Palm Sunday

Who is Jesus?

That’s the big question in today’s readings from the Gospel of St. Matthew. There is some dissonance between the two Gospel passages today. On the one hand, Jesus is explicitly proclaimed King of Israel, but on the other hand, the question is continually raised: “Who is this?” or “Who are you?”

The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem was not just a fancy parade. This was rich with meaning from the Old Testament, and the people recognized this significance. They had been anticipating some sign from Jesus at the Feast. Yesterday’s Gospel left us with the question, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?” (John 11:56) Things had reached a climax and everyone was waiting to see what would happen.

When Jesus arrived mounted on an ass and a colt, the people immediately recognized the significance. In the First book of Kings, King David has his son Solomon mounted on the King’s own mule and led into Gihon as he is anointed and proclaimed King of Israel and of Judah. All the people followed the procession rejoicing and shouting (1:33-48). In Zechariah the prophet writes about the coming Messiah, “See, your king shall come to you…meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass” (9:9). Jesus was openly fulfilling the Scriptures and proclaiming Himself King of Israel. Why else would someone ride on both an ass AND a colt? Even with the cloaks, that had to be uncomfortable! (It may very well be that Jesus didn’t ride on both animals at once, that Matthew includes that in order to highlight the connection to Zechariah for the reader.)

How do we know the people understood what was happening? They cried out “Hosanna to the Son of David” (Mt 21:9) and “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” a verse (26) from Psalm 118 which is a hymn of thanksgiving announcing the arrival of a savior, a victor. The people did not only quote from one part of this Psalm, they also acted out the very next verse which says “Join in procession with leafy branches” (118:27).

It wasn’t only the crowd from the procession that understood its significance. When Jesus entered Jerusalem “the whole city was shaken” (Mt 21:10) and asked “Who is this?” They didn’t ask “What is going on?” or “Why are you riding on two animals at the same time? Doesn’t that hurt?” No, they asked “Who is this?” Did Psalm 24 pop into their minds as they asked this question? Did they hear its answer? Who is this king of glory? The LORD of hosts is the king of glory (Ps 24:10). If Psalm 24 didn’t come to mind, they still had the crowd’s answer “This is Jesus the Prophet.”

As the Passion begins in St Matthew’s gospel, Jesus will repeatedly refer to Himself as the “Son of Man.” He’s not emphasizing His human nature here. What He’s doing is explicitly proclaiming that He is the Son of Man written about in Daniel 7 where it says: “I saw One like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven; When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him, His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed” (7:13-14). Jesus isn’t just the King of Israel and of Judah as was King Solomon, but the King of the whole world with a kingship that is eternal.

No one missed this reference. They couldn’t, Jesus repeated it again and again. When the Sanhedrin asked Jesus under oath whether He was the Messiah, the Son of God (a title of kingship, not a title of divinity) Jesus once more explicitly referred to Himself as Daniel’s “Son of Man” while also quoting from Psalm 110: “From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven’” (Mt 26:64). He could have just said “yes,” but under Jewish law testimony required two witnesses. The Sanhedrin had many false witnesses come forward to accuse Jesus, but they had trouble finding two whose stories matched. In answering their question of who He is, Jesus gives them two witnesses for His claim of Kingship, Daniel and David. His proclamation could not have been clearer, and we know that because immediately after His response the high priest tore his robes “He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses?” (Mt 26:65)

When brought before Pilate the question is raised again, “Are you the king of the Jews?” This time, Jesus didn’t answer. Why not? We don’t know, but one reason might be because Pilate, a gentile, wouldn’t understand. He didn’t have the Scriptures to give him an idea of who and what the King “of the Jews” really is. Pilate was looking for an insurrectionist who threatens Rome’s power and authority. Jesus wasn’t that kind of King.

What’s interesting is that although Jesus told the Jews of Jerusalem over and over that He was in fact the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of Man, King of Israel, King of the whole world, the original King—God Himself, they did not believe Him. To the Gentiles he said nothing, and yet through His Passion and death they come to recognize who He really is. Pilate has His charge written as: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” When Jesus dies and the earth quakes, the centurion and the other gentile officers keeping watch exclaim, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (Mt 27:54)

The shorter option for today’s reading ends here at verse 54 with the Centurion’s exclamation of who Jesus really is, having begun at verse 11 with Pilate’s question, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Truly, this was the Son of God!