A Look into the Events of Passion Tide - Part 1

As I mentioned earlier, I will be posting some notes about the events of Passion Tide this week. As Dr. Anne Carroll phrased it, it is especially important to look at Our Lord's words during this week as they were what most occupied his mind before his death. Today's post will discuss Palm Sunday and Monday of Holy Week.

Palm Sunday

Jn 12:12, Matt 21--Jesus allows the people to call him the Messiah publicly. He did not allow it before because the Jews thought that the Christ would be a military messiah. But he allows it now because the crucifixion is so imminent. 

Several Messianic signs are contained in the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. 

1. Jesus's riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass."). This is also appropriate because the donkey is a beast of burden, not a conqueror's horse, and is thus fitting for the suffering servant.
2. Jesus allows the people to call him "Son of David," a Messianic title.
3. The presence of palms signify the presence of a king.
4. The people call him the King of Israel 
5. The crowd cries out, "Hosanna!" which means "come and save us"

After the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Jesus gives a homily (Jn 12:23). In it, he mentions that, "unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." He instructs us that those who follow him must be willing to lay down their lives for him: "If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him."

Monday of Holy Week

Depiction of the Temple courtesy of the NYPL Digital Database

For the second time, Christ chases the money changers and their animals out of the temple (Matt 21:12). This is significant for two main reasons: first, now that the Messiah has come, there will no longer be a need for animal sacrifice; second, the Court of the Gentiles (where the money changers had been) is now cleared out allowing the Gentiles access to the temple.

Print showing the Temple's floor-plan (1784), courtesy of the NYPL Digital Database