Jesus returned to Jerusalem in time to attend the Feast of Dedication during the last winter of His earthly life. This feast, like that of Tabernacles, was one of national rejoicing, and was celebrated annually for a period of eight days beginning on the 25th of Chislev. While the festival was in progress, Jesus went to the temple and was seen walking in the part of the enclosure known as Solomon's Porch. His presence soon became known to the Jews, who came crowding about Him in unfriendly spirit, ostensibly to ask questions. Their inquiry was: "How long dost thou make us to doubt?
If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly," he asked. The Lord's reply was indirect in form, though in substance and effect incisive and unmistakable. He referred them to His former utterances and to His continued works. "I told you," He said, "and ye believed not"
The reference to what had been before told was a reminder of His teachings on the occasion of an earlier sojourn among them, when He had proclaimed Himself as the I AM, who was older and greater than Abraham. He could not well answer their inquiry by a simple unqualified affirmation, for by such He would have been understood as meaning that He claimed to be the Messiah according to their conception. He was no such Christ as they had in mind; yet was He verily Shepherd and King to all who would hear His words and do His works. To such He renewed the promise of eternal life and the assurance that no man could pluck them out of His own or the Father's hand.
"I and my Father are one" was His solemn declaration. In their rage they scrambled for stones wherewith to crush Him. Owing to the unfinished state of the temple buildings, there were probably many blocks and broken fragments of rock at hand. This was the second murderous attempt upon our Lord's life within the purlieus of His Father's House.
He then cited to them the scriptures, wherein even judges empowered by divine authority are called gods. He asked: "Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?" Then, reverting to the first avouchment that His own commission was of the Father who is greater than all, He added: "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not" The violent hostility of the Jews in Jerusalem, the headquarters of the theocracy, was such that Jesus withdrew from the city and its neighborhood.
The day for His sacrifice had not yet come, and while His enemies could not kill Him until He allowed Himself to be taken into their hands, His work would be retarded by further hostile disturbances. He retired to the place at which John the Baptist had begun his public ministry. The exact location is not specified; it was certainly beyond Jordan and therefore in Perea. We read that Jesus abode there, and from this we gather that He remained in one general locality instead of traveling from town to town as had been His custom. People resorted to Him even there, however, and many believed on Him.
"John," they said, "did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true." The duration of this sojourn in Perea is nowhere recorded in our scriptures. It could not have lasted more than a few weeks at most. Possibly some of the discourses, instructions, and parables already treated as following the Lord's departure from Jerusalem after the Feast of Tabernacles in the preceding autumn. From this retreat of comparative quiet, Jesus returned to Judea in response to an earnest appeal from some whom He loved. He left the Bethany of Perea for the Judean Bethany, where dwelt Martha and Mary. Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, lay ill in the
When Jesus received the message, He remarked: "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby" This was probably the word carried back to the sisters, whom Jesus loved. Lazarus had died in the interval; indeed he must have expired soon after the messenger had started with the tidings of the young man's illness. The Lord knew that Lazarus was dead; yet He tarried where He was for two days after receiving the word. Then He surprized the disciples by saying: "Let us go into Judea again"
Jesus made clear to them that He was not to be deterred from duty in the time thereof, nor should others be. He added: "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep." The simile between death and sleep was as common among the Jews as with us.
Jesus returned to Judea to bring Lazarus back from the grave. The apostles feared for their Master's safety, and thought their own lives would be in peril. Thomas boldly said to the others: "Let us also go, that we may die with him" The miracle was to be a testimony of our Lord's Messiahship, convincing to all who would accept it.
It was an expression of anguish combined with faith; but, lest it appear as lacking in trust, she hastened to add: "But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee" Then said Jesus in words of assuring tenderness: "Thy brother shall rise again"
She was hopefully expectant of some superhuman interposition by the Lord Jesus in her behalf, yet she knew not what that might be. To the Lord's question as to whether she believed what He had just said, she answered with simple frankness; all of it she was not able to understand. "Yea, Lord," she said, "I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." Then she returned to the home, and with precaution of secrecy on account of the presence of some whom she knew to be unfriendly to Jesus, said to Mary: "The Master is come, and calleth for thee." Mary left the house in haste.
