<h2>Palm Sunday</h2><div class="chaptertitle">CHAPTER 73</div>
<div class='cap'>THE NEWS that Jesus was at Bethany went abroad,
and very soon the village was thronged with
people eager to see him. Many of these were men
who had come from the country up to Jerusalem for the
feast of the Passover; and most of them were ready to
believe in Jesus as the Christ, the promised King of
Israel. Some came to Bethany, not only to see Jesus,
but to see Lazarus also, the man whom Jesus had raised
from death to life. The rulers, who had already made
up their minds to put Jesus to death and had paid Judas
to give him up to them, said to each other:</div>
<p>"If we are to prevent these people from making
Jesus of Nazareth their king, it will not be enough to
kill Jesus; we must first kill Lazarus, for on his account
many are following Jesus."</p>
<p>On the morning after the supper at Simon's house,
Jesus decided to go into Jerusalem. He called two of
his disciples and said to them:</p>
<p>"Go into the next village on the road to Jerusalem,
and just on the edge of it you will find an ass tied, and
with it a colt on which no one has ever ridden; untie
them and bring them to me. If anyone asks you, 'Why
are you doing that?' tell him, 'The Master needs them;
and will send them back soon;' and he will let you take
the ass and the colt."</p>
<p>The two disciples went to the village, and found in
the street in front of a house an ass and a colt tied just
as Jesus had said. They were untying them when the
owner, who was standing by, said:<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>"What are you doing, untying the ass?"</p>
<p>"The Master needs it," answered the disciples; and
when the man heard this, he allowed them to take the
ass and the colt. They brought them to Jesus at
Bethany; and on the ass-colt they laid their cloaks, to
form a cushion for Jesus; and he
sat upon the colt, which never before
had been ridden upon. Then
the crowd, seeing that Jesus was
riding toward Jerusalem, walked
with him, some going before and
some following after. Those in front spread their clothes
upon the road before Jesus; others threw on the ground
leaves from the field; while many waved branches of
palm taken from the trees beside the road.</p>
<div><ANTIMG src="images/illus-391a.jpg" alt="brook top photo" width-obs="180" height-obs="125" class="splitr" /></div>
<div><ANTIMG src="images/illus-391b.jpg" alt="brook bottom photo" width-obs="500" height-obs="326" class="splitr" /></div>
<p>And before they came to the top of the Mount of
Olives, which was between Bethany and Jerusalem,
another crowd of people met them, coming from the city to
see Jesus. And all the multitude shouted together:<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>"God save the King, the Son of David! Blessed is
he who comes in the Lord's name! Blessed is the kingdom
of our father David! Praises be to the Lord!"</p>
<p>For all this crowd of people believed that now, at
last, the kingdom of God was to be set up, with Jesus
as Christ and King. But in the multitude were some
Pharisees, enemies of Jesus, who became very angry as
they saw the crowd waving the palm branches and cheering
for Jesus as King. These men came up to Jesus as
he was riding and said to him:</p>
<p>"Teacher, tell your followers to stop this noise!"</p>
<p>"I tell you," answered Jesus, "that if these men
should keep still, the very stones would cry out!"</p>
<p>Soon they came to the top of the Mount of Olives,
and then the Temple and the city of Jerusalem were in
sight before them.</p>
<p>As Jesus looked upon the city, the tears came into
his eyes and he said:</p>
<p>"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! If only you might know,
even now, while yet there is time, what would give you
peace! But no, it is hidden from your sight! The
time is coming when your enemies will build walls and
forts around you, and shut you in on every side; and
trample you down into the dust, and your children with
you. They will not leave in you one stone standing upon
another—and all because you would not understand
when the Lord was visiting you."</p>
<p>Jesus rode down the Mount of Olives, and across the
valley of the brook Kedron. At the gate of the Temple
he got off from the back of the colt, and sent it with
the ass back to its owner. As he came into the city and
the Temple there was a great stir, the people everywhere
flocking to meet him.</p>
<p>"Who is this?" they said; and the crowds answered,
"This is the Prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee!"<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-393.jpg" width-obs="407" height-obs="600" alt="painting" /> <span class="caption">Many waved branches of palm, and all the multitude shouted together: "God save the King, the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the Lord's name!"</span></div>
<p>The Pharisees said to each other, "We can do
nothing! The whole world has gone after Jesus!"</p>
<p>Everybody, both the friends and enemies of Jesus,
looked to have him take control of the city and act as
a king. But Jesus only went into the Temple and
walked around it. By this time it was evening, and
Jesus returned with his disciples to Bethany.</p>
<p>Forty years after that time, the terrible things that
Jesus declared were to fall upon Jerusalem, did come to
pass. The Jews rose against the Romans and made
war upon them. A mighty Roman army came, and
swept over all the land, bringing ruin and death everywhere.
The Romans laid siege to Jerusalem, and built
a strong wall around it, so that no one could come out
or go in. The people fought desperately, until they were
starved and could fight no more. At last the Romans
broke into the Temple, and set the city on fire. Both
the Temple and all the city were utterly destroyed;
untold thousands of the people were slain, and many
thousands more were sold as slaves. And from that
time, seventy years after Jesus was born, and forty years
after he died on the cross, the Jews have not had of
their own a land or a city.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-396.jpg" width-obs="411" height-obs="600" alt="painting" /> <span class="caption">After teaching in the Temple all day, Jesus went out in the evening over the Mount of Olives to the home of his friends in Bethany.</span></div>
<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</SPAN></span></p>
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