of the Savior's approaching death and resurrection was the third of its kind. They knew Him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God; and how could such a One be brought into subjection and be slain? They were told of the very manner by which the Lord should die. Yet they understood not. To them there was some dreadful incongruity, some dire inconsistency or inexplicable contradiction in the sayings of their beloved Master.
They could not fail to realize that some unprecedented development in His life was impending. And such indeed was to be, though in a manner far different from their anticipations. The culminating prediction—that on the third day He would rise again—seems to have puzzled them the most. They persistently repelled the thought that they were following their Lord to the cross and the sepulchre.
Petitioners were James and John, though according to Matthew's record their mother was the first to ask. The request was that when Jesus came into possession of His kingdom, He would so signally honor the aspiring pair as to install them in seats of eminence, one on His right hand, the other on His left.
Instead of sharply rebuking such presumption, Jesus gently but impressively asked: "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?" The answer was full of self-confidence inspired by ignorant misapprehension. "We are able," they replied. Then said Jesus: "Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with" But to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father." The ten apostles were indignant at the two brothers, possibly less through disapproval of the spirit that had prompted the petition than because the two had forestalled the others
He showed them how earthly rulers, such as princes among the Gentiles, domineer over their subjects. The humblest and most willing servant would be the chief of the servants. "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." Jesus came to Jericho, at or near which city He again exerted His wondrous power in opening the eyes of the blind.
Matthew states that two sightless men were made to see, and that the miracle was enacted as Jesus was leaving Jericho. Mark mentions but one blind man, whom he names Bartimeus or the son of Timeus. Luke specifies but one subject of the Lord's healing mercy, "a certain blind man," and chronicles the miracle as an incident of Christ's approach to Jericho.
Jesus approached, accompanied by the apostles, many other disciples, and a great multitude of people. The sightless beggar inquired what it all meant, and was answered, "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by" Eager lest the opportunity of gaining the Master's attention be lost, he immediately cried in a loud voice: "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me" Jesus halted in His course and directed that the man be brought to Him.
Those who but a moment before would have stopped the blind man's yearning appeal were eager to be of service. To the Lord's question, "What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?" Bartimeus answered: "Lord, that I may receive my sight." Then Jesus spake the simple words of power and blessing: "Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee"
Jericho was a city of considerable importance; among its resident officials was a staff of publicans. Jesus had placed one of this publican class among the most prominent of the disciples. That Zaccheus was a Jew is indicated by his name, which is a variant of "Zacharias," with a Greek or Latin termination. He must have been particularly obnoxious to his people on account of his advanced status among the publicans, all of whom were in Roman employ. He had a great desire to see Jesus; the feeling was not one of mere curiosity; he had been impressed and set thinking by the things he had heard about this Teacher from Nazareth.
Zaccheus was a little man, and could not ordinarily see over the heads of others. He ran ahead of the company and climbed a tree alongside the road. When Jesus reached the place, to the great surprize of the man in the tree He looked up and said: "ZacCheus, make haste, and come down" Zaccheus came down with haste,and joyfully received the Lord as his guest.
"Behold, Lord," he said, "the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold" Jesus accepted the man's profession of repentance, and said: "This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham." Another stray sheep had been returned to the fold; another lost treasure had been found. Another wayward son had come back to the Father's house.
Jesus told them a story; we call it the Parable of the Pounds. A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. He called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. When he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant, because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. Then he said, Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? And he told them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
Both the circumstances of the story and the application of the parable were more readily apparent to the Jewish multitude than they are to us. The people were not to look for an immediate establishment of the kingdom in temporal power. He who would be king was pictured as having departed for a far country from which he would assuredly return.