The Jews who had been with her thought that she had been impelled by a fresh resurgence of grief to go again to the grave, and they followed her. When she reached the Master, she knelt at His feet, and gave expression to her consuming sorrow in the very words Martha had used: "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died" We cannot doubt that the conviction so voiced had been the burden of comment and lamentation between the two sisters.
"Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?" The body of Lazarus had been interred in a cave, the entrance to which was closed by a great block of stone. The question now raised as to whether or why One who could accomplish such a wonder could not have preserved from death a man stricken with an ordinary illness, and that man one whom He seemed to have dearly loved, was an innuendo that the power possessed by Jesus was after all limited, and of uncertain or capricious operation. This manifestation of malignant unbelief caused Jesus again to groan with sorrow if not indignation.
Such burial-places were common in that country, natural caves or vaults hewn in the solid rock being used as sepulchres by the better classes. Jesus directed that the tomb be opened. This may have had reference both to His promise spoken to Martha in person—that her brother should rise again. The illness of Lazarus was not unto final death at that time, but for the glory of God and that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. The stone was removed. Standing before the open portal of the tomb, Jesus looked upward and prayed: "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me"
Lazarus, again alive, came forth. His freedom of motion was limited, for the grave clothes hampered his movements. To those who stood near, Jesus said: "Loose him, and let him go" The procedure throughout was characterized by deep solemnity and by the entire absence of every element of unnecessary display. The spirit straightway reentered the tabernacle of flesh, the physical processes of life were resumed.
Jesus, who when miles away and without any ordinary means of receiving the information knew that Lazarus was dead, doubtless could have found the tomb. He who could still the waves of the sea by a word could have miraculously effected the removal of the stone that sealed the mouth of the sepulchre. Yet He said: "Take ye away the stone." He could reunite spirit and body could have loosened without hands the cerements by which the reanimated Lazarus was bound; yet He said "Loose him, and let him go." All that human agency could do was left to man. In no instance do we find that Christ used unnecessarily the superhuman powers of His Godship. The divine energy was never wasted.
The raising of Lazarus stands as the third recorded instance of restoration to life by Jesus. In each the miracle resulted in a resumption of mortal existence, and was in no sense a resurrection from death to immortality. The crowning miracle of the three was the calling of a spirit to reenter its body days after death, and when, by natural processes the corpse would be already in the early stages of decomposition. Lazarus was raised from the dead, not simply to assuage the grief of mourning relatives.
One of the Lord's purposes was that of demonstrating the actuality of the power of God as shown forth in the works of Jesus the Christ. Lazarus was the accepted subject of the manifestation; just as the man afflicted with congenital blindness had been chosen to be the one through whom "the works of God should be made manifest" The Lord's act of restoring Lazarus to life was of effect in testifying to His Messiahship is explicitly stated. All the circumstances leading up to final culmination in the miracle contributed to its attestation. No question as to the actual death of Lazarus could be raised, for his demise had been witnessed, his body had been prepared and buried in the usual way, and he had lain in the grave four days
God was glorified and the divinity of the Son of Man was vindicated in the result. Some of those who had seen the dead man raised to life went immediately and reported the matter to the rulers, whom they knew to be intensely hostile toward Jesus. Some were stirred to faith and others went their ways each with mind darkened and spirit more malignant than ever. In the parable we have recently studied, the spirit of the rich man pleaded from his place of anguish that Lazarus, the once pitiable beggar, be sent from paradise to earth, to warn others of the fate awaiting the wicked. Abraham replied: "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead
Many of the Jews rejected the testimony of his return and refused to believe in Christ through whom alone death is overcome. The Jews tried to get Lazarus into their power that they might kill him and, as they hoped, silence forever his testimony of the Lord's power over death. The chief priests, who were mostly Sadducees, and the Pharisees with them assembled in council to consider the situation created by this latest of our Lord's great works. The question they discussed was: "What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation"
As stated by themselves, there was no denying the fact of the many miracles wrought by Jesus. But instead of earnestly and prayerfully investigating as to whether these mighty works were not among the predicted characteristics of the Messiah, they thought only of the possible effect of Christ's influence in alienating the people. Caiaphas, the high priest, cut short the discussion by saying: "Ye know nothing at all." This sweeping assertion of ignorance was most likely addressed to the Pharisees of the Sanhedrin. His next utterance was of greater significance than he realized: "Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not."
