Mt. of Olives. A donkey met us at Bethpage (where Jesus mounted a foal for His Triumphal Entry).

“Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD:
O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD:
we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD” (Psalm 118:25-26)

Psalm 118 was a song for praising the Lord for his loyal love. Over time it became a tradition to sing it (among others) as part of festive holy occasions.

Singing this psalm at the end of the Jewish Passover meal was one such tradition. If Jesus and His disciples sang this psalm at the end of their Passover meal it was the night He was betrayed.

Four days prior to His betrayal, the crowds shouted and chanted the words of Psalm 118:25-26, proclaiming their acceptance of Jesus as their king (Matthew 21:9). We call this day “Palm Sunday” because palm branches were spread on the pavement and waved in the air as Jesus passed by.

Was Psalm 118:25-26 fulfilled at Jesus’ “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem? Yes and no. It is true the people said those words as Jesus passed by. But their expectation of what the king would be like (a political king that would rescue Israel from Rome’s dominion) was different than what Jesus promised (the Messianic king that would rule His creation after redeeming mankind from their sin).

Matthew unfolds the entire context of what happened after Jesus’ entered Jerusalem and the Temple from chapter 21 through the end of Matthew 23. Jesus’ authority was challenged so He explained the truth simply (that is, in parables of what His kingdom would be like). The religious leaders (Pharisees, Sadducees, Chief Priests, and Scribes in particular) got the point that He was accusing them. They wanted to get rid of Jesus but feared the people. Jesus “took advantage” of their dilemma and revealed to the people the doom of the religious leaders. In His emotionally charged conclusion we see Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, while quoting Psalm 118:26, “I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.’”

What is (temporarily) bad news for His Chosen People is (currently) good news for us who are not. They have not yet sung the real “hosanna.” They will when the King of kings returns to reign on earth. Until then, Jesus has “opened to (the rest of) us the gates of righteousness.” “Will you go into them?”