Before leaving he had given to each of his servants a definite sum of money. When he returned he called for an accounting, in the course of which the cases of three servants are specified as types. One had so used the pound as to gain ten pounds; he was commended and received a reward such as only a sovereign could give. The second servant, with equal capital had increased it only five fold. He was properly rewarded in proportion by appointment as governor over five cities. The third gave back what he had received, without increase, for he had failed to use it. He had no reason and only a very poor excuse to offer for his dereliction. In justice he was severely reprimanded, and the money was taken from
When the king directed that the pound so forfeited by the unfaithful servant be given to him who already had ten, some surprize was manifest amongst those who stood by. But the king explained, that "unto every one that hath shall be given," for such a one uses to advantage the means entrusted to his care. This part of the parable, while of general application, must have appealed to the apostles as particularly apt. Each of them had received in trust an equal endowment through ordination, and each would be required to account for his administration. The fact is apparent that Christ was the nobleman who was to be invested with the authority of kingship, and who would return to require the accounting at
Jesus arrived at Bethany, the home town of Martha and Mary, and of Lazarus who had recently died and been restored to life. Jesus fully realized that this Sabbath was the last He would live to see in mortality. The chronology of events during the last week of our Lord's life supports the generally accepted belief that in this year, the fourteenth day of Nisan, on which the Passover festival began, fell on Thursday. The day on which Jesus reached Bethany was the preceding Friday, the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
The Gospel-writers have drawn a veil of reverent silence over the events of that day. It appears that Jesus passed His last Sabbath in retirement at Bethany. On Saturday, 20 probably in the evening after the Sabbath had passed, a supper was spread for Jesus and the Twelve in the house of Simon the leper. No other mention of this man, Simon, appears in scripture. If he was living at the time our Lord was entertained, and if he was present, he must have been previously healed of his leprosy. Otherwise he could not have been allowed within the town, far less to be one of a festal company.
It is reasonable to think that the man had once been a victim of leprosy and had come to be currently known as Simon the leper. Martha was in charge of the supper arrangements on this memorable occasion, and her sister Mary was with her, while Lazarus sat at table with Jesus. There was no attempt to secure unusual privacy at this supper. Such occasions were customarily marked by the presence of many uninvited lookers-on in that time.
Lazarus was a subject of much interest and doubtless of curiosity among the people. At the time of his privileged and intimate association with Jesus in Bethany, the chief priests were plotting to put him to death. Mary, the more contemplative and spiritually minded of the two sisters, she who loved to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His words, and who had been commended for having so chosen the one needful thing, which her more practical sister lacked, brought from among her treasures an alabaster cruse containing a pound of costly spikenard ointment. She broke the sealed flask 23 and poured its fragrant contents upon the head and feet of her Lord, and wiped His
The anointing of head and feet with spikenard was an act of reverential homage rarely rendered even to kings. Mary's act was an expression of adoration; it was the fragrant outwelling of a heart overflowing with worship and affection. But this splendid tribute of a devout woman's love was made the cause of disagreeable protest. Judas Iscariot, treasurer of the Twelve, but dishonest, avaricious, and small-souled in character, vented his grumbling complaint, saying: "Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?" 26 His seeming solicitude for the poor was all hypocrisy.
Mary's use of the costly unguent had been so lavish that others beside Judas had let their surprize grow into murmuring. Mary's sensitive nature was pained by the ungracious words of disapproval. Jesus interposed, saying: "Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me" We are left without certain information as to whether Mary knew that within a few days her beloved Lord would be in the tomb.
She may have been so informed in view of the hallowed intimacy between Jesus and the family. She may have gathered from the remarks of Christ to the apostles that the sacrifice of His life was impending. Or perhaps by inspired intuition she was impelled to render the loving tribute by which her memory has been enshrined in the hearts of all who know and love the Christ.
Jesus told two of His disciples to go to a certain place, where, He told them, they would find an ass tied, and with her a colt on which no man had ever sat. Matthew alone mentions both ass and colt; the other writers specify the latter only. The disciples found all to be as the Lord had said. They brought the colt to Jesus, spread their coats on the gentle creature's back, and set the Master thereon. The company started toward Jerusalem, Jesus riding in their midst.
Jesus was in Jerusalem for the start of the Passover festival. The city was thronged with pilgrim crowds. The common people were interested in every act and movement of the Master. By the time He began the descent from the highest part of the road on the flank of the Mount of Olives, great crowds had gathered about Him.
The people were jubilant over the spectacle of Jesus riding toward the holy city; they spread out their garments, and cast palm fronds and other foliage in His path. But amidst all this jubilation, Jesus was sad as He came in sight of the great city wherein stood the House of the Lord. He wept, because of the wickedness of His people, and of their refusal to accept Him as the Son of God. He foresaw the awful scenes of destruction before which both city and temple were soon to fall.
In anguish and tears, He thus apostrophized the doomed city: "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes" The Lord rode through the massive portal and actually entered the capital of the Great King, the whole city was thrilled. To the inquiry of the uninformed, "Who is this?" the multitude shouted: "This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee."