John solemnly avers that Caiaphas spake not of himself, but by the spirit of prophecy, which, in spite of his implied unworthiness, came upon him by virtue of his office. But a few years after Christ had been put to death, for the salvation of the Jews and of all other nations, the very calamities which Ciaaphas and the Sanhedrin had hoped to avert befell in full measure.
The hostility of the ecclesiastical rulers became so great that Jesus once more sought retirement in a region sufficiently far from Jerusalem. But a few weeks of mortal life remained to Him, and the greater part of this brief period had to be devoted to the further instruction of the apostles. He prudently withdrew from the vicinity of Bethany and "went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples"
The place of this last retirement is not definitely known. It is generally thought to be the locality elsewhere called Ephrain and Ephron. Equally uncertain is the duration of our Lord's abode there. When He emerged again into public notice, it was to enter upon His solemn march toward Jerusalem and the cross.
A Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, captured Jerusalem (168 to 165 B.C.) and perpetrated blasphemous outrage against the religion of the people. He plundered the temple and carried away its golden candlestick, its golden altar of incense, its table of shewbread, and even tore down the sacred veils, which were of fine linen and scarlet. His malignity was carried so far that he purposely desecrated the altar of sacrifice by offering swine thereon, and erected a heathen altar within the sacred enclosure. Not content with the violation of the temple, this wicked monarch had altars erected in the towns, and ordered the offering of unclean beasts upon them.
As a result of this persecution many of the Jews apostatized, and declared that they belonged to the Medes and Persians. Then in the year 163 B.C. the House was rededicated; and the occasion was remembered in annual festival thereafter under the name of the Feast of Dedication. According to Josephus (Ant. xii, 7:7) the festival came to be known as The Lights. Traditional accounts say that eight days had been set as the duration of the feast, in commemoration of a legendary miracle by which the consecrated oil in the only jar found intact, and bearing the unbroken seal of the high priest, had been made to serve for temple purposes through eight days.
This name had been applied to the eastern colonnade or row of porticoes within the temple enclosure. By "the Father" the Jews rightly understood the Eternal Father, God. In the original Greek "one" appears in the neuter gender, and therefore expresses oneness in attributes, power, or purpose. For treatment of the unity of the Godhead, and the separate personality of each Member, see Articles of Faith , ii, 20-24.
This was probably Bethabara (1:28), which is called Bethany in some of the earliest manuscripts and is so designated in the latest revised version. It was and still is the custom in Palestine as in other oriental countries to bury on the day of death. The popular belief that on the fourth day after death the spirit had finally departed from the vicinity of the corpse, and that thereafter decomposition proceeded unhindered.
This may explain Martha's impulsive though gentle objection to having the tomb of her brother opened four days after his death. It is possible that the consent of the next of kin was required for the lawful opening of a grave. Both Martha and Mary were present, and in the presence of many witnesses assented to the opening of the tomb in which their brother lay. All philological authorities agree that the words in the original Greek express sorrowful indignation, or as some aver, anger, and not alone a sympathetic emotion of grief.
John's statement that Caiaphas was high priest "that same year" must not be construed as meaning that the office of high priest was of a single year's tenure. Under Jewish law the presiding priest, who was known as the high priest, would remain in office indefinitely. But the Roman government had arrogated to itself the appointive power as applying to this office; and frequent changes were made.
To such appointments the Jews had to submit, though they often recognized as the high priest under their law, some other than the "civil high priest" appointed by Roman authority. In Psalm 82:6, judges invested by divine appointment are called "gods" 8. Annas and Caiaphas exercizing the authority of the office at the time of our Lord's arrest and later. (John 18:13, 24; Acts 4:6; compare Luke 3:2.)
