The Messiah Comes
“Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it”
(Luke 19:41).
“Look, the whole world has gone after Him” said the Pharisees among themselves (John 12:19).
The book, The Robe, written in 1942 by Lloyd C. Douglas, a pastor turned writer, offers many unique perspectives on the life of Christ through his fictional characters Marcellus, a Roman tribune in charge of the crucifixion of Jesus and Demetrius his Athenian slave. In one scene, Demetrius is drawn into the excitement of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem neither knowing anything about Jesus nor why the crowd was singing. How do you picture Jesus receiving this praise? I always saw Him happy and waving to the crowd like in a Rose Bowl parade—but I had forgotten that He was weeping. Douglas captures this in what Demetrius sees:
“ ‘You think they’ve got somebody up front who wants to be their king? Is that it?’
‘Looks like it. They keep howling another word that I don’t know—Messiah. The man’s name, maybe.’
Again Demetrius, regaining his lost balance, stretched to full height for another look at the man who had somehow evoked all this wild adulation. It was difficult to believe that this was the sort of person who could be expected to inflame a mob into some audacious action. Instead of receiving the applause with an air of triumph—or even of satisfaction—the unresponsive man on the white donkey seemed sad about the whole affair. He looked as if he would gladly have had none of it.
It was apparent that whoever started this wild pandemonium lacked the hero’s approbation (approval).
The face of the enigmatic (difficult to understand) Jew seemed weighted with an almost insupportable burden of anxiety. The eyes, narrowed as if in resigned acceptance of some inevitable catastrophe, stared straight ahead toward Jerusalem. Perhaps the man, intent upon larger responsibilities far removed from this pitiable little coronation farce, wasn’t really hearing the racket at all.” (1)
Questions to think about:
*What does the word Messiah mean?
*What does it mean to you?
*Why do you think Jesus wept over the city?
*If you were in the crowd on Palm Sunday, what do you think your response would have been to Jesus?
For Further Study:
*Matthew 21:1-11 *Luke 19:29-44
*John 12:12-19 *Psalm 118:25-26
*Daniel 9:25 *Zechariah 9:9-10
*Luke 13:34-35 *Philippians 2:-9-11
*Matthew 16:14-16 *John 1:29, 41
*John 11:27
1. Palm Sunday
Lloyd C. Douglas, The Robe (Mariner, 1942), pp. 72-73.
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