Jesus of Galilee was the most prominent personage in Jerusalem on this day. The Pharisees resentful of the honors thus shown to One whom they had long plotted to destroy. "Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him"
Chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees, the official representatives of the theocracy, the hierarchy of Judaism, were incensed. There was no denying the fact that the people were rendering Messianic honors to this troublesome Nazarene. The purpose of Christ in thus yielding Himself for the day to the desires of the people and accepting their homage with kingly grace may not be fully comprehended by us of finite mind. That the occasion was no accidental or fortuitous happening, of which He took advantage without preconceived intention, is evident. He knew beforehand what would be, and what He would do. It was no meaningless pageantry; but the actual advent of the King into His royal city, and His entry into
He came riding on an ass, in token of peace, acclaimed by the Hosanna shouts of multitudes. Not on a caparisoned steed with the panoply of combat and the accompaniment of bugle blasts and fanfare of trumpets. That the joyous occasion was in no sense suggestive of physical hostility or of seditious disturbance is sufficiently demonstrated by the indulgent unconcern with which it was viewed by the Roman officials. But the Romans saw nothing to fear, perhaps much to smile at, in the spectacle of a King mounted upon an ass.
The ass has been designated in literature as "the ancient symbol of Jewish royalty," and one riding upon an ass as the type of peaceful progress. Such triumphal entry of Jesus into the chief city of the Jews would have been strikingly inconsistent with the general tenor of His ministry in its early stages. Even the intimation that He was the Christ had been made with guarded care, if at all; and every manifestation of popular regard in which He might have figured as a national leader had been suppressed. Now, however, the hour of the great consummation was near at hand; the public acceptance of the nation's homage, and the acknowledgment of both kingly and Messianic titles, constituted an open and official proclamation of His
The manner of His entry should have appealed to the learned teachers of the law and the prophets. Zechariah's impressive forecast, the fulfilment of which the evangelist, John, finds in the events of this memorable Sunday. Among the multitudes who came to Jerusalem at the time of the annual Passover were people of many nations. Some of these, though not of Jewish descent, had been converted to Judaism. They were admitted to the temple precincts, but were not allowed to pass beyond the court of the Gentiles.
Greeks sought an interview with Jesus. They applied to Philip, one of the apostles, saying: "Sir, we would see Jesus" Philip consulted with Andrew, and the two then informed Jesus. Jesus graciously received the foreign visitors and imparted to them precepts of the utmost worth.
To them Jesus testified that the hour of His death was near at hand, the hour in which "the Son of man should be glorified" They were surprized and pained by the Lord's words, and possibly they inquired as to the necessity of such a sacrifice. Jesus explained by citing a striking illustration drawn from nature: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone"
The Master's meaning is clear; he that loves his life so well that he will not imperil it, or, if need be, give it up, shall forfeit his opportunity to win the bounteous increase of eternal life. If such be true of every man's existence, how transcendently so was it of the life of Him who came to die that men may live? Therefore was it necessary that He die, as He had said He was about to do; but His death, far from being life lost, was to be life glorified.
The realization of the harrowing experiences upon which He was about to enter, so weighed upon the Savior's mind that He sorrowed deeply. "Now is my soul troubled," He groaned; "and what shall I say?" He exclaimed in anguish. To His Father alone could He turn for comforting support, not to ask relief from, but strength to endure, what was to come. "Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again"
People who were standing by heard the sound, and interpreted it variously; some said it was thunder; others, of better spiritual discernment, said: "An angel spake to him"; and some may have understood the words as had Jesus. Now fully emerged from the passing cloud of enveloping anguish, the Lord turned to the people, saying: "This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes." And then, with the consciousness of assured triumph over sin and death, He exclaimed in accents of divine jubilation, as though the cross and the sepulchre were already of the past. Satan, the prince of the world was doomed.
John assures us that this last utterance signified the manner of the Lord's death. "Who is this Son of man?" they asked. Mindful as ever not to cast pearls where they would not be appreciated, the Lord refrained from a direct avowal. He admonished them to walk in the light while the light was with them, for darkness would surely follow.
The mother of these two sons of Zebedee is generally understood to have been the Salome mentioned as one of the women present at the crucifixion. From the fact that John mentions the mother of Jesus and "his mother's sister" (19:25) and omits mention of Salome by name, some expositors hold that Salome was the sister of Mary. This relationship would make James and John cousins to Jesus.
