My Palm Sunday Reflection: On Jesus' Triumphal Entrance into Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-10)

This gospel reading on Mark 11:1-10 is proclaimed during the liturgy celebrated outside the church on which palms would be blessed by the priest and lay assistants and procession to the church follows.

            Jesus' entry into Jerusalem so to speak could be His intro for the final stage of His public ministry on earth.

           

            But take note of His strategy. At a distance before entering the Holy City, He instructed two of His disciples to go ahead of the group. Enter into a village and find a "colt tethered on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone should say to you, "Why are you doing this?' reply, "The Master has need of it and will send it back here at once." And so it happened as it was told by Jesus.

            The symbolism of Jesus' action here is so rich that no one could help himself but to awe the divinely design. But let us try to decipher some possible meanings out of the symbols.

         colt. Accordingly, a colt is a male horse of not more than four years of age. It is young,     inexperienced therefore meager. Since the colt is young, "no one has ever sat" it, so it is pure and unblemished.

             bystanders. They are the people who saw the disciples untied the colt. It would be logical for us to assume the rage of these people seeing two strangers seemingly stealing an animal belonging to one their neighbors. But as they heard that the, "Master has need of it and will send it back here at once," they backed off and permitted the disciples to bring the colt to Jesus.

            Could it not because of the bystander's concession of bringing the colt to Jesus by His disciples, we have another story to tell. But that's beyond our capacity to imagine.

How does the account tell of Jesus?

            As foretold by the prophet Zechariah, (Zechariah 9:9), "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey." Then, Jesus fulfills the prophecy of old. Riding on a colt maintains His humility as depicted in Philippians 2:6, "who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped." Since, He is famous already and many people have looked at Him with so much expectation as a Royal King who would lead his people against the Roman power, He could have demanded His followers or supporters to create a chariot adorned with full regalia of an earthly king. But He is not that earthly king many people have expected. He is the Son of God, the King in Heaven who stoops down to liberate His people from the bondage of sin. The outright concession or permission of the bystanders tells us that the Lord of Heaven has the authority of everything. Jesus as the Word (John 1:3) from whom everything was made and everything was created for Him (Colossians 1:16), is the ultimate owner of everything. Therefore, whatever He wants to use He would make use of it to advance His ministry on earth.

What does it means for us today?

            The colt symbolizes our God-given gifts. Many gifts, in fact countless gifts that falls under the three known categories as Talent - Time - Treasure. Many times we doubt our sharing. We even regard it as nothing or useless. But take note nothing is meager or useless in the name of the Lord. Never doubt it. Who knows that your little sharing might be the greatest contribution of humanity in Jesus' project, which means your efforts on giving up something for God's cause might be the corner stone in Kingdom of Heaven.

            Let us learn they way of the bystanders' attitude on hearing the Good News from the disciples, the "Master has need of it and will send it back here at once." They instantly obeyed the Master. Right there and then, they have allowed themselves to be subjected of God's authority in order to fulfill Jesus' ministry in Jerusalem. Take note of the assurance Jesus gave to them through His disciples "and will send it back here at once." I remember the known parlance that goes "Give it away and it will right comes back you" with blessing of a hundredfold.

            Are you resolved to readily give up your colt whenever God ask for it?

            A BLESSED HOLY WEEK TO ALL!