Don Friesen
Alexander III (356-323 B.C.), otherwise known as Alexander the Great, was the king of Macedon, a state in the north eastern region of Greece. By the age of thirty Alexander had created one of the largest empires in ancient history. When, three centuries before the birth of Christ, Alexander entered Jerusalem, he was welcomed with awe and jubilation. According to Flavius Josephus, an ancient historian, Alexander entered Jerusalem on an impressive steed, the powerful war horse that had served him so well in battle. The high priest at the time led Alexander to the temple, where the book of Daniel was opened to the prediction that a Greek ruler would come to destroy the Persian Empire. All agreed that Alexander was this conquering hero. He was so moved by the honour that before he left the city he granted favours to those who had greeted him.
Some three hundred years later General Pompey (106-48 B.C.), otherwise known as Pompey the Great, entered Jerusalem, but it was less of a triumphal entry than a triumphal invasion, resulting in the death of over 12,000 people. Pompey also entered the Holy of Holies in the temple, and did some things there which were very offensive to the people of the city.
Some twenty-two hundred years later Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht of Prussia (1859-1941), otherwise known as King Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, and his wife, Augusta Viktoria, visited Jerusalem. Their tour of Jerusalem was an extravagant affair, and in honour of their visit the city undertook many improvements. King Wilhelm's entourage consisted of over two hundred people, and when they entered the Holy City the king rode in on a white horse, accompanied by the empress in a carriage. The Jaffe Gate, the main entrance to Jerusalem, was widened so that Her Majesty's over-sized carriage could pass through, and so that His Majesty didn't have to dismount. Thus they entered the city to the sounds of twenty-one cannons, and the Turkish orchestra playing the German anthem.
In the Style of Kings and Generals?
Kings and generals are apt to enter cities in style, with royal aplomb, and military might proudly displayed. If we didn't know Jesus as well as I hope we do, the description of his entry into the Holy City bears some of the same earmarks. He too rode into the city on a steed, albeit a steed of a different sort. His entourage was not so large, but the crowd swelled as he entered the city. Matthew describes it as "a very large crowd" (Matthew 21:8), and with so many pilgrims pouring into the city for the Passover, it could have numbered in the hundreds, if not thousands. And as Jesus rode into the city the crowd responded much like they did at other times when important people visited, with great jubilation. The crowd spread their cloaks on the road, much like unrolling a royal carpet. Others cut branches from trees and spread them on the road. There was great fanfare and noise, the accompanying crowds erupting in shouts of acclamation:
Jesus' procession was a noticeable event, causing no little consternation in the city, and people were asking, as the parade filed by, "Who is this?" (Matthew 21:10) A general? A prophet? Another king? Maybe a king, but some of the conventional royal trappings were missing. The crowds sensed something important was afoot, but they weren't altogether sure of its meaning. "Who is this?" they asked. (Matthew 21:10)
Veiled behind those palm leaves was a man of paradox. On the one hand he appeared to have authority, and the laying down of cloaks along his path was reminiscent of the reception some Old Testament kings got when they were about to be anointed king (2 Kings 9:13), but something wasn't quite right. Usually armies followed the conquering hero and horse, but in Jesus' wake were children, women, fisher-folk, tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners.
The steed was also all wrong. A donkey hardly constitutes a steed, and is, in itself, is an enigmatic beast. Some say that the donkey is a noble beast, but others read Jesus' choice of beast as a welcome parody of all those other royal entries. After King Wilhelm's pompous parade entered the gate-modified-for-the-pompous-occasion, someone climbed up and attached a sign to the top of the gate that read, "A better man than Wilhelm came through this city's gate. He rode on a donkey."
What Happened to Whoever this Is?
"Who is this?" the people wondered. Jesus' entry into the Holy City was a dramatic entry, but then it's as if he dropped straight off the precipice of popularity and acclaim! Almost immediately his authority was put in question. (Matthew 21:23-27) To the question, "Who is this?" are added the questions, "What right do you have to do these things?" and "Who gave you such right?" (21:23) The leaders of the city had other questions as the week went on, questions about taxes (22:15-22), questions about death and resurrection (22:23-33), questions about the most essential commandment (22:34-40), questions about the Messiah (22:41-46) – questions, questions, questions – until it becomes clear that Jesus' entry was not acclaimed by everyone!
We know that it only gets worse as the week continues, as Jesus is confronted in Pilate's court, then interrogated, and arrested. He loses popular support, is mocked, and spat on. He bears the brunt of all manner of other unseemly things, and then, finally, is crucified – with criminals – and after an excruciatingly slow and painful death, buried. The erosion of support even eats into Jesus' inner circle, his disciples now beset with betrayal, denial, and a total loss of confidence. It's got to be one of the swiftest diminutions of power ever, a reversal of fortune so sudden that it makes one's head spin!
