Perspective..
I’m passing through London on a train, looking at the skyline. I can see a series of tall buildings. Skyscrapers. My eyesight is pretty good and I can see them clearly. Now I know London pretty well, but if I didn’t, I would be hard pressed to be certain which block is nearest or which one is furthest away. Understanding perspective can be a challenge.
Chapter, Verse and Context..
In ancient times, Scripture was not divided into chapters and verses. There’s no question that the introduction of this device has made it easier for us to find and reference specific parts of Scripture, but there is a downside. Even before chapters and verses, students were able to find their way through Scripture, but their familiarity was based on context and themes. But even then, things were still open to interpretation. Once again, getting the right perspective is a challenge.
A Familiar Verse..
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.
We’ve learned this verse. It’s familiar to us, but it was never really intended to stand alone. Understanding the context is critical to understanding what is going on as Jesus enters Jerusalem.
Our Perspective..
This seems straightforward. We make the connection to Jesus, righteous and virtuous, riding a donkey on Palm Sunday. We see him as Messiah, greeted by a welcoming crowd, waving palm leaves and shouting ‘Hosanna’. For us, this Jesus is the fulfilment of the prophecies of the child born to be King (2 Sam 7:12-13), and the suffering servant (Isaiah 53}. His resurrection defines him as One who conquers death. So when we read this we see Jesus, coming as King, riding on a donkey, ready to suffer for our salvation.
The Crowd Perspective…
This crowd is really excited. There is joy. ‘Joy’ doesn’t really convey what is going on. This is exuberance. This is sheer jubilation. Why? Because they know all about the prophecies of Zechariah. and they believe that Jesus, this Jesus, is the Messiah. After the long winter of God’s silence, his Son is here! They are shouting ‘Hosanna’ – the word means ‘save now’. This crowd believes that Jesus, riding on his donkey, is capable of delivering salvation.
Sounds pretty similar to our interpretation. But this crowd is looking at a very different Messiah from the one we see.
The Jewish Perspective..
This crowd is almost exclusively Jewish, and their cultural lens is very different from ours. For them, Zechariah is a great prophet, but the prophecy doesn’t stop at the end of what we call verse 9. In reality, they know the prophecies of Zechariah better than we do. They knew all of it. For them, there was a wider context. The themes of these prophecies were in their DNA.
To catch a glimpse their perspective, their interpretation, their context, we need to look beyond verse 9.
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
In the Jewish mind, the coming Messiah will rid Israel of it’s enemies. He will rid Jerusalem of the chariots and war horses of their oppressors (v10). He will restore peace to Israel ‘from sea to sea, from the rivers to the ends of the earth,‘ (v10) He will free those who are captive (v11), he will restore their security and wealth – he will give them hope (v12). He will give Israel victory over the gentile oppressors (v13). This messiah will bring physical, literal and long lasting restoration to the nation of Israel (v14-15).
This is their expectation of the coming Messiah. This is the ‘restoration’ which the coming Messiah would bring to Israel. Here is their messiah. Here is their King. This is the Messiah they are so excited about.This is the ‘salvation’ which they believe that Jesus will deliver.
The idea of this messiah facing his death in Jerusalem in a few days time was not on their agenda.
Two Very Different Perspectives..
The first part of the prophecy speaks of a King riding a donkey, symbolic of his coming in peace. That’s the part we focus on. This second half speaks of the King who will come in force and power. One Messiah. That’s the part which the Jews were focused on.
Two prophecies.. One Messiah..
You start to get the picture. There are two very different, but entirely accurate, expectations of the Messiah. The suffering servant and the conquering hero. These two descriptions of the Messiah, both rooted in prophetic writings, look as if they are in conflict with each other. Actually, they’re not. We all need to adjust our lenses so that we can see the bigger picture.
It’s a bit like my story about the London skyline. We’ve effectively got two prophecies about the Messiah. Both are familiar. They both foretell the coming of the Messiah. Each of them relates to a specific point in history. The problem is that it’s not the same point. When we read them, our spiritual eyesight doesn’t tell us which is the nearest and which is furthest away.
The End Piece..
Jesus, this Jesus, is the Messiah. In that, we agree with most of this excited crowd.
A few days after this exuberant scene, Jesus is arrested, tried and crucified. To us, his death, and the resurrection to come, affirm that He is the Messiah. His journey leads to seismic, universal and eternal change. Light overcomes darkness. The veil over God’s sanctuary is torn. Good triumphs over evil. Life is victorious over death.
To this Jewish crowd, however, his death is profoundly undermining. Their Messiah should defeat the Romans, not be killed by them. So, what about the conquering prophecy of a Messiah who will restore peace and deal with Israel’s enemies?
After his death and resurrection there was a 40 day period when people, lots of people, saw Jesus face to face. There were many, many witnesses to his resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). At the end of that 40 day period, he was taken up into heaven. You can read that part of the story in Acts 1. Notice verse 11:
‘this Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.‘ Acts 1:11
Did you notice the words, ‘Jesus […] will come back..’ The theme continues throughout New Testament writings.
The teaching of the Apostles Paul, Peter and John are crystal clear. These are the guys who had been taught directly by Jesus. He will be back, and when he returns, it will herald another time of seismic, universal and eternal change. This time, justice and peace will be restored. Jerusalem will be restored. The enemies of the redefined Israel will be dealt with and crushed, and the Kingdom of God will be restored.
Jesus often said that those around him were so close to understanding, and maybe that was true of this crowd.
I don’t think that there’s any doubt that many people in this noisy crowd did, in that moment, believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but they were anticipating the imminent fulfilment of the wrong part of Zechariah’s prophecy. It’s a question of perspective. The one which they thought was nearest, was actually furthest away.
Christ has died
Christ is risen
Christ will come again.
Richard Jackson, West Sussex: LifePictureUK
The word ‘colt’ can refer to a young horse or a young donkey. Matthew’s version of this story tells us that the ‘colt’ in question was a donkey (