The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-04-02
SBlessed is he that cometh in the
name of the Lord."-Matt. 21:9.

name OF the Iord."-Matt. 21:9,
Next Sunday will be generally OBJ.
served as Palm Sunday, but the real
anniversary date, according to the He
brew calendar, would be next Thurs
day, and the Sunday night following
will be the anniversary of our Lords
Memorial Supper.
-Four days before his crucifixion our
Lord rode to Jerusalem on the ass.
The people preceding and following
him shouted, "Hosanna to Messiah.
Son of David and King of Israel" and
spread their outer garments and palm
branches on the road, as was the Gus
tom with great heroes in triumphal
procession.
For three and half years from the
time of his baptism at thirty years of
Ege our Lord had been preaching the
Kingdom of heaven at hand Addition
ally he had sent forth dis disciples
two and two; first the twelve, and
later seventy others, to preach the
same thing, namely, Repent, for the
Kingdom of heaven is at hand"--get
your hearts into a condition of readi-
ness that you may be received into
that Kingdom, to be associated with
Messiah in the blessing of all the fam.
lilies of the earth, in harmony with
the promise made to father Abraham.
Our Lord had become quite noted.
THE common people heard him glad.
ly." Some of them said, Never man
spake like this man" And they all
bare witness to the gracious words
that proceeded out of his mouth, for
he spake as one having authority
(knowledge) and not as a scribe" On
more than one occasion it appeared as
though the people would take him by
force to make him a king; but our
Lord avoided the matter and with
drew himself and discouraged the eff
forts. The scribes and Pharisees, jeal-
Gus of his popularity, ashamed of his
following and afraid that he would yet
become the center of futile move
ment antagonistic to the Roman gov
eminent and their own prestige, had
already threatened his life. AS it is
written, Jesus could no longer walk
in Jewry because the Jews sought to
kill him" Their antagonism to him
was all the greater after the awaken
ing of Lazarus.
Behold, Thy King Cometh.
Suddenly a change was manifest in
Jesus attitude He came to Bethany,
notwithstanding the protest of his dis
ciples, who then valiantly said, Let us
go that we may die with him." Discard
ing caution he went directly to the
home of Lazarus and his sisters There
he was the guest of honor with his dis
ciples at a special feast. There Mary
poured upon him the precious spike
nard perfume which Jesus declared
was an amounting for his burial. In
that expression we have the key to his
outward course. He knew that his
hour was come; that the end of his
ministry was. at hand; that he was
about to be crucified.
1t was under these circumstances
that the next morning he not only did
not hinder the people from proclaim
ing him King, but he sent his disciples
to bring the ass upon which he was to
ride in triumph as a King, for it was
the custom of Israel's kings to be thus
presented to the people. The account
tells us that the people hailed Jesus
as the Son of David. the King of Is
rael the Messiah; and that in the con-
course were Pharisees who had come
from Jerusalem to Bethany to see Je-
sus and Lazarus whom he had awak-
ened from death; these beheld the
proceeding and expostulated with Je
Sus' disciples, telling them that Jesus
should call the attention of the people
to what they were saying and that he
should reprove them. Our Lords an
swer shows how important was the
event. He said, eff these should hold
their peace the very stones would cry
out" duke 19:4O) The Evangelist
calls our attention to the fact that the
entire procedure was in fulfilment OF
the prophecy of zechariah, as through
him the Lord had declared centuries
beforehand the events which must
transpire at the appointed hour, name
ly, Shout, o daughter of Jerusalem;
behold, thy King cometh unto thee;
he is just. and having salvation; low
Iy, and riding upon an ass, and upon
colt the foal of an ass. "-Zech. 80.
Here we see the reason why our
Lord said that if the people would hold
their peace and not shout the stones
would cry out; because the Lord
through prophecy had foretold shout
and the Scriptures must be fulfilled.
How strengthening it is to faith to
realize that even the jots and TITLES
of prophecy must all be fulfilled! Thus
realizing the Divine supervision of the
affairs of our Lord and of his follow
ers we may indeed have a strong con-
ISOLATION and good hope. realizing that
all things written in the Law and by
the prophets shall have their fulfil
ment in due course.
Little did the Jews on that Palm
Sunday realize what was taking place!
And indeed very few Christians to this
day realize the purport of that oc.
casion. Let us see what it was. God
had promised Messiah and that he
should be of the Seed Of Abraham and
of the family of David. Zechariah's
prophecy quoted had foretold his for
NAL entry. All those things must be
fulfilled: God must keep his part OF
the contract If failure occurred it
must be Israel's failure. And SO 1t
was! Israel. as represented by her rul-
ers who sat in Moses seat were not
ready for the Messiah. If they had be-
lieved the preaching of John the Bap-
list genuine reformation would have
made them ready to receive the Mes.
siah. But not being in heart condition
4l,o,, 70 nynoof q worldly cnnnIIQr-