To this scripture the Savior referred in His reply to the Jews in Solomon's Porch. Judges so authorized officiated as the representatives of God and are honored by the exalted title "gods" Compare the similar appellation applied to Moses (Exo. 4:16; 7:1). Jesus Christ possessed divine authorization, not through the word of God transmitted to Him by man, but as an inherent attribute.
Concerning blasphemy see pages 191 and 269 , also page 629 . Psa. 82, particularly verses 1 and 6. A better rendering of the last verse is: "But if I do them, though ye believe not me, believe the works; that ye may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father. "—(Revised version.) John 10:40-42. pages 121-124 . Note 4 , end of chapter. John 11:1-46. Compare Matt. 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; Job 14:12; 1 Thess. 4:14
Each of the three synoptic writers has made record of this last journey to Jerusalem and of occurrences connected therewith. The deep solemnity of the developments now so near at hand, and of the fate He was setting out to meet so affected Jesus that even the apostles were amazed at His absorption and evident sadness. They fell behind in amazement and fear. 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. To them there was some dreadful incongruity in the sayings of their beloved Master. 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 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. These slight variations attest the independent authorship of each of the records, and the apparent discrepancies have no direct bearing upon the main facts.
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." His appeal, and particularly his use of the title, Son of David,. show that he knew of the great Teacher, had confidence in His power to heal and faith in Him as the promised King and Deliverer of Israel.
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.
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. Zaccheus came down with haste, and joyfully received the Lord as his guest. The multitude by whom Jesus had been accompanied appear to have been generally friendly toward Him. But at this turn of affairs they murmured and criticized, saying that the Master "was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner"; for all publicans were sinners in Jewish eyes. But having seen and conversed with Jesus, this chief among the publicans
As proof of his change of heart Zaccheus then and there voluntarily vowed unto the Lord to make amends and restitution if it were found that he owed such. "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"
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. And it came to pass, that 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
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. 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 the hands of His trusted servants.
Six days before the Feast of the Passover, 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. But many of the citizens hated Him and would protest His investiture, saying they would not have Him to reign over them. When He does return in power and authority, these rebellious citizens shall surely receive the punishment they deserve.
It appears that Jesus passed His last Sabbath in retirement at Bethany. 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.
Martha was in charge of the supper arrangements on this memorable occasion, and her sister Mary was with her. Many have assumed that the house of Simon the leper was the family home of the two sisters and Lazarus. It is possible that Simon was the father of the three; but of such relationship we have no proof. 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 and poured its fragrant contents upon the head and feet of her Lord, and wiped His feet with her loosened
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?" 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.
While still in Bethany or in the neighboring village of Bethphage, Jesus directed 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. If stopped or questioned they were to say the Lord had need of the animals. Matthew alone mentions both ass and colt; the other writers specify the latter only. Most likely the mother followed as the foal was led away, and the presence of the dam probably served to keep the colt tractable. 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.
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. 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, and particularly the contemplation of the state of sin, 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." The voice was real; it was no subjective whisper of comfort to the inner consciousness of Jesus, but an external, objective reality.
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. "And I," the Lord continued, "if I
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. "While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light"
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" and omits mention of Salome by name, some expositors hold that Salome was the sister of Mary and therefore the Savior's aunt. 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. Some have drawn the inference that these two writers place the supper two days before the Passover. This inference lacks confirmation. In this matter the chronological order given by John appears to be the true one. 6. The Home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus appears to have been the usual abiding place of Jesus when He was in Bethany. 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. 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. The earlier predictions were: (1) that spoken shortly before the Transfiguration (Matt. 16:21; Mark 8:31), and (2) that which followed, in Galilee, ( Matt. 17:22, 23; Mark 9:31; compare Luke 9:
For the significance of the title, Son of Man, see pages 142-144 . Matt. 20:30-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43. See 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. The better rendering is "cruse" or "flask" instead of "box." See revised version.
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 (Luke 7:36-50) in Galilee. The Sunday before Easter is annually celebrated by many Christian sects as Palm Sunday, in commemoration of our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Three hundred pence or Roman denarii would be approximately equal in value to forty-five dollars.