Jerusalem

A Kingly Procession

     Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. Zechariah 9:9.   

     Five hundred years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Zechariah thus foretold the coming of the King to Israel. . . . Christ was following the Jewish custom for a royal entry. . . . No sooner was He seated upon the colt than a loud shout of triumph rent the air. The multitude hailed Him as Messiah, their King. . . .They could lead the triumphal procession with no royal standards, but they cut down the spreading palm boughs, Nature's emblem of victory, and waved them aloft with loud acclamations and hosannas. . .    

     Never before in His earthly life had Christ permitted such a demonstration. He clearly foresaw the result. It would bring Him to the cross. But it was His purpose thus publicly to present Himself as the Redeemer. He desired to call attention to the sacrifice that was to crown His mission. . . .     

     Never before had the world seen such a triumphal procession. It was not like that of the earth's famous conquerors. No train of mourning captives, as trophies of kingly valor, made a feature of that scene. But about the Saviour were the glorious trophies of His labors of love for sinful man. There were the captives whom He had rescued from Satan's power, praising God for their deliverance. The blind whom He had restored to sight were leading the way. The dumb whose tongues He had loosed shouted the loudest hosannas. The cripples whom He had healed bounded with joy. . . . Lazarus, whose body had seen corruption in the grave, but who now rejoiced in the strength of glorious manhood, led the beast on which the Saviour rode. . . .     

     That scene of triumph was of God's own appointing. It had been foretold by the prophet, and man was powerless to turn aside God's purpose.     

     As well might the priests and rulers attempt to deprive the earth of the shining face of the sun, as to shut from the world the beams of glory from the Sun of Righteousness. In spite of all opposition, the kingdom of Christ was confessed by the people.    

 

           Jerusalem's King

     Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. Psalm 48:2.   

     From the crest of Olivet, Jesus looked upon Jerusalem. Fair and peaceful was the scene spread out before Him. . . . The rays of the setting sun lighted up the snowy whiteness of its marble walls and gleamed from golden gate and tower and pinnacle. "The perfection of beauty" it stood, the pride of the Jewish nation. What child of Israel could gaze upon the scene without a thrill of joy and admiration! But far other thoughts occupied the mind of Jesus. "When he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it" (Luke 19:41). Amid the universal rejoicing of the triumphal entry, while palm branches waved, while glad hosannas awoke the echoes of the hills, and thousands of voices declared Him King, the world's Redeemer was overwhelmed with a sudden and mysterious sorrow. He, the Son of God, the Promised One of Israel, whose power had conquered death and called its captives from the grave, was in tears, not of ordinary grief, but of intense, irrepressible agony.   

     His tears were not for Himself.... He wept for the doomed thousands of Jerusalem--because of the blindness and impenitence of those whom He came to bless and to save. . . .   

     Though rewarded with evil for good, and hatred for His love, He had steadfastly pursued His mission of mercy. Never were those repelled that sought His grace. . . . But Israel had turned from her best Friend and only Helper. The pleadings of His love had been despised, His counsels spurned, His warnings ridiculed. . . .   

     When Christ should hang upon the cross of Calvary, Israel's day as a nation favored and blessed of God would be ended.... As Christ looked upon Jerusalem, the doom of a whole city, a whole nation, was before Him--that city, that nation, which had once been the chosen of God, His peculiar treasure.    

     The long-suffering of God toward Jerusalem only confirmed the Jews in their stubborn impenitence. . . . Her children had spurned the grace of Christ. 

AG 47, 48