Jericho was an ancient city, lying north-easterly from Jerusalem, a little less than fifteen miles in a straight line. In the course of the exodus it was captured by the people of Israel through a miraculous interposition of divine power. The name Jericho means "place of fragrance" Its climate was semi-tropical, a consequence of its low altitude. It lay in a valley several hundred feet below the level of the Mediterranean.
In the time of Christ, Jericho was an important city; and the abundance of its commercial products, particularly balsam and spices, led to the maintenance of a customs office there. Archelaus, who by the will of his father, Herod the Great, had been named king of the Jews, set out for Rome to ask of the emperor the confirmation of his royal status. He was opposed by a protest from the people. On the utilization of this circumstance in the parable, Farrar (p. 493, note) says: "A nobleman going into a far country to receive a kingdom would be utterly unintelligible, had we not fortunately known that this was done both by Archelaus and by Antip
The Jews had actually sent to Augustus a deputation of fifty, to recount his cruelties and oppose his claims. Philipus defended the property of Archelaus, during his absence, from the encroachments of the Proconsul Sabinus. The magnificent palace which Archelaus had built at Jericho would naturally recall these circumstances to the mind of Jesus. The parable is another striking example of the manner in which He utilized the most ordinary circumstances around Him, and made them the bases of His highest teachings. It is also another unsuspected indication of the authenticity and truthfulness of the Gospels.
John places this event as having occurred on the day following Christ's arrival in Bethany. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem took place on the next day after the supper, and, as stated in the text, Jesus most probably reached Bethany on Friday. The joyous processional into Jerusalem did not occur on Friday, for that was the Jewish Sabbath.
Matthew (26:2-13) and Mark (14:1-9) give place to the incident of the supper after the record of the triumphal entry and other events. The home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus appears to have been the usual abiding place of Jesus when He was in Bethany. Undoubtedly He was on terms of very close and affectionate acquaintanceship with all members of the family, even before the miraculous raising of Lazarus from the dead. This supremely blessed occurrence must have intensified into worshipful reverence the esteem in which our Lord had been held in that household. As to whether this home was identical with the house of Simon the leper, the scriptural record does not state.
John, who gives a fairly detailed account of the supper served by Martha, makes no mention of Simon or his house. The house in which they take a prominent position is called 'the house of Simon the leper' Mary is called simply 'a woman' by St. Matthew and St. Mark (Matt. 26:6, 7; Mark 14:3). St. Luke contents himself with calling Bethany 'a certain village' (Luke 10:38), although he was perfectly aware of the name (Luke 19:29)." 7. Spikenard Ointment —This was among the most highly prized of oriental unguents. In the original the adjective "pistic" appears; this is translated by some
"Hosanna" is a Greek form of the Hebrew expression for "Save us now," or "Save, we pray" It occurs nowhere in the English Bible except in the acclamations of the people at Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. "Hallelujah," literally rendered, means "Praise ye Jehovah." It occurs in the Greek form "Alleluia" in Rev. 19:1, 3, 4, 6.
A comparison of the accounts of the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and of certain events following, as recorded by the three synoptists, shows at least a possibility of discrepancy as to sequence. It appears certain that Jesus visited the temple grounds on the day of the royal advent into the city. Others interpret Mark 11:11 and 15 as meaning that the event took place on a later day. The question is admittedly an open one; and the order of presentation followed in the text is one of convenience of treatment based on rational probability.
3 Matt. 20:20-28; Mark 10:35-45. For earlier lessons on the greatness of humility see pages 386 and 471. For the significance of the title, Son of Man, see pages 142-144. For account of the two demoniacs, Matt. 8:28, compare Mark 5:1, Luke 8:27. Comparison of similarities and differences between this parable and that of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30) will be made in chapter 32, pages 580-584.
This occurrence must not be confused with that of an earlier anointing of Jesus by a penitent sinner in the house of Simon the Pharisee. The Sunday before Easter is annually celebrated by many Christian sects as Palm Sunday, in commemoration of our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The better rendering is "cruse" or "flask" instead of "box"
Isa. 9:7; Dan. 7:14, 27; Ezek. 37:25. Compare John 1:9; 3:19; 8:12; 9:5; 12:46; see page 407. Mark 11:11. Note 9, end of chapter.