How the Old Masters Saw Palm Sunday

 

With Holy Week coming up, I decided to do a series on how the Old Masters saw those events. I’m starting this week with Palm Sunday.

The image at the top of this post is how we usually picture what we refer to as the triumphal entry, with Jesus surrounded by people spreading cloaks and palm branches before Him. The 1860 woodcut for Des Bibel in Bildern (The Bible in Pictures) is by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld.

The next photo shows a 1305 fresco by Giotto and is a typical Medieval portrayal of those events. Notice that Jesus is richly dressed and looks much more like a nobleman than a humble rabbi.

This final image shows the Spanish influence. It is attributed to Master of San Baudelio de Berlanga, circa 1125.

No matter how Jesus is portrayed in visual art, the best pictures are in words and come from the Bible. Here is the account of his entry into Jerusalem taken from Mark 11:8-10 (ESV):

And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

Although He came as a king, He rode on a donkey because He came in peace. The battle for salvation was still to come. We’ll see images about that battle next week.

__________

These works of art are all in the public domain because of their age.

 

From Celebrity to Criminal

 

This post is reprinted from March 19, 2018 and April 2, 2012. The references to celebrities with criminal records are dated, but the point is timeless.

__________

No, this post isn’t about Lindsay Lohan or Mike Tyson or Paris Hilton. A hundred years from now, they will have faded from the public memory.

That’s something they don’t share with the man who rode into town to cheering crowds on a Sunday, only to be mocked and executed as a criminal before the week was up. Events we are still talking about 2000 years later.

Talking about and celebrating. My father took this picture while my family was attending the Palm Sunday festivities in Jerusalem in 1958.

Lindsay and Mike and Paris didn’t lose their celebrity status when they were convicted of their crimes, and neither did Jesus of Nazareth.

But here is the crucial difference: Jesus was sinless. He had no guilt to convict him.

Well, that isn’t quite true.

He was guilty of love. A love so great that he paid the penalty for the sins of all humankind.

His heart was heavy and he died in anguish. But he did it by choice.

For me. For you.

And that’s something to remember not just during Holy Week but every day of the year.

A Majestic King

 

This is Holy Week, which runs from Palm Sunday (yesterday) through Saturday. So this week I’m concentrating on one of my favorite Palm Sunday hymns: “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty.”

The term “majesty” has several meanings, but the ones listed first in my dictionary are 1) “the greatness and dignity of a sovereign” and 2) “the sovereignty and power of God.” On Palm Sunday, Jesus came in humility, riding on a donkey. In those days, kings rode into a city on a donkey if they were coming in peace and on a horse if they were coming as conquerors. Yet even though Jesus came in peace, His entry on a donkey also foreshadowed His role as conqueror/.

The hymn contrasts Jesus' greatness and dignity with His humility and obedience, while showing that they were really the same thing. Here are the words:

Ride on, ride on in majesty!

Hark! all the tribes Hosanna cry;

O Savior meek, pursue Thy road,

With palms and scattered garments strowed.

 

Ride on, ride on in majesty!

In lowly pomp ride on to die.

Oh Christ, Thy triumphs now begin

Oe’r captive death and conquered sin.

 

Ride on, ride on in majesty!

The angel armies of the sky

Look down with sad and wond’ring eyes

To see the approaching sacrifice.

 

Ride on, ride on in majesty!

Thy last and fiercest strife is nigh.

The Father on His sapphire throne

Awaits his own anointed Son.

 

Ride on, ride on in majesty!

In lowly pomp ride on to die.

Bow Thy meek head to mortal pain,

Then take, O God, Thy pow’r and reign!

__________

The image at the top of this post, titled “Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem,” originated as a fresco from the hermitage of St. Baudelius of Berlanga and was subsequently transferred to canvas, which is now at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The fresco was created in the 12^th century. I don’t know when the copy was made, but the image is in the public domain because of its age.

From Celebrity to Criminal

This post is reprinted from April 2, 2012.

__________

No, this post isn’t about Lindsay Lohan or Mike Tyson or Paris Hilton. A hundred years from now, they will have faded from the public memory.

That’s something they don’t share with the man who rode into town to cheering crowds on a Sunday, only to be mocked and executed as a criminal before the week was up. Events we are still talking about 2000 years later.

Talking about and celebrating. My father took this picture while my family was attending the Palm Sunday festivities in Jerusalem in 1958.

Lindsay and Mike and Paris didn’t lose their celebrity status when they were convicted of their crimes, and neither did Jesus of Nazareth.

But here is the crucial difference: Jesus was sinless. He had no guilt to convict him.

Well, that isn’t quite true.

He was guilty of love. A love so great that he paid the penalty for the sins of all humankind.

His heart was heavy and he died in anguish. But he did it by choice.

For me. For you.

And that’s something to remember not just during Holy Week but every day of the year.

From Celebrity to Criminal

No, this post isn't about Lindsay Lohan or Mike Tyson or Paris Hilton. A hundred years from now (or less), they will have faded from the public memory.

Something they don't share with the man who rode into town to cheering crowds on a Sunday, only to be mocked and executed as a criminal before the week was up. Events we are still talking about 2000 years later.

Talking about and celebrating. My father took this picture while my family was attending the Palm Sunday festivities in Jerusalem in 1958.

Lindsay and Mike and Paris didn't lose their celebrity status when they were convicted of their crimes, and neither did Jesus of Nazareth.

But here is the crucial difference: Jesus was sinless. He had no guilt to convict him.

Well, that isn't quite true.

He was guilty of love. A love so great that he paid the penalty for the sins of all humankind.

His heart was heavy and he died in anguish. But he did it by choice.

For me. For you.

And that's something to remember not just during Holy Week but every day of the year.