The Day Jesus Turned Palms into Nails

When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately. They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the Colt? They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Advertisement

I wish I had been a field reporter outside Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday so long ago. It would have been interesting to interview some of the participants to ask them why they were there and what they were hoping to accomplish. Since I can't ask those questions to the participants, I have to rely on the information we have.

Mark is not much help. He gives us the bare facts, without any commentary. Matthew contributes the children to the story, and John contributes the palm branches. All the Evangelist says that the parade went into the city of Jerusalem, except Mark. Mark writes that the parade went to the city gates, and Jesus went into the city alone to walk through the temple, not to occupy it, not to cleanse it, but to survey it and to leave it and the city, going back to Bethany, a short distance from Jerusalem. Mark's account is not only brief, it is restrained and without the claims about Jesus found in the other three Gospels.

Mark's account is anything but uninteresting, however. The parade was anything but unimpressive. There is the mysterious locating and commandeering of an unbroken colt, the silence of Jesus except for instruction about the colt, the large and loud crowd, the garments and branches to pave his way, and the bursts of praise and blessing. Mark's account is subdued compared to Matthew which pictures all of Jerusalem in turmoil because of the celebration. It's like the difference between a press conference at Centcom in Doha, Qatar and a press conference at the Pentagon with Don Rumsfield. You're just not going to enough out of Mark, unless you are an insider.