The Apostles' Creed, that we've been reciting throughout the season of Lent, says that Jesus "descended into hell" – an apt description of what transpired. Those who compiled our hymnal, however, must have thought the phrase too harsh, and it was softened to read, "he descended to the dead". (Hymnal: A Worship Book, # 712) To be fair, the phrase, "he descended into hell," is somewhat controversial. One minister, who didn't like the phrase, would always introduce the creed by saying, "Let's stand and recite the creed. Today we will not descend into hell." Makes you wonder what they did on other days.
He Descended into Hell
The phrase, "he descended into hell," is a controversial assertion, and theologians have tied themselves up in knots trying to sort out the technicalities of the descent, the amount of time spent in hell, and where exactly he was between his death at 3:00 p.m. on Friday and his resurrection sometime before sunrise on Sunday morning. These questions, frankly, don't interest me. It's true that the phrase, "he descended into hell," does not appear in the Bible, but there are biblical passages that resonate with the phrase. Take Psalm 139, for example, where the psalmist asks, "Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell (KJV), you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast." (Psalm 139:7-10)
The phrase, "He descended into hell," is a very apt description of Jesus' experience in Jerusalem. It describes so well the terror, agony. and isolation of Jesus' week there. When he died, the Gospel of Matthew says, the whole earth heaved! And the veil in the temple, the veil separating us from the Holy of Holies, was ripped from top to bottom! (Matthew 27:51)
A woman who was assaulted in her own backyard, at ten in the morning, tried to come to terms with this terrible experience, and through the help of a good counsellor and a loving husband and family, she was making progress. Her counsellor suggested that as part of her therapy she should tell someone other than a family member or a pastor what had happened to her. She asked her pastor's advice about her choice: "I want to tell my story to Joe Smith," she said.
"Joe Smith?" thought the pastor. Joe was a recovering alcoholic, whose recovery was often as not incomplete. Over the years Joe had held and lost many jobs.
The pastor said to her, "I would have thought that you might have wanted to tell another woman. Why do you want to tell Joe?
"Because," she said, "Joe knows what it's like to go to hell and live to tell about it." (story told by William Willimon)
I like the idea that Jesus knows what it's like to go to hell and back again. I think that's essentially what the New Testament means when it says that Jesus can "sympathize with our weaknesses, (for he) was in all points tempted as we are," and for that reason we can "come boldly to the throne of grace, (to) obtain mercy and find grace ...in (our) time of need." (Hebrews 4:15-16) That Jesus "descended into hell" is a powerful literary acknowledgment that there is no human experience – no height, no depth, no loss, no pain or tragedy, no apparently God-forsaken place that Jesus has not entered into.
Alice Meynell (1847-1922), an English poet and suffragist, whose friendship with the destitute and addicted Francis Thompson (1859-1907) saved him, wrote:
But over the abyss
("The Crucifixion")
Writers in the Middle Ages developed an elaborate doctrine called "the harrowing of hell," believing that between his crucifixion and resurrection Christ went to the regions of darkness and proclaimed victory over the Prince of Darkness. The doctrine gave rise to some creative paintings by medieval and Renaissance artists. Christ took the sting out of death, and the Prince of Darkness is now a toothless tiger – or, as Martin Luther wrote in a beloved hymn:
Who IS this, that he would descend into hell on our behalf? He is the very one, in the words of another hymn, who "emptied himself," the one who "did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited," the one who took "the form of a slave, being born in human likeness," the one who "humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:6-8) Such was his descent that there is no darkness so dark that he does not experience it with us. Even in our darkest hours the one who walked this way before us is with us. If we find ourselves in a hell of human suffering, even there God finds us, and says, "I love you. You are mine. You cannot escape my grace and mercy. You belong with me."
"Hosanna to the Son of David!
And Matthew seems so get so caught up in the spirit of the occasion, he has Jesus with two animals instead of one! And just like Alexander the Great, Jesus headed straight for the temple, as if he belonged there, and began to take action that seemed to indicate that he had more authority there than the local Chamber of Commerce, whose commercialization of the temple was brought to an abrupt halt!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!'" (21:8-9)
One only has explored
That Francis Thompson survived to write such masterpieces as "The Hound of Heaven" is due entirely to the love and generosity of Alice Meynell and her family.
The deepmost; but He did not die of it.
Not yet, not yet He died. Man's human Lord
Touched the extreme; it is not infinite.
Of God's capacity for woe He stayed....
* And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
Who Is this, that He Would Descend into Hell?
We will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure;
One little word shall fell him."
Quotations of Scripture are from the New Revised Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.