Lesson 3
The Triumphal
Entry
Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-13
Luke 19:29-44, John 12:12-19
It is Sunday
morning and Jesus is continuing his travels to Jerusalem. Imagine that we are
walking with Him as He hikes His way to Jerusalem. He is now thronged with
groups of people also on their journey for the passover to Jerusalem. I think that He is still in a very solemn
nature, as He knows what is soon to come, and as He knows, the prophecies will
soon be fulfilled.
When our
children were young, I was continuously wanting help in parenting. One of the books I read was by Linda and and
Richard Eyre and they suggested a good book to read as a family was The
Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I
had never read the Chronicles of Narnia as a young girl and decided this
would be a great time to start the reading with my children. We read as a family each evening before bed
this book by C.S. Lewis. I usually did
the reading; our family was enjoying the story.
One evening, as I arrived home from a Relief Society activity, Dana was
reading the next chapter in the book. As
I looked in the family room everyone was so solemn, Dana reading the last words
of the chapter as tears flowed down his face.
Prayer was said, the kids gave us a kiss and a hug and were off to
bed. What did I miss? I asked Dana, and he just said, you have to
read this on your own to understand the chapter. I of course could not wait for the next day
to come, and sat up that evening reading the chapter I had missed. C.S. Lewis
portrayed the solemnity perfectly as he wrote about Aslan, the lion/king who
had made a pact with the queen for the life of Edmund.
The
moonlight was bright and everything was quite still except for the noise
of the river
chattering over the
stones. Then Susan suddenly caught Lucy's arm and said, “Look!” On the far side
of the camping ground, just where the trees began, they saw the Lion slowly
walking away from them into the wood.
Without a word they both followed him.
He led them
up the steep slope out of the river valley and then slightly to the
right-apparently by the very same route which they had used that afternoon in
coming from the Hill of the Stone Table.
On and on he led them, into dark shadows and out into pale moonlight,
getting their feet wet with the heavy dew.
He looked somehow different from the Aslan they knew. His tail and
his head hung low and he walked slowly ad if he were very,
very tired. Then, when they were
crossing a wide open place where there were not shadows for them to hide in, he
stopped and looked around. It was no good trying to run away so they come
towards him. When they were closer he
said,
“Oh,
children, children, why are you following me?”
“We couldn't
sleep,” said Lucy-and then felt sure that she need say no more and that Aslan
knew all they had been thinking.
“Please, may
we come with you-wherever you're going?” asked
Susan.
“Well--”said
Aslan, and seemed to be thinking. Then
he said, “I should be glad of company tonight.
Yes, you may come, if you will promise to stop when I tell you, and
after that leave me to go on alone.”
“Oh, thank
you, thank you. And we will,” said the
two girls.
Forward they
went again and one of the girls walked on each side of the Lion. But how slowly
he walked! And his great, royal head
drooped so that his nose nearly touched the grass. Presently he tumbled and gave a low moan.
“Aslan! Dear
Aslan!” said Lucy, “what is wrong? Can't
you tell us?”
“Are you
ill, dear Aslan?” asked Susan.
“No,”
said Aslan. “I am sad and lonely, Lay
your hands on my mane so that I can feel you are there and let us walk like
that.” And so the girls did what
they would never have dared to do without his permission, but what they had
longed to do ever since they first saw him-buried their cold hands in the
beautiful sea of fur and stroked it and, so doing, walked with him.” (C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia, The
Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, p.179)
Aslan is
such a great character in similitude of the Savior! He was so taken with sadness as he walked to
the Stone Table, just as the Savior was
filled with sadness as He walked to Jerusalem.
What an impact it had on me, especially as I experienced watching the
reaction of my family to this very important part of the story. I too went to bed that night very
humbled.
As I think
of the Savior walking the road to Jerusalem, I think of Aslan and in his solemn
walk with the children, and now years later we can watch it in movie form and
literally see this portrayed.
The Master
is now close to Jerusalem, he has passed Bethpage, which is close to the mount
of Olives, and he turns to his disciples and says, “Go into the village over
against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her:
loose them, and bring them unto me. And
if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, the Lord hath need of them; and
straightway he will send them.” (Matthew 21:2-3)
How shall
the King come? The prophetic words tell
us, “Ye shall see him lowly, and riding upon an ass.” This is the symbol of Jewish royalty. One scholar says the donkey symbolized
humility and submission. “A horse, in
the other hand, symbolized triumph and victory over enemies. Thus, the Savior's riding into Jerusalem on a
donkey represented that He came in meekness and
submission to the Father's will and to the coming suffering and crucifixion
needed to carry out the Atonement.” (David J. Ridges, To This End was I Born,
p.2)
Yes, he is on
his way to Jerusalem in solemn humility and submission. The disciples arrive with the donkey, all as
the Lord had explained. They “put on it
their clothes; and Jesus took the colt and sat thereon; and they followed him.”
(Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 21:7a)
Jesus is now
riding the colt, the crowd is around him, and they are now laying their coats
before him on the ground as he enters the gates of Jerusalem. Others
are waving the palm branches and laying them on the ground in front of
him as he enters the city in great humility.
As the crowd
waves the branches before him, they begin the Hosanna Shout. Bruce R McConkie
tells us, “It was a spontaneous, Spirit-guided acclamation of holy praise and
divine testimony, patterned after the acclamations of adulation and glory given
to Jehovah at the Feast of Tabernacles.
Their King –Meek and lowly in heart, riding in their midst on a lowly
ass –heard thousands of voices cry out in perfect praise.” (McConkie, B 3,
p.339)
“Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in
the name of the Lord.”
“Blessed be
the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the
highest.”
“Hosanna to
the son of David: Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna
in the highest.”
“Hosanna!
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; That bringeth the kingdom of
our father David; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in
the Highest.” (Matthew 21:9, Mark 11:9,10,
Luke 19:38, John 12:13)
It is very
humbling to think of how Jesus felt as He was riding the colt. Did they not understand, those who were
placing palm leaves and coats before Him?
But, none the less, His
love for them, kept
Him going towards the path of the crucifixion.
He knew where this week was taking Him and continued on.
In Luke
19:41, Luke tells us that when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept
over it. He openly wept! Aloud.
Farrar shares with us, “He not only wept, but broke into a passion of
lamentation....The Deliverer weeps over the city which it is now too late to
save; the King prophesies the total ruin of the nation which He came to rule!”
(Farrar, pp. 534-35)
“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.
For the days
shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and
compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
And shall lay thee even with the ground, and
thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon
another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” (Luke19:42-44)
Within
50 years this prophecy was fulfilled.
“All the
city was moved, saying, Who is this? And
the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:10-11) What a solemn and humbling time for
Jesus. Did they have any idea who He
really is? Is He the king they thought
He was? He didn't come to save them from
the Romans; He came to save them/us, all of us from our sins.
The last
thing that is recorded for Sunday's events is a meeting with some Greeks who
had come to also worship at the feast.
Phillip and Andrew arrange for them to meet with the Master. During this visit with the Master and the
Greeks, He tells them, “The hour is
come, that the Son of Man should be glorified.”
He then tells a parable about a corn of wheat, which represents
Him. Then He exclaims in anguish, “Now
is my soul troubled and what shall I say?
Father, save me from
this hour?” Oh, what grief, what pain,
but He knows that He is the Savior of the earth, He then says,”but for this
cause came I unto this hour.” He knows
His call. He turns to His Father for support, not to take this moment away, but
to strengthen Him so that He could endure what was to come, “Father, glorify
thy name.” Talmage tells us, “It was the
rising of a mighty Soul to meet a supreme issue, which for the moment has
seemed to be overwhelming. To that
prayer of renewed surrender to the Father's will, “Then came there a voice from
heaven, saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” (Talmage,
p. 483, John 12:20-28)
He was
acknowledged by the Father, so everyone could hear His voice! This is the Fathers voice! Imagine being there, the Master, in torment
over the forthcoming things of the week, his shoulders burdened by the weight
that they carry, and the Father glorifies Him, out loud, like a megaphone. “The
people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, and said that it thundered”
(John12:29) What a proclamation! What a
reverence, what a love from the Father!
The Savior
then testified again of being the light of the world, “Then Jesus said unto
them, Yet a little while is the light with you.
Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that
walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe
in the light, that ye may be the children of light. (John 12:35-36)
After Jesus
spake these things He returned to Bethany with the twelve, and “did hide
Himself from them”. This ends Sunday as
He rests in Bethany for the next day, we assume in the home of Mary, Martha,
and Lazarus.
Triumphal Entry
What do we learn from
this great event?
Prepare
Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-13
Luke 19:29-44, John 12:12-19
Tell
the story of the Triumphal Entry.
Relate
the story of Aslan, in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
How
did Aslan feel, how did the Savior feel?
Maybe
watch the movie as a family activity.
What
is the importance of the Triumphal Entry?
Why
did Israel wave palm leaves, and put their coats in
front
of the donkey?
What
is the symbolism of the donkey?
What
is a Hosanna Shout?
When
is a Hosanna Shout given in our day?
Remembering
Find
a donkey, maybe one from your nativity, and place it
somewhere
where everyone will see it in your family.
Underneath
it place palm leaves to represent this monumental moment
in
the Saviors last week in his life.
Act of Service
What act of service
can you do that will represent the Triumphal Entry?
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