The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1888-03-09
ENTERING JERUSALEM.
LESSON xi, INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY
SCHOOL SERIES MARCH, n.


en- Text, Ps. cxviii, a8--Memoriss
Verses 1o-13-Comment by Rev. vii.
liam Newton, ID. u.
from Lesson Helper Quarterly, BY permission
Of H. s, Hoffman, Philadelphia, publisher.l
Notes. -~Bethphage or house Of figs, near 10
Bethany. Over against, opposite. Straight
way, at once without seeking. Loose them.
or unite them Aught, anything. That IL
might, in order that, etc. Daughter Of Zion,
Jerusalem. The foal, the young one Clothes,
or outer garments. Strewed, spread or
scattered. Hosanna, Heb, save now for
merly word Of prayer, but now Of praise.
Son Of David, one of the titles of Jesus as
Messiah. Moved, aroused or excited. The
multitude, |. e., the people that came with
him, or formed the great procession. House
Of prayer, 1. e, in which prayer shall be offer
ed. Wonderful things, |. e., the great works,
miracles or signs Crying, singing or call
ing out. Sore displeased, very angry.
V. 1-3. The incidents of this lesson stand
alone in its impressiveness; OF rather IN the
characte. of its impressiveness. It'll singu-
lar blending Of Gods foreordained purposes,
with mans perfect freedom of action--by
which those purposes were to be carried out.
Jesus, as the true Messiah, had come to the
people to whom he was promised All the
great works ascribed to the Messiah by their
prophets, had been wrought by him. Even
the soldiers were constrained to say, "Never
man spake as this mangn And now as ne
drew nigh to Jerusalem and knew that he
ha at ut,
he also knew that his triumphal entry into
the city must then be made; even as It was
foretold. "All things were ready The ap-
pointed time had come. The people were
thronging in great multituies about him.
Not knowing why they did it, the owners Of
the ass had tied her before his door, and
there she stood, awaiting the messengers
Of the master, coming to claim her for his
service. And so he paused at Bethphage, to
make the needed preparations. And 30 he
sent forward two Of his disciples to the viii
lage over against them. 1t does not seem
that he told them for what purpose the ass
and her colt were to be brought He did SO
in the case Of the fish to be caught for the
tribute money Matt xvii, 81. He did 80 in
the case of the two disciples sent to prepare
'or the Passover, Mark xiv, Is. But he did
rot do 30 in this case. He seems to
have sent for the ass without telling them
why the animal was needed. There was
10 be no preparation for their playing part.
No limiting to them what the prophet had
said. No telling them what they would be
expected TO do. The time had come. The
occasion would BE silently brought
before them, and the rest would be as
the spirit moved them to act. And in this
direction these things are very clear, ie:
l. The Lords knowledge Of coming events.
2. Some intimations of his power.
v. 4. This, manifestly, refers to the
Saviour's knowledge Of what was to be done,
and his purpose in doing it, and not at all to
the disciplesl They did what he told them
TO do without, at that time, having anything
except that he told them to do it, The pur-
pose Of it all lay in his own mind alone He
knew what was written. He knew why it
was written. He knew that the tine was
come, and that this proof of his Messiaship
was to be furnished against themselves by
the people to whom he came. And there
fore, all this was done.
v. SO. This prophesy Is in Zach. ix, 8.
Nothing could be palmer The time of the
coming kingdom had come. Their king him.
self had come, and the shouts Of the multi
tude, as they proclaimed his coming rent the
the crisis Of Jerusalem's destiny. Who can
say that this was not . real thingi That this
triulnphal entry into Jerusalem did not mean
the setting up of the kingdom then and there,
II the nation had received its king
v. 10. And here commences the disciples
part, with that Of the multitude Thus far
Jesus had acted alone, and now the time for
their action had come. We can see the act
ing Of the process. Every line Of the record
adds some new feature to the picture. See!
The disciples have returned with the ass and
her colt! What shall they do with theml A
sudden impulse seems to seize them They
take their loose, flowing, outside garments
and lay them on the unframed colt. Rever-
emily they approach their Lord, and under
his gently constraining power "set him
thereonw There h. sits, just as the prophet
foretold-but with no word spoken by him
Zions king with his face toward Zion's capi-
tai. Sudden and unlocked for as the fire Of
tho Lord that fell on Elijah's sacrifice, a
strong impulse seized the great multitude, as
they took up the line of march toward
Jerusalem. 1t was composed Of two sections
those that went before and those that fol.
lowed after with Jesus in the midst. The
march begins. From those nearest the per-
son Of the Lord, a shout, as Of triumph goes
up. Listen Why it is the strain of their
old prophets-a portion of the Great Hallel
or song Of praise-an acknowledged tribute
to the Messiah. See Ps. cxviii, 25, 90. Tho
song passes from man to man; from those in
the rear the gladsome strain rolls on: "Ho-
sanna to the Son Of Davidl Blessed be he
that cometh in the name of the Lord! Ho-
sanna in the highest" Those that went be-
fore caught up the strain, and the air was
filed with its melody as the procession
swept on toward Jerusalem
v. 10, IL. Nothing could be more natural
than this. OF course, ''the- daughter Of
Zion" would ask: "Who is thisin. And there
could be no other answer than that which the
multitude gave.
v. 12, l3. This Is the second Of the two
cleansings of the temple by our Lord. The
portion of the temple referred to here was
the court Of the Gentiles, into which alone
such things as are here named could be
taken. And because many Jews came from
foreign lands, they would need to change their
money into the shekel OF the sanctuary. Ex-
odus xiii, 10. But pot even merchandise
which is honest trade-can be tolerated in
the house of God. But here 1t had degen-
Grated into lawless gain. And in each case
1t was the silent exercise of his authority as
the son Of man that made them 60 upresist-
ingly out when the hope of their unlawful
gain was thus swept away.
V. H. How striking the contrasts of this
wonderful day The solemn grandeur of the
triumphal entry into Jerusalem; his indig-
nant driving the traders from the temple
and the tender sympathy for the afflicted as
they presented themselves before him; how
beautiful the record isl How full of power
Is this wondrous lifei
V. IS, 10. Why were the chief priests and
scribes sore displeasedl Clearly for two rea.
sons: rt.......af .I. ...- ... .f
l. The wonderful works Of Jesus; and
2 The children's tribute to his Messiah.
shir IhnAk would not halia..1a tharaaalsros,