7
was his intentional fulfillment.
24
Thick with irony and truth, Jesus knowingly rides in as
"your king" (
oJ basileuv" sou
) to initiate a reckoning with Israel and her spiritual leaders.
The Christological import was not lost on the crowd, for in verses 6-9 they covered
the road with their garments and palm branches and kept crying out, "
JWsanna; tw`/ uiJw`/
Dauivd:
Eujloghmevno" oJ ejrcovmeno" ejn ojnovmati kurivou: JWsanna; ejn toi`" uJyivstoi"
."
25
The
appellation
uiJw`/ Dauivd
was inescapably messianic. The people were jubilant and praise of
God for sending the Messiah.
26
The crowd did not miss Jesus' messianic self-revelation,
but they did misunderstand it. Jesus did not come as a warrior-king atop a while stallion
27
ready to liberate Israel and restore of David's kingdom.
28
Jesus rides into Jerusalem as
Messiah-King ostensibly to lead the Nation to worship the LORD in true righteousness
and in keeping with the inauguration of the kingdom of God in their midst.
29
This final challenge is a typical ancient Mediterranean authority/power struggle
an "honor-shame games" that follow a progression labeled "challenge and riposte."
Jerome Neyrey identified four elements to the "challenge and riposte" sequence that
occurs either explicitly or implicitly. First, a challenger makes a provocative claim of worth
or value often seen in an assertion of authority. Then a claimant makes a counter-
challenge to that claim or refuses to acknowledge the claim. This is then followed by the
24
Carson, 437, commented that "the ride on a colt, because it was planned, could only be an acted
parable, a deliberate act of symbolic self-disclosure for those with eyes to see or, after the Resurrection, with
memories by which to remember and integrate the events of the preceding weeks and years. Secrecy was
being lifted."
25
Following the formatting style of UBS4th, OT and LXX quotations will be by bolded to differentiate
from the rest of the text.
26
Since
e[krazon
is imperfect tense, it indicates that they keep shouting for some time; Morris, 522-23.
The continued19 crying out by the crowd of the
wJsanna
; phrase reflects Psalm 118:25-26, which was part of
the "Hallel psalms sung during this season." In applying Hosanna to "the son of David" the crowd was
expressing high honor to Jesus. "Although," according to Kenner, 492, "the people officially began singing the
Hallel apparently the night before the first day of Passover, many parents would undoubtedly rehearse it with
their children before then." It is thus likely to assume that this psalm was on their mind.
27
cf. Rev. 19:11
28
Keener, 493; Paul B. Duff, "The March of the Divine Warrior and the Advent of the Greco-Roman
King: Mark's Account of Jesus Entry into Jerusalem," Journal of Biblical Literature 111 (1992): 55-71.
29
Matthew 5:17, 20; 12:6, and 28.